Destination Up North 2018 Up North | Page 15

Spend Your Vacation Floating the Mississippi! Photo by Linnerooth family how we grew up, looking forward all year long to a week’s vacation,” he said. “But now camping spaces rent by the season. Tents are pretty much a thing of the past, too. We probably have only a dozen all summer.” Some of the seasonal guests at Breeze Campgrounds have been coming there since before Echtenkamp became the owner, he said, adding that one of his guests, a farmer, has been a regular for 30 years. Over 120 acres of solitude along the upper Mississippi • Cabins • Houseboat • Seasonal RVs • Boating/Fishing • Activities 12241 Stallman Road • Brainerd, MN (218) 829-4587 • 800-416-4587 www.ruggedriverresort.com email: [email protected] 756208fs3/11/18 Photo by Kent Robbins GRETCHEN HEATH, Plymouth Gretchen Heath grew up as an only child who spent considerable time with her parents on Minnesota’s North Shore. “The North Shore has been my spiritual home forever,” Heath said. “It started with my parents and evolved.’ Heath recalls her family starting out at Johnson’s Cabins near Beaver Bay, then moving to Castle Danger, 11 miles north of Two Harbors. “Edisen’s Campers Home had a grocery with restaurant and gas pumps nearby,” Heath said. “It was the original cabin resort run by Norwegian immigrants.” Your Dock... She remembers her family buying fish at the Sves’ cabin resort. “They are a legendary family on the Shore and still run the resort,” Heath said. “It is like going back in time. Their clientele is fourth generation. Every cabin has a guest book, and you can read about people coming back who started as young children, just as I did at the other resort.” A place to make lasting memories Since 1997, Heath has spent July and August every year at a house south of the Knife River, originally called the Bon Aire Tea Room. “It is really like connecting with the past, and it is all you need,” Heath said. “It is a lovely retreat experience. It is something one gets used to. It sticks in one’s psyche. Since 1946 Hwy. 371 N. Nisswa, MN 800-322-3525 www.nisswadock.com 622395fs3/12/17 destinationupnorth.com 15