Up north getaways: Andover author spotlights Minnesota resorts

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by Jason Olson
Staff writer

Author Neil Johnson’s first journey into the world of publishing splits the storied history with the vast array of one of the great pastimes in our state’s history – resorts.

Johnson’s book, “Resorts of Minnesota,” looks at how resorts have grown over the last century from former logging villages to fishing lodges and a full-service family vacation.

“I like resorting,” he said in a recent interview.

Johnson now lives in Andover with his wife and six children. “I like what it does for families – unplug a family for a week,” he said. “It was something I wanted to encourage people to do.”

This was Johnson’s first venture in writing a book. His wife, Lora Johnson, authored the 2006 children’s book, “The Night I met Santa.”

“We worked to cover the places people don’t know about,” Johnson said. “We wanted to cover the ma and pa resorts where the people that greet you are the same people who change your linens and take your reservation.

“There is such a strong backlash right now against big government, big corporations and all the stuff going on right now people just don’t trust them right now. People are getting back to trusting the small businesses right now.”

As gas prices have continued to rise, the theme of a “stay-cation” has become the new catch phrase to entice folks to stay within the borders for their vacations instead of hopping a plane for California, Chicago or New York.

Johnson recalls some of his fondest memories of growing up around Bemidji (in Debs, population eight) on 168 acres of land as those spent on the lake shores at resorts.

The Johnsons took a trip to a resort for their first vacation after their wedding. “It was such an enjoyable thing to do,” he said about heading north for vacations. “[Our kids] would rather go up there instead of Disney World, any day.”

For the book, Johnson traveled to the four corners of the state, or as he describes it, “from the Iowa border to the Northwest Angle and from the prairie pothole region of western Minnesota to the North Shore.”

One of the surprising points he makes in the book is that the number of beds remains relatively the same while the number of resorts went from 4,000 at one time to 900 nowadays.

The oldest resort featured in the book dates back to 1870 which most recently was known as Bonnie Beach Resort. It began as Camp Corliss as a private retreat for an attorney in northern Minnesota.

To be more accurate, Johnson spotlights 37 resorts in what amounts to 40,000 miles covered; 20,000 images shot; 200 interviews and 75,000 words written during the 16-month process. The visually-stunning book averages five photos per page.

He admits the toughest part of the process was the time away from family, but the benefits weren’t too bad either.

“Sometimes I’d get up at 3 a.m. and wouldn’t get home until midnight,” Johnson said about the time he put into the project. “And my wife is still with me!”

Johnson traveled with his family for some first-hand perspective, which proved to be invaluable. “It was a fun project and I took my family house boating for a week in northern Minnesota,” he said.

Johnson took his two eldest children on a trek through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and enjoyed a hunting trip with his son.

His next book takes a look at Wisconsin’s storied resorts. “I’ve already put on a few thousand miles on now with this new project,” he said. Minnesota is known for its water, but Wisconsin surprisingly has more lakes. According to Johnson, the Badger State has 15,000 lakes compared with Minnesota’s 14,000.

“Everyone in the country and world should experience this,” he said. “[Minnesota and Wisconsin] are the only two states that have resorts like this and it’s because of our lakes.

 

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