Oktoberfest: Ruttger’s Bay Lake Resort, MN

Last year while I was living in the UP, I worked for a restaurant in Crystal Falls, MI. They have a food truck that they set up in local towns and events- starting in the spring to mid fall (when the weather is still bearable for hours at a time). They had asked me if I wanted to participate in the food trailer event they had scheduled at Ruttger’s Bay Lake Resort for their annual Oktoberfest. I thought it would be a great change of pace from being at the restaurant and I was excited to go to a new area for a weekend.

Ruttger’s Annual Oktoberfest 

Ruttger’s Bay Lake Resort has hosted their annual Oktoberfest event in October every year for the past 38 years now. This two-day event features great food, entertainment and a craft show featuring local vendors. Food and beverage vendors line the resort parking lot with hay bales and pumpkins forming lines for guests. The entertainment tent is scheduled up with live music throughout both days of the festival. 

Ruttger’s has so much to offer including a variety of eight different accommodation offerings, golf courses, fun, four dining options, and opportunities for groups like weddings, meetings, retreats, team building activities, and social gatherings to visit the resort.  

While I didn’t work the event with my old coworkers this year, I decided to ask my mom if she wanted to spend a weekend getaway to the event with me. She agreed and we decided to drive up Saturday morning and stay the night in Brainerd, MN, returning home on Sunday. That Friday after I was done working, I drove from the Appleton area down to my parents house to spend the night. It was nice to catch up with my parents but we also had an early night since we woke up early to leave at about 5am on Saturday morning. 

Road Trip

I always look forward to longer drives. I offered to drive and the first couple of hours were pretty dark yet. My mom and I are perfect road trip partners, we talk about anything and everything. The conversations flow from what’s going on in her work world, to what home is like without my sister and I around, to me navigating multiple part-time jobs (which I love), to my personal life too. We stopped in Eau Claire for a bathroom break about 2 hours in (and to get some coffee). When we hit the road again, the sun was just starting to peak over the horizon. It looked like the trees were on fire being in peak colors of fall. 

We continued chatting about our lives and soaking in all the fall colors; pointing out pretty trees, or local businesses along the way. Once we got past Minneapolis, the interstates turned to back country road highways, the colors became even more vibrant, and we found foggy lakes nestled along the curves. There were tons of cars on the side of the main road leading to the resort, so we parked and walked our way up to the main grounds. Our first stop was a bathroom, and of course with me having been there last year, I knew where everything was. I showed her around and explained some of the memories from last year. 

Supporting Small

We walked up to the trailer where my old coworkers were already working hard and all of them had the biggest smiles growing on their faces. We exchanged hugs, hellos and small talk catch up from the last time I saw them all. They all had already had spiked hot chocolates (which was one of the highlights from last year) so my mom and I headed over to the hot chocolate vendor for some “Polar Bears” (baileys, peppermint schnapps in hot chocolate). 

We spent the next little while walking around all of the vendor booths- Christmas decor, scarves and woven clothing, wood work, hats, jewelry and so soooo much more. We made our first stop at a local coffee maker’s booth. He introduced the brand to us and explained his coffee (we all know how much I love coffee, and if you don’t- you will soon). He roasts his own coffee beans but in a nordic way, without the shells. This type of roast provides a smoother and creamier brew. I bought a medium roast blend that has a cinnamon bun flavor. He gave me his business card in case I want to order more in the future. They don’t have an official website to order off of since it’s small yet, but he said that I can text or call him and he could mail some to me. 

Art Show

After we were done at the vendor booths and the gift shop with Oktoberfest merch we went into the main lodge of the resort and checked out the vendor booths for the art show; lots of clothing, jewelry, shelf stable food, mittens, scarves, sweatshirts, and more. There were about 4-5 different conference rooms filled with booths. We ended up going back to the gift shop to purchase matching crewnecks with the Oktoberfest logo embroidered on them before they sold out. 

Food / Beverage 

A big part of this event is all of the food and beverage options. Of course, Curious Pig with the smoked meats – brisket, mashed potato bowls, pulled pork sandwiches, and for dessert they had pumpkin praline bread pudding (one of my all time favorites). There were stands that had beer, pumpkin cider, and brats. Liquor stands for cocktails like caramel appletini, apple old fashioned and more. The hot beverage stand with different flavored hot chocolates. There was even a German Taco stand. My mom and I both got brats, and I also got the pumpkin cider, which was delicious. 

Live Music

The whole day was filled with live music performances under the big tent; it was enclosed to keep everyone warm. There were german chants, dancing, instruments and so much enthusiasm. Tables were set up for people to hang around and join in on the festivities. Some of the performers this year were Concord Singers and Joey Johnson Band.

Whenever we had down time, we went into the tent to slow down and just enjoy the live music. 

Festivities ended at 5pm; all of the booths and vendors started packing up their belongings and we hung out with my old coworkers for the rest of the evening. We got dinner and drinks and just spent time in good company. It was so great to see people from a past chapter and catch up on things that are the same and different from when we were all a part of each others’ everyday lives.