I kissed an Eelpout and I liked it!…read more The 33rd Annual International Eelpout Festival was such a blast, no idea why it's taken me so long to make the journey. One of the best descriptions I've read about this festival is: "New Orleans has Mardi Gras, Munich has Oktoberfest and northern Minnesota has The Eelpout Festival" . . . nuff said? nah. . . The festival spans from Walker City Park to Chase on the Lake resort and literally attracts thousands of people from all walks of life. From rugged looking bearded Minnesotan men sporting full animal pelts on their heads to young ladies walking around in shorts, mid-riff shirts and snow-boots. It's a great place for people watching. There's something here for everyone. Leech lake is large enough that those serious about fishing have plenty of room to spread out and get away from the rowdy festivities. However, if rowdy is your style, you'll find tents on either end featuring live bands at night and plenty of slip and fall dancing. Chase on the Lake's tent sponsored by Miller Lite was by far the most impressive of the tents featuring a bar made from ice, sculptures for taking icy shots to complete lunacy of kissing Elly the eelpout to Nailspielen aka Hammer-Schlagen to bull riding (BTW, it would be amazing if someone could make an eelpout to ride). You say you want to ride a helicopter? Well, guess what they have that too along with bikini ice fishing, a polar plunge and eelpout curling. If you want an idea of what you're in store for, just check out Google images. This quaint little festival has also been featured on The Tonight show as well as CNN.

When we pictured this festival, we pictured a glowing white landscape with happy ice fisherman…read morefrolicking about, harvesting eelpout a plenty. What we stumbled into was far from what we imagined. We showed up to get set up well before the opening tournament angling time of thursday at 5pm. As soon as we arrived, we were warned of a "little water" creeping onto the ice. No bid deal we thought. Come saturday morning when we traversed the 3 foot deep trench of water that used to be our access road, we were told to consider leaving. Going back out to the shack, gathering what we could, and then getting out of there for good. We had caught exactly zero eelpout at this time, and saturday is supposed to be the day of all the fun events listed on the festival schedule! So we stayed. They cancelled most of the events throughout the weekend the time that they were supposed to begin and without any real announcement other than through word of mouth. The well organized website gave us false hope that this event was actually run by someone who wanted it to be enjoyable and not just a money grab. From what I can tell 7 teams actually weighed in eelpout. That is out of 8,000 people that they announced over the loudspeaker at the festival. Now don't get me wrong, some people suck at fishing, including myself, so i'm not really here to bitch about how good the fishing was as that is not entirely relevant. What disappointed us the most was the lack of organization and or safety. From the time we arrived, no-one could tell us how to register for the tournament or where to turn our drawing registration papers in. And people were also mostly dickish about it as well. There were people who were blackout drunk flailing around in 4 foot deep water without supervision, which is pretty awesome under 99% of circumstances, but at 3am in -5 degree weather it becomes the problem of any half sober human that walks by and then they are also covered in water in -5 degree water and so on and so forth. What this all comes down to is that the people organizing this event knew FULL WELL that it should have been cancelled weeks before, but they just wanted the money from it so badly that they just piggy backed it along the whole way until they got every last penny out of it they could. Cancelling events at the time they are supposed to happen one at a time to keep giving people hope that at the very least the entertainment value that they were promised was just around the corner. I'm pretty sure the Jesus has stopped messing with any other irons he had in the fire and is now solely dedicating his time making sure anyone who had the authority to cancel this festival along with monetary ties gets face cancer, AIDS, and hemorrhoids. Also he told me he is going to make sure their children are born retarded. Don't shoot the messenger.

Ive been going to this since I was a little girl. unfortunately have to say it really has gone down…read morehill. My mom is full Norwegian so she loves to go to the lutheran church right in town where they are selling homemade Lefsah but you have to get there early!! they go out fast. The line for beans goes at a decent pace but you could be standing there for about 15 min. the beans were okay but have to say this year ... a let down. i felt like something was missing either sweetness or just some more salt or even some bbq just something. They do give a good amount for it being free so it really cant hurt you to try out!! The vendors as well though have really gone down hill there used to be so many and now its subpar.

"July 18, 6 pm Burying of the Beans Ceremony. The beans, prepared by secret recipe behind locked…read moredoors, are buried in huge cast iron kettles and cooked over a wood fire for 24 hours. Join us for this special ceremony. July 9, 11:30 am The bean pots are raised and volunteers serve a delicious bowl of beans, bun and lemonade to thousands of attendees. July 10 & 11, 9-4 Craft Fair along the Paul Bunyan Trail. Over 100 booths!" A festival about beans... word...

The town of Vining celebrates their town days with WATERMELON!…read more FREE WATERMELON! & a craft fair, live polka, & small petting zoo for kids that sometimes features free kittens or puppies. It sounds weird, but it is is fun! & street food: Hot Dogs & Pig wings! & be sure to check out sculpture gardens in Vining & the Purple Palace for the best fried chicken you have ever tasted!

Rural Minnesota offers a lot of things: fishing, farming, sports, but most people don't think of…read moreculture. The New York Mills Regional Cultural Center has provided not just culture, but some entertainment as well. The Cultural Center acts as a gallery for artists (both local and from far away), a concert venue, and they host the yearly "Great American Think Off" which is not just a couple of days of philosophical debates, but there is also a parade and street dance that accompany the festivities. I was recently up there, and although I didn't get to check out the gallery, I was able to listen to the reggae band concert that they hosted. If you're in rural Minnesota, and are looking for something interesting to do-give the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center a try.

*Review of buffet only* Price of buffet definitely off…read moreputting. Nearly $30 a person. Salad bar has lettuce, baby carrots, celery sticks, shredded cheese, black olives, cucumbers, abs grape tomatoes. Ranch dressing is a tub of Kraft ranch. Gross. Salad bar also cones with soup, and it was ok. Wild rice was the option but there was very little chicken and even less wild rice. Was mainly heavy cream base. Will not be returning. Staff was extremely friendly!

This is a big busy casino. A little outdated but not bad. The hotel room was nice and I no issues…read morewith it.

Great little hideaway in the woods! Beautiful pieces! Owner is very personable. Worth the drive for…read moresure.

I was in Vergas and found a small selection of Lost Highway Pottery at Natalie's Serendipity store…read more They had a 25% one item sale during Maple Syrup Festival. The business is about 6 miles from town. The drive had deer out and about from the woods. So that was cool. I found a blue and green small bowl. They have basic type colors and nothing vivid. There are cups, bowls, plates, bowls and strainer type bowls. The guy said to call as he is out fishing a lot. Review 58 in 2023.

Wow they have a Rembrandt now. Get over there and see it. Sweet collections. And a fine gift shop…read morewith quality stuff.

Great art center. Great mission. Be sure to visit if you're in Bemidji. Great adaptive reuse of a…read morevacant supermarket.