Weekend Review - Vol. 6

February 4-8, 2022

Hi! Welcome to weekend review - snowmobile edition! Some of my family went snowmobiling over this weekend and we had soooo much fun. 

Dan and I drove up to Minocqua, Wisconsin on Friday afternoon. It started snowing a little as we got further north. We had to get off the highway at one point for a crash, but luckily that didn't slow us down too much. After making it to Minocqua, we stopped for gas and ordered dinner to carry out. We picked up fish fry from Minocqua Yacht Club. The fish was incredible! We thought the fries and the salad we ordered were just okay. 

We were staying at the Pointe Hotel and Suites, and it was so exciting to see all the snowmobiles driving up and parked outside! We watched some of the Olympics and hung with my parents. 

On Saturday, we had breakfast at the hotel and then went to go rent our snowmobile gear (pants, jackets, suits, and boots). It was crazy how many snowmobilers we saw as we drove around - they'd be riding on trails next the road, crossing the highway near us, and we'd see them parked outside of bars and restaurants. After, we drove over to St. Germain where we stopped for lunch and a coffee at Red Canoe Coffee Co. I got a vegetable panini and a London Fog latte - it was great! We were glad to be warming up on such a cold and snowy day. 

As we were having lunch, the people working at the coffee shop were telling us about a special event happening on the lake just behind where we were. There was a fundraiser called Radar Run happening, which is "THE LARGEST WINTER LAKE RACE & BIKINI RUN IN THE MIDWEST!". Lol. So, of course we had to go check it out and see what it was like. We walked onto the frozen West Bay Little Saint Germain Lake, where there were tons of snowmobiles, trailers, cars, and people gathered! There were more snowmobiles in one place than any of us had ever seen. Truly, like 1,000 snowmobiles. Crazy! They were about to start the opening ceremonies for something, but after we heard a big crack from the lake underneath us, we decided to move on with our day, lol. 

We drove to the downtown area of Minocqua, where we walked through the little shops. We went over to the Waters of Minocqua to check out their indoor water park (we had talked about staying there when deciding which lodging to book for this weekend) and then we went back to our hotel to take a nap! I started a new book (Daisy Jones and the Six - so good!). 

After taking a break and warming up at the hotel, we headed out to dinner at Otto's Beer & Brat Garden. My brother and sister-in-law met us there after driving up from Chicago that day. Dan and I split a mushroom sandwich and a caesar salad. It was alright! Afterwards we headed to the hotel where we hung out for a little while and all tried on our snow gear for the next day. We played Spy Alley and Dan won!

Sunday morning we had a light breakfast at the hotel before heading out to get a late breakfast/early lunch at The Wild Boar. We split a pecan roll, and I had a skillet. Everything was delicious!! 

We were running a little late after having to wait a little bit to be seated, so we hustled back to the hotel to get all of our layers on before snowmobiling. We were amazed at how many snowmobile trailers we saw driving south as they were leaving for the weekend. We went over to Adventure North Snowmobile Tours where we were renting our snowmbiles and taking tour. After getting our helmets and safety talk, we did some practice on the lake, and then headed out on our tour! There were ten people total on the tour (six from my family + another family of three + the guide). It was exciting and a little nerve-wracking to get out on the trails. After riding a little bit, we stopped at Slo's Pub to have a drink and warm up. This seems like the quintessential schedule for snowmobiling - you ride for a little while, and then stop somewhere to warm up, have a drink, and maybe eat something. This also helps prevent rider fatigue and gives you a break from concentrating on the trails. After our stop, we rode further out on some trails and stopped at this beautiful frozen lake in the woods!

We ended up going a little further than anticipated, and the group decided to make another warm up stop before turning around and heading back. Our ride back to Minocqua was in the dark through the woods, which was pretty cool and also made me a little nervous! But I ended up loving it, although it was a little harder to concentrate when its so dark. It had snowed this whole day while we were riding! After returning our snowmobiles, we went straight to a late dinner at Oakfire Pizza. Yum. This meal was so good!! I ordered a winter sangria to start which was excellent. We had bruschetta, cheese curds, and calimari to share, and then Dan and I split a caesar salad and a mushroom pizza. My mouth is watering just remembering this meal, lol.

I have eaten at the Lake Geneva location of Oakfire before and had a good experience there, but this was even better than I remember! We headed back to the hotel and I took a hot shower to warm up. Then we went to bed and had sweet, snowmobiling dreams!

Monday we got up and had some food at our hotel. Dan and I ate the rest of the pizza from the night before. Then we geared up and headed over to the snowmobile place. I was excited to do day 2!! This time our tour was just my family and the guide. We quickly headed out and rode through some familiar and some different trails! We rode up to Sayner, Wisconsin where you can see the world's first snowmobile at the Vilas County Historical Museum. 

This is also located in a hardware store, lol. While stopped, we picked up a snack and drink from the store! 

As we got back on the trail, we had to drive by the trail groomer which was very interesting to see and a tight squeeze to get by. We made it back and returned our snowmobiles about 5pm so we could get ready for our dinner reservation. Our dinner was at Norwood Pines, a supper club that my parents had eaten at a few nights before. We loved how the place was still decorated for Christmas! To start, we shared onion rings, fried mushrooms, bread, and the soup or salads that our meals came with. For dinner, I had some salmon that was really good. We were so full after this meal, lol. 

We headed back to the hotel, and I watched some more Olympics (saw Nathan Chen do his short program!) while packing up. 

Tuesday morning we got up and packed up the car. We headed out of Minocqua and stopped to get brunch at Friendship House Family Restaurant in Merrill. I had a skillet and pancakes. It was all great! We finished our drive back to Milwaukee and picked up Millie!

Dan and I had sooo much fun snowmobiling and can't wait to go again! I loved being outside, riding through the forests, and stopping at the little local bars. I can't believe how many trails there are and how popular it is in that area! It truly felt like everyone who was in Minocqua that weekend was there to snowmobile, which was cool to experience. You definitely have to be dressed appropriately and be careful, but its a blast to rip down the trails!