8-5-19 Detroit Lakes, MN

Two years ago, we took a paddleboat down the entire Mississippi River from Red Wing, MN to New Orleans.  Well, it wasn’t the “entire” Mississippi River because we didn’t start the tour at the very beginning of the river so technically, we felt we couldn’t say that we’d seen the “whole river.”  So actually, visiting the headwaters has been on our bucket list ever since.

Lake Itasca State Park is where one will find the headwaters of the Mississippi River and it happens to be on our route westward on this leg of the trip.  Or shall I say, I deliberately sorta planned it this way.  When I say that this is where the headwaters are located, I will qualify that.  Seems there has been controversy over the centuries as to EXACTLY where that is.  One explorer would say he found it over here, another would claim, “Nope, I found it over there.”  Finally, Jacob V. Brower established Lake Itasca State Park in 1891 and declared that Lake Itasca is the headwaters of the Mississippi River.  I don’t know why ol’ Jake had the final word on that, he just did, period.  The river got its name from the Indians who called it “misi-ziipi,” which means “great river” and it’s the second longest river on the North American continent, second only to the Hudson Bay system.

We made it!  

So if you are a molecule of water or a pebble, you can set sail from this point and travel north for a bit (downhill is north at this point of the divide).  Think of it as starting at the beginning of a question mark.  Your journey then curves around and you float southward for 2,552 miles until you dump out into the Gulf of Mexico in New Orleans.  Fantastic.  At last, we can finally say that we have paid our respects to the “entire” Mississippi River!

Knee-deep in the
Mississippi River

Connected to New Orleans!

At last!  

"Rob... You're standing in the
Mighty Mississippi!"

There is a reason why Minnesota is called the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.”  Every mile or two, you come across a lake, small, big, multi-lobed, oval or perfectly round.  They say that the footprints and hoof prints of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox created the many thousands of lakes in the Midwest.  I just love that tale.

Rob and Todd Mitchell at
Country Campground

We stayed for 3 nights in Detroit Lakes at Country Campground, one of the nicest parks we’ve visited and that’s sayin’ somethin!’  It is obvious that Karen and Todd really care about their park, everything is exactly perfect.  As for this area, it was first settled in 1871 during the heyday of the railroads.  The name, “Detroit,” came from a French Catholic Priest who said, “What a beautiful ‘detroit,’” which means, “strait.” 

Campfire in the "Hot-Pot."  Sweet!

That’s when the trouble began.  The US Postal Service kept mixing up the mail intended for Detroit, MN with Detroit, MI.  So Detroit, MN blinked first and changed its name to Detroit Lakes.  An apt moniker as our campground is near Glawe Lake and sits in a cluster of ten other lakes, Big and Little Detroit Lakes being two of them.

Holiday Beach Bar and Grill...no worries!

Rob chills at the Lakeside Tavern

Inside the Lakeside Tavern

"Free Beer?!"  Oh yeah,
always read the fine print.

Big Detroit Lake as viewed
from the Fireside Restaurant. 
CHEERS!

Rob and I often talk about all the places we’ve been and where, if anywhere, would be our choices of places to live, the weather factor left out of the equation altogether.  The rundown so far:  Dover, DE;  Rapid City, SD; Boise, ID and now, Detroit Lakes, MN.  The population is 9,200, there is an “old town,” the friendliest natives, great local beer and wine, saloons and restaurants with outdoor decks on the water that serve great food and miles of fabulous waterfront views.  And you can do serious damage to the fish population here.  What a beautiful place!  Now we move on to Watertown, SD through the green farmland, past hundreds of lakes and under the bluest of skies.  Remarkable!