Cruising along on the Pelican Breeze in Albert Lea.

*I received a free cruise to help facilitate my review. All thoughts and opinions are completely honest and our own.

Last week all three big kids and I boarded the Pelican Breeze II at Frank Hall Park in Albert lea. The Pelican Breeze II board had invited bloggers from Southern Minnesota and Northern Iowa to come experience our beautiful community.

As soon as we approached the dock we were greeted and welcomed aboard by Captain Joel Deneui and first mate Lenore Fries.

As we walked onto the cruise boat we noticed platters of specialty sandwiches, chips, pickles, and even a cookie platter, catered by Erbert & Gerbert. Kelly Anderson, the general manager, had rolled out the red carpet for us. All three of my big kids loved the sandwiches they picked. I enjoyed two separate sandwiches, one with spicy mustard and another with creamy avocado. Delicious, it was the perfect lunch.

If you have an event coming up I would definitely recommend them for catering. They were friendly and willing to help us out in anyway they could. They even called me the day of the event to confirm correct numbers and to see if there was anything else we needed. You’ll be glad you contacted Kelly Anderson to cater your event.

We had an 11:30am cruise and we left the dock promptly. With everyone seated, we were ready to push off and begin our cruise. We learned the Pelican Breeze is a pontoon style boat and Albert Lea Lake is the start of the shell rock river.

As we cruised along we saw ducks, great blue herons, pelicans, and beautiful, wooded coastline. We learned the pelicans living on Albert Lea Lake are males hanging out for the summer. While the females have nesting grounds on another lake in Minnesota.

 

Once we passed under the I-35 freeway bridge, captain Joel allowed each of the kids and even some of the adults to take a turn at the captains wheel.

Each and every kid truly felt like they had become Mark Twain. Carefully navigating the mighty Mississippi and had a very important job.

When everyone had a turn at the helm, we turned around and headed back to the dock. The rest of the trip I was able to talk about life and blogging with my fellow bloggers. While my kids made new friends with the other kids aboard.

It was the perfect, peaceful way to start the day. I truly enjoyed learning about Albert Lea’s history as well as learning more about our beautiful lake.

 

After the cruise I asked each of the kids if what they liked the best and if they would want to go on the cruise again. Naomi’s favorite part of the cruise was the catered sandwiches. Titus’ favorite was being a captain of the boat. While Maddie said her favorite was the sandwiches, getting to drive the pontoon and making new friends. They all agreed they would definitely go again in a heart beat. In fact they mentioned we should go on a Pelican Breeze II pizza cruise sometime this summer.

Pizza Cruises happen all summer long on Friday evenings at 6pm, there are also Sunday Cruises at 1:30, and specialty cruises with local, naturalist Al Bate. You can also contact them to set up a cruise for your own private event.

I want to say a special thank you to the Verlaine Williams at the Albert Lea Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Pelican Breeze II board for inviting us bloggers to experience your wonderful, family, friendly cruise.