We have been planning all summer to spend Labor Day weekend up around Voyageurs National Park.  And I use the word "planning" loosely since we really didn't plan anything and just jumped in the Jeep Friday and headed north.  Our goal was to spend as much time as we could exploring Voyageurs, the only National Park in Minnesota, but ended up falling in love with one piece of the park that I had never heard of and knew nothing about.  Lake Kabetogama.

After a relaxing night stay in a yurt that we found on Airbnb, we decided to take some time to explore downtown Bemidji, MN before we headed up towards the Northwest Angle.  For the price of just a cup of coffee (because all good downtown explorations include coffee), you can wander through the beautiful downtown area and enjoy the many sculptures on display thanks to the Bemidji Scuplture Walk; Northern Minnesota's Annual Outdoor Sculpture Gallery.

Recently we journeyed down to Wabasha, Minnesota for the River Boat Days festival and spent some time wandering around this fun, historic river town.  Here is a recap of our favorite spots from our trip along with the results of our gamble on some floating rubber duckies.

Bemidji MN is part of what all we Minnesotans call "Up North" and being so means that things are a little more relaxed...and sparse.   So when we started our Airbnb search for our night in Bemidji, Minnesota before we headed up to the Northwest Angle, we were very surprised to come across this little gem of a listing that was not only reasonably priced, but offered a very unique experience.  

Most Minnesota residents are familiar with Lake of the Woods and it's popularity for boating and fishing.   Hundreds if not maybe thousands of fishermen flock to Lake of the Woods at all times of year (yes even the crazy ones in the middle of the winter.)  And while the Northwest Angle (Minnesota's northernmost piece of land) is the "Walleye Capital" freely accessible by boat, you can also do as we did and cross the Canadian border to access it by car.  Here are a few good things to know before making the trip.

Now I'm not a car buff and don't really have a strong interest in cars but I could have easily spent an entire day at this show.   Put on by the Minnesota Street Rod Association (MSRA), this event covers the entire Minnesota State Fairgrounds and while the name of the show says 50's, there were 100s upon 1,000s of cars and trucks from all the classic decades on display and driving around.  Needless to say, Mark had an amazing time taking photos :)