A Place and a Pontoon ride

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome everybody. We are Artfully Tailored Conversations. Two sisters, Melody and Penny, One Heart, Endless Creativity. Welcome to our little corner of the world. Hi guys. Welcome. Today we want to talk about a place and a pontoon ride. In uh finding ways to inspire us, we have discovered that from time to time it is a good idea to re-energize and have some fun and get inspired. And so we go away. You may wonder, where do we go? Well, here and there, and no. Well, let me tell you, right here is one of our favorite places where we are podcasting live to you. And it is called The Quarter Deck. Yes. And it is in northern Minnesota, and some of you probably have heard of it. Um, and so we have a little backstory to this place. The first time I ever was here, my children were in elementary school and junior high, and we came as a family to Snowmobile. This place um had been here a long time, and it had all these little cabins and a restaurant with a lot of like gaming things in there, like pinball and stuff like that, which was the the height of childhood fun, so at the time, and um we uh rented it online, not online, no. We had to there was no online at the time because that was quite a while ago. Anyway, we saw pictures, must have been online, anyway. We saw pictures, and we rented it just through the pictures because it looked really nice. Yes, had a fireplace, had a nice little kitchen, bathroom, little living room, dining room, and it looked like it would be just fine for us and all our gear and everything. And so that's what we did. Well, we came up here, and shock of all shocks, that little place was little. And I how little was it? Oh my gosh. Oh, I don't even know what what the right words are, but I just remember we wanted, we wanted it. What drew us to it was the fact that it had a fireplace because we like our fireplaces. Yes, we do. And it was the smallest fireplace I have ever seen in my whole entire life. It was as wide as a roll of paper towel, and you probably could put two size paper towels in it. And and then they had some electric baseboard heating, but that was it. And and the rest of the place was tiny, tiny. The kitchen was so small you could have two people in their max, and it just it was terrible. And we we even tried to get our money back, but no success. Anyway, we came as a family, and they, of course, the kids had fun because we there's no way we could stay in it. We had to snowmobile. So that's what we did all week long, and we did have family up here, but they were in a whole different place where they had a lot more room, so we could go over there and make dinner and what have you. So it was kind of our saving grace, but um, so that's how it was long time ago. I'm gonna say 90s, early nine, yeah, mid 90s. So 30 years ago, yeah. Easily, and then um, we never came back because no way. I was really, really mad. It was very expensive, and so um then I heard I've I don't know, maybe 15 years after we had been up here, it had burnt the whole place had burned down. It's like what? So it did, and it was gone. Quarter deck gone, no more. And the next thing I heard was maybe 10 years later that somebody had bought it, or that they had started to renovate it, whoever owned it, and then somebody else bought it, and they were continuing to renovate it. They actually, I think, tore everything out and just recently the whole thing. And um, so let's see, where was I here? So we rediscovered it, and so we kind of were keeping an eye on this. Like, what is going on? What is going on? And they first of all they built a lodge with lodging, very, very nice rooms, and then uh restaurant underneath. Yes, restaurant door really, really good food. Yes, and then of course, they had in the summer tons and tons of boat slips, and they sell gas for the boats, and there's a um a beach for the kids, and they have bonfires outside, and I mean, just to really it's looking like oh, this is this is nice. The next thing we know, they are building these amazing looking, they look like little homes, but they're condos, and they're that dark wood burnt wood look like well, how do you say that? Shoshuto. Oh, I don't know what the Japanese word is. Yes, it's not that, but it looks like that.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

Yeah. And the beautiful pine accents around the door, yeah. So it's very, very striking. Yeah, very striking.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Very Scandinavian looking. Yes, very Scandinavian looking and modern inside. Yes. And they were selling these, people can buy them, and then the quarter deck takes care of the maintenance and the and renting it out. If they want, if they wish to do that, they don't have to do that. So I would say about three years ago, we decided that we wanted to rent one of these, and that's been the beginning of the beginning. That started it, and so it's become our go-to because you guys, not only are these really nice and they're just um adequate for us, every unit has its own fire pit with these beautiful anirondack chairs that are they're just cool. And then there is an a heated pool all year round. Yes, a heated hot tub, pretty good size, all your round, and they are salt water, both of them.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Yes, amazing.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

And then um a sauna that is huge sauna. It's just amazing. And then uh connected to all that is a game room with the largest, I don't know, what is it? Um, the largest, what's the game down there, Penny? Largest, not not Mario Brothers, but something else. It says it's the largest one in Minnesota. I don't know. Anyway, and there's a little you know bar down there where they sell soda and probably beer and stuff like that. But I don't know, we haven't really used that. And another fireplace, but this one's ginormous. Yes, and it's real, yes, so cool. So that's our getaway place where we go to be inspired. Be inspired and rejuvenate, yes, rejuvenate, yes.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

And we've come together, um, Melody and I, um, several times um by ourselves, like this, like we're doing now. Other times we've had one other sister, two other sisters with us, and other times we've come with our husbands, the four of us, and other times I've come with my husband, just he and I. Sometimes we've stayed in the lodge, sometimes we've stayed out here because we have stayed in one by ourselves. So this is this is our go-to. That's the first place we look at when we're looking for someplace to recharge. I think big the big draw too is that we know exactly what we're getting. And when they have deals, they have real, really good deals. So now this time here is going to more than likely be the last time we will be here until the fall. Because we are we are ushering in the summer, and they are they are booked. I mean, when I look ahead, you know, for uh June, July, and August, there are no openings whatsoever on anything. Yeah. And they have quite a number of different units, some are right on the lake, and there's, I mean, it's oh my gosh, it is it's really something. Yeah, and we just enjoy it immensely. Right. We just we have a lot of peace when we're here, and you can stay here and be very content. Yes, you can also leave and go into surrounding, you know, shopping areas if you like, um, which you know we do, but just staying here and not doing anything else. One of us really likes to shop. Yes, guess who?

SPEAKER_01 8:54

But today we had a one a really wonderful surprise. We were having our breakfast, and we got a phone call from my future son-in-law, and he asked if we would like to take a pontoon ride around the lake. Well, not around the lake, that's not possible in two hours, but anyway, to take a pontoon ride and said, Well, yeah, that'd be great. So he came and picked us. He picked us up. I mean, oh wow. And he gave us a tour and just pointed out all of the things that are happening on the water. There are several resorts on this lake. Mega resorts. Yes, and they are all doing what this place has done. Yes. Because it is working good for them, I believe. And these other resorts also have uh golf courses attached. Yeah, they are um, what do you call them when they when they've been designed by a professional? Oh they're um professional.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

I mean they're beautiful, yeah. And that is the that is their big draw is they draw go um golfers. Yes. And they also do, you know, things like a lot of wedding. They host a lot of family gatherings, they do um oh my gosh. But their their big draw is golf. Quarter deck does not have that. That is not that is not in their in their dynamics at all. This is this is really the other ones are family friendly as well, but this is really a family-friendly um uh little resort, um, but it's also a big draw for couples. Like I said, my husband and I have come up by ourselves. In fact, we had our honeymoon here, and um you can see it, you can see by the people that are you know that are gathering around in the different um condos and in the lodge that it's it's very family-driven. And I think a lot of them are are long-term repeats. People that like us that have come back and come back and come back because again, they know exactly what they're getting. Right. There's no surprises. Yeah. Um, not like like not like there was the first time when Melanie came back. No, not like that at all. Oh, you think. I mean, it's not a it's not perfect, nothing is. You know, there's always a little a little fly in the ointment here and there, but you know, you bring it to management's um attention and it's taken care of. Um the grounds are beautiful, and as we're sitting right here and doing this podcast, I'm looking out. We're both looking out at the most beautiful woods, and we have seen deer come through here. Almost every time, this is the first time I think we haven't seen deer since we've been in a casting at a wood smoke. But it is um, I would say outside of the North Sheriff Shore on Lake Superior, Duluth, and going north, I would say this ranks right there with favorite places to go. And so we do if you're if you're in the Minnesota, mid-Minnesota area, and you're looking for someplace, I would definitely check out their website and give it serious consideration. We highly recommend them. Yeah. We've been very, very happy here. Yes, yes. Very happy here. I would agree. Okay. I think that's good for now. So we really hope that you take something away from this, something that gives you joy and a little something to ponder, perhaps. And uh that you could laugh with us a little bit once again. Okay. And we wish you a very blessed coming week. Yes. And um God bless you all, and we'll see we'll talk with you next week. Alrighty. All right, bye-bye. Bye-bye.