A cabin resort on Lake Mille Lacs known for their sand beach and range of lake activities. Their lodging ranges from studio rooms or cabins to a large ten bedroom home. This lodging is dog-friendly, with some restrictions.
If you're booking early, we recommend calling Appeldoorn's to get a full sense of which rooms are available - some cabins are open seasonally and therefore aren't listed on their website during the winter.
We'll be providing free shuttle service to and from this lodging for the ceremony, so if you'd like to enjoy the party without stressing about driving back this is a great choice!
We are happy to provide camping spaces for anyone who wants to bring a tent, RV, or camper and sleep at the venue. You should know that our informal "wedding party" of about fifty people will be staying in the cabins, so it may not be the quietest place to stay — but camping might be a great option if you want to stay close to nature (or the party!) Please let us know if you're planning on camping so we can inform the venue.
If you're looking for something a little different or would like a more traditional hotel, here are some local options! There are also many other nearby VRBOs, Airbnbs, campgrounds, and motels, so if none of these are your vibe feel free to look for something else that best fits your needs.
A unique tiny cabin rental with large picture windows and campfires. This lodging is dog-friendly.
Heads up: These cabins are designed to be for people to go "off the grid" and do not have wifi.
A cabin resort hotel on Mille Lacs Lake with golfing, pickleball, kayaking, and sailing. This lodging has pet-friendly rooms, but you need to call to verify their availability.
The closest traditional hotel, in the nearby town of Hinckley.
If you're not familiar with Minnesota, the Shire lies about halfway between Minneapolis and Duluth, near Mille Lacs Lake (and Sturgeon Lake, and Rice Lake, and Moose Lake... there's a lot of lakes). The Shire itself has trails to walk, and they connect to the Solana State Forest — which has even more trails!
There are trails at the Shire and beyond! Our favorite places to explore nearby have been Mille Lacs Kathio State Park, Banning State Park, and (a little futher north) Jay Cooke State Park. We've really enjoyed checking out the view from the Kathio observation tower and exploring the ruins of an old quarry on the Banning Quarry Trail.
If you're feeling adventurous, there are some awesome-looking whitewater rapids on Kettle River, and a horseback riding facility near Mille Lacs Kathio State Park.
About an hour's drive north of the Shire is the greatest lake of them all, Lake Superior, and the port town of Duluth. Try one of Mel's favorite black ales at Bent Paddle Brewery, explore downtown, or just goggle at the size of the lake.
If you have a little more time and want to explore closer to Minneapolis and St. Paul, here are some of our favorite places to visit!
Cafe Racer
Milkjam Ice Cream
The Bungalow Club
Owamni
World Street Kitchen
The Howe
Tracy's Saloon
Colita
Nightingale
O'Shaughnessy Distilling Company
Norseman Distillery
W.A. Frost
Bad Weather Brewing Company
Arbeiter Brewing Company
Minnehaha Falls
Mississippi Gorge Regional Park
Lake Nokomis
Theodore Wirth Regional Park
Chain of Lakes (Lake of the Isles, Bde Maka Ska, Lake Harriet)
Crosby Farm Regional Park
On your way to/from the Shire check out this free sculpture park with tons of weird art and interesting exhibits to explore. This place is so cool it was on the list of potential wedding venues, but Mel felt that it didn't have enough trees. Highly recommend checking it out!
The Twin Cities have an amazing literary scene and that means there's also a lot of cool bookstores! Mel and Zach volunteer at a collective called Boneshaker Books that has a great selection of local zines and art. If you're looking for something bigger (and with more regular hours) we also love Moon Palace Books.
This is Mel's favorite thing to do. They are especially fond of Dogwood and Wildflyer for coffee and walking the Winchell trail, but there are many great coffee shops (and trails by the Mississippi).