Bored with the same ole, same ole get-aways?
By Bill O'Neill
7 Jun 2009
My family decided for something a little different last year and opted to rent a houseboat for a week up in Crane Lake, Minnesota. When my wife first came up with this idea, I thought she was losing it, but after we got up there....it was a pleasant surprise that she'd picked a winner, again.
Crane Lake is a little tiny town on the Canadian border in Minnesota. They have a few lodges, and houseboat rental companies but we picked the winner, by far. The people were friendly and the area was gorgeous and once you got over your fear of going into the vast unknown waters of Voyageur's National Park.....it was great!
When leaving for our expedition, everyone was sure to tell us to make sure to come back in for the 4th of July festivities in 3 days. We kind of chuckled and thought "hey....we're from Chicago. What could they possibly do to out do Chicago? We found out quick. We got the number 1 slot in the dock when we got back in and couldn't believe what we were seeing. Everyone IN this town....was in the parade! It was great, from the decorated golf-carts, to the home-made floats....this was a parade! This is what 4th of July is suppose to be. Not fighting the crowds at Navy Pier in Chicago for a mediocre fireworks show!
After watching the parade, we stuck around for the fireworks and let me tell you......these people know how to put on a fireworks display!!! The whole expeerience put going to downtown Chicago, to shame. We sat and talked to people, rather than fear making eye-contact with a mugger, and left with a few more friends than we had going into it!
From the dog that appeared to be driving the volunteer fire department's fire truck, to the home-made fireworks float, this was the most patriotic parade I'd been to in a long, long, time.
All in all, our experience in Crane Lake was a hit from the time we got there, to the time we (sadly) had to say good-bye. Take a vacation from the big cities and check this place out. It's truly a winner and one of THE MOST patriotic places I've seen in this country!!!
If you'd like more information on houseboating in Crane Lake, check out http://www.voyagaire.com. It's a family run operation and these people and their employees helped make this a great experience for our whole family!
Oh yeah...tell em Bill O'Neill sent you. ;-)
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