Last week, as I sped down the freeway with the Minneapolis skyline in my rear view mirror, I made it up North in record time. I rolled into Virginia just in time to grab a cherry slicker from the Freeze and stop to spend a few minutes with my grandpa, before pulling into mom & dad's driveway and finally feeling the relief of being home. I spent Wednesday evening barefoot in the backyard on the badminton court with one of my best friends. Just like in high school, we volleyed the birdie back and forth while exchanging the latest scoop. I called it an early night, so I could rest up for the remaining weekend activities, I think I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.
On Thursday morning, I woke up to my alarm clock while at home, my dad, and started packing up the car to head even further North than usual to Pelican Lake in Orr. My heart was thumping with excitement as I drove around the curves and down the dirt road into Richardson's Shangri-La Resort to meet Mitch and his family. Ironically, they have been vacationing 40 minutes from my house for the last 20 years! The first thing I heard when I got out of my car was the distinct slam of an old screen door, and I knew I was finally at the lake. We spent a few minutes lounging on the dock before getting into the boat and going out in hopes of catching dinner.
Mitch promised me that I would catch something, and he delivered on his promise. I was very successful, catching a couple 15.5" smallmouth and largemouth bass, which were both protected in the slot limit. I may not have been able to take the hooks out myself, but they did make me hold the fish all by myself to pose for photos! I also caught a couple more fish that we saved for dinner later that evening. After a successful morning fishing the reef, we headed back in for lunch and an afternoon on the dock and swimming. It was a bit chilly jumping in, but oh so refreshing!
After our swim, it was time to get ready for dinner. But first, I got a lesson in filleting fish. I watched as Mitch did one, but my attention span was short-lived as I breathed through my mouth to avoid to stinky scent of fish guts. Our fresh-caught dinner was delicious, and I'm glad I was able to contribute. Afterwards, we walked down to the dock to watch the sunset. There are no words to even describe the joy I felt sitting there on the water's edge in the adirondack chairs as the sun sank below the pine trees on the distant shore. I had been waiting for that moment for a very, very long time.
Later that evening, we went into Orr for the fireworks and street dance. Being a iron ranger at heart, although I never claim it, I've been to a street dance or two, and it was entertaining to watch it all unfold. On Friday morning, we canoed out to and around a couple of the islands on Pelican. It started out as a pleasant paddle, but once we got out of the protected bay, it began to get a little choppy. I was getting nervous, but Mitch assured me everything was just fine. It actually turned out to be a perfect practice session for my upcoming one night trip to the Boundary Waters.
Once we got back to shore and I realized how sore my shoulders were, we opted to spend some time inside playing board games. We switched off between backgammon, which I learned to play the night before, and cribbage until I couldn't handle to lose any more. Well, I must admit I did skunk him a couple of games, but overall he takes the cake. Outside, the clouds darkened and storms began to roll in, so we hurried to get ready and snap a few photos before heading to the Dam Supper Club for dinner. Oddly enough, in all my years spent up North, I had never been to the Dam, so it was a delightful first for me!
Later that evening, we left Pelican Lake and headed a bit south to Lake Vermilion, where we met my parents to watch the 4th of July fireworks. The fireworks were at Polley's Resort, not your typical resort I'd recommend vacationing at, if any of you have seen or heard of the place, but I must admit they do know how to put on a show. It's become one of my favorite traditions of the weekend, and this year was especially spectacular. The weather can be credited for that, as the storms were rolling in and the show sped up, we were delighted to an intense fireworks display while lightning striked in the distance. Thankfully, the raindrops didn't start hitting the water until the finale.
We went to bed on Friday night hoping for Saturday's forecast to clear up. To my surprise, I woke up to dad knocking on the door and exclaiming the sun was shining and the radar was clear. I rolled out of bed and saw he already had the boat almost loaded up in the driveway. I kicked it into high gear and we were on the road within the hour. We put the boat in at Peterson's landing and it fired right up. The ride towards our destination was a bit rough, very choppy and by the time we reached "our island" we were drenched. Now, it's only a public picnic site, but we've come to deem it as ours since it's been the site of many Walker family afternoons on the lake.
We dropped off the coolers to lighten our load before doing a little morning fishing. Much to my surprise, and don't take offense to this, dad was a wonderful guide! Mom and Ally will understand that statement, but for all of you, it stems from our younger years at the Shack on Elbow Lake. Anyway, minus one minor mishap of running into a underwater rock pile, we were quite successful. I caught a couple of keepers and Mitch caught a 20" smallmouth bass! Unfortunately neither of us caught "Wally" but I am glad we both had great success! Plus, we had some cool nature sightings like eagles, loons and two deer swimming.
After fishing, it was back to the island to start preparing lunch. Dad left us in charge to keep the fire burning while he went back to shore to pick up Mom, who had been working in the morning. We savored delicious venison steak strips and fresh caught bass, both cooked over the open flame, alongside potato salad, watermelon and chips with salsa. Primitive, yet delectable. After a quick dip in the lake, well for me and dad at least, we dried off by the campfire while roasting marshmallows and making s'mores. I added some fresh strawberries to my s'more for a sweet twist - yum! We ended our evening on the lake with a boat ride to Moosebirds for ice cream, an absolute must-do in my book!
Sunday came all too quickly, but we didn't let it get us down. We went to church in the morning and I really enjoyed getting to hear my dad sing. The day continued with a stop at the Vermilion Club for lunch. Although there were only four of us, we still decided to order the Bamboozler, a famed 24" pizza, to share. It's a classic at the VC, and I definitely recommend it. I am positive we could have finished the monster between the four of us, but I like leftovers and none of us wanted to be too full for mini golfing. I had already mentioned I was excited to mini golf at Pier 77 in a prior post, following a slightly disappointing round at MaltTees in Richfield, and it did not let me down. We had tons of fun, even with the massive downpour that sent us running inside from the 14th hole for a few minutes!
I highly recommend Pier 77 for a fun afternoon activity to anyone that is visiting the Lake Vermilion area. With hole names like Soudan Mine, Giant's Ridge and the Laurentian Divide, it's a highly unique and creative course highlighting the area's attractions. My favorite hole was Split Rock Lighthouse because it has a striking similarity to a History Day project of mine from almost 10 years ago. The course is very well-kept too. We had an absolute blast, in fact, by the end my mom was already saying how excited she was to go again.
After mini golf, we made a few stops to visit both grandpas and check out my dad's garden on the farm before heading South. Before long, the Minneapolis skyline was back in sight and the weekend officially drew to an end. It wasn't a typical Sunday evening though, instead of laying awake and restless anticipating the week to come like normal, I fell calmly asleep with a smile on my face after the perfect weekend.
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