My family is dispersed between DC, NYC, and St. Louis. I’m trying to organize a summer lakeside family get-together (i.e. cabin rental of some kind) that will meet the following criteria:
Relatively close to all parties involved (rules out Tahoe, for example)
Not too far from an airport
Ideally, not too far from an airport that offers direct flights to STL, NYC, and DC
Must be awesome enough to overcome our underlying lack of enthusiasm for getting together
For now my approach has been to peruse Google maps and zoom in on random bodies of water, which is proving to be less than efficient.
All natural lakes are north of the glaciation line, almost everything south of the Great Lakes would be artificial likes, which are a great deal hokeyer than the natural ones. Milwaukee would be the southernmost airport that is near a scad of such lakes, with Detroit another possibility.
There are also the Finger Lakes in western New York, which are very nice, accessible from Rochester or Buffalo airports. Stay north of this line.
I disagree with your statement about all natural lakes being North of the glaciation line. Wouldn’t you agree that most, but perhaps not all, of the oxbow lakes formed by the Mississippi River are natural? But still hokey though.
I’d say the best would probably be minneapolis-st paul - big airport with direct flights to all 3 of your cities listed, and minnesota has got to have some lakes in it, right ?
Another vote for Minnesota. MSP has direct flights to everywhere, and there are, of course, 10,000+ lakes. What’s your cutoff for “not too far from the airport”? Generally, the lakes get cooler the further north you go.
ETA: ‘Cooler’ as in ‘awesomer’, though the other meaning applies too.
There are many lakes (and lake resorts) in the general vicinity of Brainerd, Minnesota, which is about a two-hour drive from the Twin Cities. These range from quite fancy resort areas to places to sleep when you’re not fishing.
My boss and her husband occasionally stay at one called Craguns on Gull Lake, which looks like a pretty nice place on their website.
Ruttgers is not too far from my family’s lake home (different lake, though) and it looks pretty nice, too, from what I’ve seen from the road while biking by.
I know there are many, many others in the area.
I have to say that it is a beautiful area, and very relaxing. If you like goofy tourist attractions, there’s Paul Bunyan Land. It’s not really a place known for nightlife and great shopping. It’s a more low-key area. The outdoors is the real attraction up there.
I would think another factor would be travel time between the airport(s) and rooms. If there is an lengthy (a day or so) for travel you would open up a lot more resorts than you are thinking. Resorts/lodging further from an airport may be cheaper in the long run.
Not much of a help I know, but something to consider.
Of course I am from Alaska so an 8 hour drive is just a days drive. Some people don’t like to drive…
I think it is widely recognized lby the tourism industry that natural lakes offer a different kind of experience than artificial ones, and I pointed out the geographical ranges of the two kinds of lakes, for the benefit of the OP, who seemed interested in making a knowledgeable and discriminating choice. For example, natural lakes have a very different kind of geography around the lake shore – a geography which has, for thousands of years, been associated with and influenced by the presence of the lake…
Door County, Wisconsin might fit the OP’s requirements. Lots of light houses, beaches, scenery, etc. It’s a 90 minute drive from Milwaukee, maybe 2.5 hours from Minneapolis.
Laughing hysterically. That was important information! I was sitting here wracking my brain for a good spot which could handle the 4-500 people my family reunions pull in.
If you are the sort who appreciate rustic surroundings check out the “gimme shelter” brochure which you download here. It shows the National Parks with accommodation available.
I am not sure how campground operate in the Lower 48 but in Alaska we have campgrounds where you pay $15 per vehicle per night and $5 per campsite per night.
If this were mirrored down south perhaps you could find a lake that is semi-remote and take over an area with RV’s, tents etc.
In Alaska you can make reservations, but again I’m not sure how this translates to the Lower 48.
If you were driving from the north part of Milwaukee to Green Bay you might make it in 90 minutes. But the airport is to the south of the city and the going gets slow (or worse with traffic) as you head up the peninsula. I’d count on 2.5 hours +.
I was sitting here wracking my brain for a good spot which could handle the 4-500 people my family reunions pull in.