Great Getaways: Summer's sweet song

Chris Welsch, Star Tribune

Ludlow's Island Resort on Lake Vermilion: Guests arrive and depart on a vintage Chris Craft motorboat.

From family games to championship golf, these resorts provide Up North vacations with plenty of diversions.

By Chris Welsch, Star Tribune

Last update: December 20, 2007 - 1:53 PM

Thick early morning fog had erased the view from Cabin No. 15. But as the sun rose over the tree line, shapes emerged. The spindly geometry of the dock extended onto the surface of 11th Crow Wing Lake. Then the shadows of the pines emerged on the shoreline. Finally, a loon cruised by, breaking the calm surface of the lake.

It wouldn't be calm for long. Giggling kids would swarm the swimming float, anglers would cast off in the row boats, and the porch swings would be occupied by novel-reading parents, temporarily relieved of their charges.

In the boom years after World War II, Minnesota had more than 4,000 resorts, most of them literally mom-and-pop operations. Today, there are about 900 in the state. Wisconsin's resort scene has undergone a similar evolution. While the lake is still typically the focus of the vacation, the resorts that thrive occupy distinct niches that draw a steady and passionate following.

At Crow Wing Crest Resort, Thursday night potluck luaus, a foot massage specialist and a congenially quirky atmosphere keep the cabins full all summer. At the other end of the spectrum, the American Club in Kohler, Wis., centers its appeals on world-class golf, a sophisticated European-style spa and adventures of the culinary sort.

Here we've chosen five of the Upper Midwest's best resorts. They span the range of budgets and styles, but they all know how to make the best of summer in the north.

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