It’s that time of year again and the big day is almost here! We, as well as many other resorts, like to put on our most festive garments, and make the merriment feel as real as possible to entice you to join us during the holiday season. There’s a very good reason for that! Yes, we’d love for you to join us anytime of the year, but there is something special about having guests stay during this time of year as well as major benefits for you to make the journey to visit us!

Today we’re going to discuss our top 5 reasons you might want to travel instead of staying home for the holidays.

5. The Cleaning, the cooking, the cleaning!

You know the feeling, “Christmas is next week so I better start cleaning and getting ready now…” Yep a full week of cleaning and preparation to get your family and friends over for the holidays. Hours of cleaning, setting up tables and chairs, making sure everything will be perfect and you accommodate for everyone. Uncle Bill has to have a comfy seat, Grandma can’t be too close Aunt Suzie or they’ll argue, and Mark is a vegetarian now so I guess we’ll have to separate his food out. Oh bet let’s not forget the fact that after the days worth of setup, we’ve still got several hours of cleanup, and large amounts of trash we need to store until trash day, and that’s all after everyone leaves! If you thought “Oy vey” you aren’t alone, after all ’tis the season!

Let’s be honest, we love having people over to our homes, but people are messy! Sure our families mean well, and some even pick up after themselves… but in the end you’re the one managing all the humbug of the day. Taking your family elsewhere for the holidays is a fantastic way to live like Kings and worry about the good parts of the holiday, not focus on how much cleaning needs to be done.

Think of it this way: for Christmas I cleaned for 2 days before and 2 days afterwards, plus spent 10 hours in the kitchen prepping food for my family, vs. for Christmas I had a professionally training chef prepare my family a 3 course meal, twice a day, and had a staff of house keepers clean and prepare my room everyday. One of those statements sounds like my cup of tea, while the other sounds like a lot of work during my “time off.”

4. A Central Location for everyone to meet

Back in the day, families didn’t travel much and pretty much stayed put. This meant that everyone was within a small radius to travel and it was relatively easy for us all to get together. Now a days that seems to be the exception rather than the rule. With family members living in other states, off to college somewhere, or constantly traveling for work, it can often be really difficult to have everyone land in one place. It also makes those that live the furthest feel like they are making the most effort to see family.

Traveling for the holidays tells the whole family, “We’re doing something different this year” and adds an exciting twist to “going home.” That alone might be enough to get those strangers we call “our kids in college” excited (and motivated) enough to come back to spend some time during the holidays. They know what going “home” is like on Christmas, what will happen, and what to expect. Traveling somewhere for the holidays throws them a curve-ball though, and presents a brand new experience they won’t forget, regardless of where you go.

3. An excuse to spend a holiday without them.

Well it’s come time to get real with this little chat, less fluff and more strait talk. You know who I’m talking about, and if you don’t… I might be talking about you! All joking aside, there comes a time when we don’t want to see every family member or friend during the holidays, or we get invited places we don’t want to go. Due to our social nature we often feel pressured into going, seeing, or doing things we don’t want to or don’t feel we have the time for.

Getting away for the holidays gives us that super sweet trump card that let’s us say, “Oh gosh I’d love to, but you know what we’ll be out of town… darn the luck!” When in reality we are doing a little celebration dance in our head. From time to time it’s nice to just break away from the norm and spend time with only those people that we are the closest to. Bigger is not always better and having a quiet Christmas on a lake with our immediate family might just be what we need to back a little peace of mind.

Read More about our Special Christmas Savings

2.Unforgettable Memories

Can you remember what happened 2 Christmases ago? I can’t… but I can tell you about 80% of what happened the time my family went to a resort for Christmas when I was 15. Our memories are funny like that, we forget the stuff we do that we feel is “routine” but latch on to the out of the ordinary. Want to create some memories that your kids will have with them in their 90’s? Get out of the house and travel for the holidays.

Not only do you create memories by getting out of the norm, but there are also things to do that you might not always be able to. Imagine going snowmobiling on Christmas with your daughter, or going on a snowshoe trek the day after Christmas with your son, or jumping in a relaxing hot tub with a refreshing drink and your significant other while enjoying a small slice of silence. For most of us, these are things we can or will do this holiday season, but all possible when traveling for the holidays.

Not to mention you can find some excellent accommodations that will make the family ooh and aah upon their arrival. Sure your living room might be great, but can it compare to a lakeside cottage on Lake Superior? You’d be surprised how many college age kids that can’t wait for the first moment to leave the house find themselves sitting with their family for hours just staring at the majestic beauty of the northern lakes.

1. More time for what’s important  

This one should be a gemme because it’s an underlying theme throughout all of this Top 5 list. Spending time with our family, talking, laughing, and sharing– these are exactly what the holidays are meant to be about. Too often we get caught up in the movement of things to get done, where people need to be, and who we need to see that we don’t make enough time to just sit back and enjoy one another. Traveling for your holiday gives you that opportunity we all need: to get away and forget about the everyday worries.

Need to clean? No, someone on staff will take care of that. Need to cook? Nope, someone on staff will handle that too. Need to worry about waking up and getting some work done? Nope, unless you need to get up early for something fun like a dog-sled or snowmobile ride, you can sleep in as late as you want. When traveling for the holidays your biggest concern can literally be “What fun things do we want to do today?” All the worry and minor details are already taken care of, now it’s time to enjoy your family and enjoy life!

The bottom line is that there are many advantages to getting away with your family for the holidays that ultimately let you spend more time enjoying your time off of work, instead of making the whole event more stressful. From all of us at Cove Point Lodge we’d love to share the holidays with you and offer plenty of fun things for the whole family to do, but regardless if you stay with us, somewhere else, or even stay home, we wish you all a very happy and safe holiday season!