Quick weekend get-away

I've found my new favorite north woods hotel-- though it's far from the North Woods perception.
Chase on the Lake is my newest love! (Since the jelly shots in December!) Located on Leech Lake in Walker, it's a historic hotel with a story to tell. It's been burned and remodeled to it's original glory. And, it's GORGEOUS! I love the woodwork and all the charm. It was beautifully remodeled.
Mike and I stayed there this past weekend, actually Sunday night. I purchased a Groupon in December (I think), so we had to use it before it expired. I have to tell you that I've wanted to stay here for about two years. I visited the hotel and the conference facilities about two years ago, and ever since, I've wanted to stay here. I finally got my wish! I was soooo excited to see the Groupon appear in my inbox that morning saying "Chase on the Lake."
The Groupon was an awesome deal. For $89 we got: our room, $50 at the 502 for food, and 4 hours of a rented snowmobile. We didn't really need the snowmobile rental, but it just sweetened the deal. We decided to bring Mike's snowmobile so we didn't have to ride 2-up.
So, we headed out Sunday afternoon. About an hour from home I got a call from Chase saying that they had problems with our snowmobile rental for Monday morning. The snowmobile we had rented was banged up over the weekend and wasn't expected to be fixed in time. I wasn't happy to hear this. We didn't bring fishing gear because we planned on riding. I was asked if they could sub the Wii room or the bowling alley for an hour. I can play Wii and go bowling at home. We didn't drive 3+ hours to play Wii and go bowling. I told them we'd talk about it when we checked in.
When we checked in we were told that they'd make phone calls to people and see if someone would give us their time slot and their snowmobile. In the meantime, we were upgraded to a lakeside studio suite (which is AWESOME!). In the end, we got a snowmobile from 7:30 to 10 a.m. Not nearly enough time. We were back by 10, but I could have ridden all day. The trails were beat from the weekend, but they were all snow covered and pretty good for a Monday morning.
Our room was awesome. Nicer than my house, and very well could be the same square footage (I'm not kidding!). Granite, stainless appliances, real wood floors and a fireplace. It was really nice! Plus, it had a washer/dryer in the room. I could live there!
Mike and I had dinner at the 502 Sunday night. He had a full rack of ribs and I had scallops. Yum-o! We were given up to $25 per person for our meal. Drinks, apps and dessert was separate. Still a smokin' deal! we spent a total of $21.75 on our meal, when it should have been $71.75.
After din, we headed to the pool area. We took a sauna and jumped into the cold water plunge pool. 65 degrees feels pretty cold after sitting in the sauna for 20 minutes. But, it's great, and it feels good. I swam in the pool, which hasn't happened for years and years. I don't want to see myself in swim suit let alone other people. We were the only people in the pool there except for 3 teen-age looking kids. Before leaving we hit the whirlpool for a few minutes. I haven't gone swimming for a long time, so that was kinda fun.
We bummed around the room for the remainder of the evening, playing a new card game that I don't even know the name of and some cribbage. We had to get up early to go riding, so it wasn't a wild and crazy night on the town. (As if there's anything to do in Walker on a Sunday night, anyway!)
Bright and early Monday morning we hit the trails. I rode the rental. A Polaris (GASP!!!!). Yes, I had to ride something other than a Ski-Doo. I paid for it, too. I put my little camera in the saddle bag with my water bottle and when we stopped the first time, I was going to take a photo. I reached in and my hand felt inches of water. NOT GOOD. My camera floated around in water for about an hour. It's dead, and I'm convinced that it's because I had to ride a Polaris! :) Stupid water bottle. Mike told me I was dumb for putting my coveted camera with water, but I've done it lots of times before. That was the worst part of the trip. I'm really disappointed that the camera is dead, BUT my memory card survived and I was able to get the pics from it.
We had an hour riding to pack and check out. We had some of the continental breakfast, packed and headed home. I wasn't happy to be going back home so soon, but I know that I'm going back. I love the place.
Here are some pics from the weekend. There's one from the lobby, some from our room and them two from our meal.

Restaurant review time

First of all, don't get used to me posting twice within 24 hours. I actually have some extra time right now, so I'm scratching one more topic off my list, that being: a few restaurant reviews, actually not reviews, more like my opinion.
Mike and I had a date night on Saturday night and ventured downtown to Murray's in Minneapolis. I had a Groupon that expired at the end of November, and because Mike is pretty much non-existent on November weekends, we had to use it this weekend. We even skipped a Halloween party at my cousin's house to get down there. I hate that weekends get soooo busy.
Back to the topic at hand. I made reservations for 8 so Mike could hunt in the evening and we'd still have time for dinner, plus I thought that the dinner crowd would be cleared out by then. Boy, was I ever wrong. This being my first and only time to Murray's I have nothing to compare it to, but every table in the place was full, and they pack the tables in there like sardines. I wasn't impressed at all. I had to squish my fat butt past a few tables to get to the bathroom, and I didn't like it. Plus, it was kinda loud for a nice place. Lots of conversation over the piano being played in the background.
The wine was $9 per glass, for the cheapest Cabernet, too. Dislike. I love wine with my food, so I only got one glass. We also ordered some walleye and wild rice spring rolls. A good combination until they threw in some Asian cole slaw and some other Asian sauce that I didn't like. Don't pair something so Minnesotan with something across the world. In my opinion, they do not mesh well!
I'm not a red meat eater, so I didn't have to worry about ordering a $50 steak, which is what Mike did. Really?! Does a slab of meat really cost that much???? Mike himself said that he could cook a steak almost as well. He loves steak, and he's the one that grills them. My salmon was good, and the portion was large, so no complaints there. The next one comes when we got the bill. We had to pay extra for the salad, that I swore came with the meal. I didn't say anything because our waiter was so busy with his other tables, and he actually got our bill wrong the first time, so I didn't want to question the salads and be a real b*^#@. Maybe I should have, but that's in the past. All in all, I'm glad that we finally went there because I know so many people that love the place. Maybe if I ate a gross, juicy steak, I'd have a different opinion. That won't happen anytime soon!
I do love being downtown, though. There was a little mist in the air, so looking up at the buildings was beautiful in the foggy night sky. Driving downtown is another story, I was happy to let Mike do it. He knows his way around pretty well anyway. It was a good night, just not as good as I was anticipating. Good thing I had the Groupon and didn't have to pay the actual price of our meal! That would have been a little painful. I really don't have a problem paying a few dollars for anything, but I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for. Except when it comes to restaurants. I love to cook, so maybe I'm better off making dinner for our date nights. But, that takes work, and I want to be wine and dined once in a while, too.
I'd also like to write about another place we've been lately, but I don't have time. Maybe I'll start a new list of topics: restaurants.