ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — An author who spent a year visiting family-run resorts across Minnesota has written a book celebrating the history and heritage of the state's resort industry.
Neil Johnson says he hopes the book will encourage readers to develop their own vacation traditions.
Johnson says the first resorts opened in Minnesota in the 1870s. At the industry's peak there were almost 5,000 resorts in the state, but the number is closer to 900 now.
He tells Minnesota Public Radio (http://bit.ly/v1NGqW ) the mom-and-pop resort experience is unlike any other.
He says his favorite resorts are the ones in remote areas such as the Wilderness Bay Lodge in Ely. He says it's only accessible by water, so visitors use a phone booth to have staffers pick them up in an old pontoon.
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Information from: Minnesota Public Radio News, http://www.mpr.org
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
