Unforgettable “Up North” Minnesota Vacation on Crosslake.
Recently my extended family rented a cabin “up north” to get away for a week long vacation. The term, “up north” is a Minnesota saying referring to spending time in Northern Minnesota, generally at a cabin, lake or in the woods.
This is our adventure…
Arrival & Location – My brother-in-law, Charlie (aka Chaz), thought it was a good idea to rent a trailer to lug our stuff to the cabin. He was right as we nearly filled a 16’ trailer with everything from bikes, inner tubes and a Lilly Pad for the kids, to coolers and more coolers for the adults. In a future post I’ll give tips and advice for how we planned the trip and arrived at the need for the trailer.
Trailer & Cabin Rental
As we unpacked, we gave the kids a gift my mom; each received a sand castle bucket filled with trinkets and snacks. She always gives the perfect gifts and I would recommend this idea if you have little ones going to the beach. They LOVED the surprise and having something to open upon arrival. Eventually this backfired as I let them bury me in the sand…I’m still digging sand out of my ears. But, well worth it as my daughter kept talking about how much fun she had playing with her cousin “burying daddy.”
Kids opening arrival gifts 
Buckets on the beach 
Buried in the sand
Daily Activities…
Our days consisted of fun in the sun with the kids, letting loose at nap time, and awesome dinners. I won’t bore you with daily play-by-play, so here are highlights:
Kids – Loved swimming, tubing, and playing on the beach. We stayed a full week, so we had to get creative when it rained, improvising with an indoor dance party and bowling. We also built a fire and roasted hot dogs and s’mores. While we mostly stayed at the cabin, we did get out to explore the town. The kids loved ice cream from Lake Country Crafts & Cones and we ordered takeout pizza from Zorbaz – two must-visit places. Zorbaz is especially great for kidz during the day, complete with game room downztairz, and at night it’z great for party-goerz ready to let looze. Note, the z’s are intentional, you’ll get it if you’ve been or click zee link.
Wish I had S’more time with these two… 
Ice Cream Treats 
Tubing on Crosslake
Letting Loose – If you can, I recommend hiring a babysitter or bringing along a grandparent to help watch the kids so the adults can have fun away. We did this to go out to places like Moonlight Bay for dinner, drinks and pull tabs (it’s a Midwest thing, basically gambling at bars). At the house, nap time was highly celebrated with failed attempts to go viral on TikTok. Here are my favorites: Pull Tabs @Moonlight Bay, Tallboy Roulette & Menards Check. We also took a boat ride without kids to The Wharf, a restaurant on one of the connecting Crosslake channels. This was a quiet change of pace from the typical chaos and anxiety of watching kids crush boat snacks and have exhaustion meltdowns.
Dinners – I LOVE my kids, but at the end of the day it’s nice to have adult conversations among friends. We held off eating dinner until after the kids went to sleep so we could eat something other than mac ‘n cheese or hot dogs. Dinners included beef tenderloin, pork tacos, and Greek chicken. Each couple was assigned to cook one night. My wife and I did the tenderloin, while the other couples did the pork and Greek chicken. All amazing meals, in a separate post I’ll share the tenderloin and pork recipes…I won’t even try to recreate the amazing Greek chicken, wayyyy out of my league, thanks to my sister-in-law, Jackie.
What we loved…
The house – The house was amazing, here is a link to the Crosslake Getaway VRBO listing. There was plenty of space for our families and we never felt like we were crowding each other. Highlights include a sandy beach for the kids, great patio with an awesome view, and the location was in a bay that blocked the wind. A quirky touch, common in many lake places, was many, many lake themed signs/decor throughout the house. Here are the pics with inspired lake montage.
Lake your best life 
Not Pictured: Lake
Family time – Growing up, my family didn’t take many vacations but did get “up north” a few times to a resort in Park Rapids, Minnesota, called Vacationaire. That up north experience was special because I enjoyed spending time on a lake with my Mom, Dad and Grandma. I will never forget those memories and am proud to provide similar experiences for my kids, which is why I cherished family time at Crosslake. From swimming with the kids, to boat rides, dance parties, and family lunches, I’ll never forget the joy I felt watching all seven cousins making memories together.
I cherished family time at Crosslake. From swimming with the kids, to boat rides, dance parties, and family lunches, I’ll never forget the joy I felt watching all seven cousins making memories together.
Britt – Full Dad Mode
The lake – Wow. Crosslake is part of the Whitefish chain of lakes. Channel connections between lakes allow you to experience multiple lakes in a single boat ride. It’s fun to see beautiful sights including damns, parks, resorts and awe-inspiring lake cabins & homes. To fully experience the lake requires a boat (obvi), so we rented a pontoon for the week. I would definitely recommend a boat rental from Crosslake Rental if you visit the area, but be sure to book fast as every day in the summer generally gets booked, so plan ahead.
Would we return? Absolutely! Thanks for reading, feel free to post questions or feedback in the comments section!
Britt
About Post Author
Britt
Hey I’m Britt. I run Full Dad Mode to help people like you make the most of life. I share helpful DIY how to's and recipes designed to make busy lives easier. Click here to sign up for email updates to stay up to date on the latest tips and from Full Dad Mode!
