recommendations, midwest family vacation spot with kiting?

[xrdave]

Can anyone recommend a lake or lakeside resort in northern MN, WI or UP Michigan, where we will find good kiting but enough other stuff to keep the non-kiters in the family happy on a one-week summer vacation? The resorts around Mille Lacs seem to very fishing-oriented, so perhaps not such fun for non-fishermen.
thanks
Dave

[Kevinousdigian]

Ah the dilemmas... Do you need to be on the lake with kiting or near a lake? In the summer your likely to only get 1-2 days of kiting depending on your light wind equipment and luck. So a more reasonable idea may be to stay at a resort within 1-1.5 hrs from a great kiteable lake. Of course being able to kite from where the family is staying is a bonus but then the wind has to be the right direction too and your wife may not like being where it's windy (or at least mine doesn't).
Some ideas in MN:
- Appledorns - east side of ML - I've never stayed there but looks like family oriented place with great beach, no pool.
- Ruttgers just NE of Garrison
- Kavanaughs just west of brainerd. Really nice place and 1 hr+ to Garrison, lake it's on is small so not really kiteable.
- Gull 4 seasons on Gull Lake. Not easy but possible to launch a kite in water. within striking distance of ML, or Pelican
- Breezy point on pelican (on west side but also nice beach on east side to kite)
- boyd lodge on whitefish (sandy beach and kiteable on SW-W-NW-N- NNE)

Kevin Ousdigian

[Mike Kellett]

Check out the Door County peninsula in Wisconsin.
Lots of things to do for everyone in the family and, if you get South winds, Baileys Harbor is one of the best places I know for kiting.
mike

[Bill S.]

Second Mike's suggestion: if you want to kite in the summer head to the Big Lake. Both Door County and the southern shore of the UP have miles of ridable coast and lots of family things to do.

[jyetley]

Bayfield WI has lots of things for the family. Madeline Island, Apostle Island Tours, lighthouses, hiking, Sea or Brule River kayaking, road or mtb biking, etc. With great kiting in Herbster (colder than normal this year) and Chequamegon Bay, but beware of offshore winds...I almost had a very long session last weekend.

[xrdave]

Thanks to all of you for the suggestions - that gives me some good ideas to research.