Happy Fourth of July!
The fourth of July weekend is the unofficial middle-of-summer and this year I was going to celebrate it in a way that I would never forget. The fourth of July is a time to get together with friends and family. Over the years I have done a bit of both but the last couple years have been pretty quiet for me. This year I was going to celebrate it with someone new and was hoping for a memorable experience. For Heidi and I, this was our first fourth of July together and it was important for us to spend it doing the things we love. The fourth was on a Monday and this allowed us the opportunity to have a long weekend together and to do a mix of activities.
Saturday July 2nd. We started the weekend at Heidi’s house and were looking for things to do around the area. We decided to spend the day in Maple Lake Minnesota. Heidi is originally from that part of the state and she still has friends and family in the area. We drove down and put the Kayaks in Maple lake for an afternoon paddle. The Lake was busy because of the holiday weekend and we decided to stay close to the shoreline and take our time paddling around. We paddle most of the length of the lake. The weather was incredible and it was nice to be out on the water. We spent the afternoon paddling around and enjoying the midsummer sun.
Sunday July 3rd. The weather was not as beautiful as the day before and we were trying to think of something to do. We had kayaked the day before and didn’t feel like going out the next day. We are always looking for new places to visit and decided that we should hop in the car and head northwest up highway 94. We had talked about visiting the Alexandria Minnesota area before and decided this was a good day for it. We arrived in Alexandria at about lunchtime. After a quick look on-line at our options, we ended up on the patio at the Pike and Pint Grill. We were lucky enough to be mostly under the covered area and only got a little wet when it decided to downpour. Lunch was excellent and we definitely chose the right place.
With food in our bellies we moved on to our next destination, a brewery that was just up the road. Copper Trail Brewing is located on the edge of town on a quiet street not too far from where we had lunch. The brewery was busy but not too busy. We were able to order right away and found a nice quiet place to sit and sample the flight we had ordered. Our flight consisted of Pairagraphs (a fruity raspberry Kolsch), Logger Lager, a very drinkable Vienna Lager, Wanna Bock (a smooth, hearty bock), and Bandit (a dark and smokey beer with a complex flavor). After our first flight we wanted to try all the different styles of stouts that were on the menu so we decided to sample one more flight with only stouts and one sour to fill the card. This flight started with Oat in a Boat (an oatmeal stout that was rich and creamy), Goodnight Loon (a coffee stout with a hearty flavor), Midwest Midnight (a milk chocolate stout with a slight fruity flavor and a chocolate finish). Quantum Leap is the blackberry-raspberry-vanilla sour. The brewery had plenty of seating indoors and out. There were quite a few people sitting on the patio and wood fired pizza from the food truck or rather, food trailer, to be 100% accurate. The decor of the brewery was industrial mixed with up-north charm. Warm woods mixed with the copper and stainless steel made for a warm and welcoming atmosphere. We took turns trying the different beers we had selected. The beer selection was great and we enjoyed them all. The mixture of the warm atmosphere and delicious beer made this a great place to stop . Having finished that flight, we were off to our next destination, another brewery that was just up the road.
Carlos Creek Winery and 22 Northmen Brewing Co are just a little over 6 miles from Copper Trail Brewing. When we arrived at Carlos Creek Winery the place was extremely busy. Heidi had been there years before and she said that it had changed so much she hardly recognized it. The winery has grown from being a stand-alone winery to a complete venue that includes 22 Northmen Brewery, Stoke Pizza Kitchen (brick oven pizza), Sizzle Food Truck, and Jack’s Public House (outdoor bar). The winery has many gardens and picturesque wedding venues. We decided to make this a beer destination day and only sampled beer from 22 Northmen on this visit. The brewery looked to be a mixture of barn and hunting lodge with a sprinkle of Norse longhouse thrown in for good measure. There was a musician in the corner playing guitar and singing songs to entertain the crowd. We ordered our flight and headed upstairs to get away to the loft where we had a view of the lower level and was much less crowded. There was plenty of seating upstairs and this gave us the opportunity to sample the beer and share our impressions of each one. To get the most out of our experience we decided to go with a flight of beer. The flight consisted of a pink guava lager, a salt lime cerveza, a barrel aged stout called Night Ax and a kettle sour called Punch Face. Our flight at 22 Northman was a mixture of different styles and flavors. Each one had a unique flavor and we would have taken a pint of any one of the beers. We took our time tasting our beverages and when we finished we hoped to get some wood fired pizza but there was an hour wait time and we were not looking to stick around that long. We took a quick walk around the complex and decided we would need to return another day to check out some of the other amenities at the winery. As we headed for home we reflected on this unplanned day that turned out to be a great adventure.
Monday the 4th of July. This year the 4th of July fell on a Monday and this gave us a long weekend to hang out and do a bunch of fun things. Earlier in the summer I had read a post on Facebook about kayaking on the Mississippi during the 4th of July fireworks and we were interested in the idea but were not sure how to go about it. In the week before the holiday we discussed the idea and decided that we would go kayaking on the evening of the 4th but not on the river. We decided to kayak on Pleasant Lake in Annandale Minnesota where we would not have to worry about anchoring or where to put in or take out the kayaks. I had ordered some red, green and white running lights for the kayaks and were going to wear headlamps to be seen. After spending the afternoon and early evening visiting family in Maple Lake we headed over to the Pleasant Lake boat launch and prepared the kayaks for the evening. There were plenty of boats & pontoons getting out on the water to watch fireworks, too. The weather that evening was incredible with little to no wind. Neither one of us had been on the water for the fireworks before and were not sure what to expect. We paddled to the opposite side of the lake and picked our spot. There must have been 20 to 30 boats in the same area and I was really happy we had put lights on the kayaks. We wanted to be sure we were highly visible, especially since our crafts were small and sat low on the water. The local sheriff's department was patrolling and checking for lights and life jackets. We had about an hour and a half to wait before dusk when the fireworks would start. We just sat and enjoyed the evening and the warm summer air. As the sun was going down the first firework was launched. Sitting on the water and having the fireworks shot up almost straight above us was incredible. It is a completely different experience and worth the work of paddling out there. Even the sound is different being on the water. Annandale puts on one heck of a good fireworks show. As the fireworks came to an end we decided to stay in our spot and not start paddling back until most of the boats had headed back to the boat launch. We flipped on our headlamps and started to paddle back to the launch and discovered that all the insects on the lake surface were attracted to our lights. We were bombarded with hundreds of bugs and had to keep our lights on for our safety. This gave us motivation to paddle even harder to get back to shore. Another boater even asked if we had a motor, since we had made such good time as we rowed back to shore in a tight formation. The launch was busy with people loading their boats but we were lucky enough to be able to land the kayaks on a sandy section next to the launch. We carried the kayaks up to the truck and had them loaded before most others had their turn at the launch. We headed home with an incredible new experience under our belts.
The 4th of July of 2022 did not disappoint. We were able to have great adventures and do new things that we will definitely be doing again. There was a good mixture of friends, family, travel and exercise to make a well rounded experience. We really made the most out of the 4th of July holiday this year and will definitely remember this one for a long time. If you are looking for fun things to do on the 4th or any other weekend look into visiting the Alexandria area or kayaking under the stars on one of your local lakes. I keep being amazed at the things we find to do in our local area. Central Minnesota has something for everyone.
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