The Minnetonka Yacht Club TODOTC.com To Do in the Twin Cities Clubs The Minnetonka Yacht Club Date: July 12, 2023 19800 Minnetonka Blvd Excelsior, MN 55331 Phone: (952) 474-4457 minnetonkayachtclub.org

The Minnetonka Yacht Club
There is a handful of Yacht Clubs in town. Wayzata which we belong to, White Bear, Lake Harriet, Calhoun and the one we went to recently the Minnetonka Yacht Club. The word Yacht can be a bit of a misnomer. The Wayzata Yacht Club is nearly all sailboats. The Minnetonka Yacht Club is a mixture of Power boats and sail boats. If you want to tour most are happy to have you.
The Minnetonka Yacht Club has a Wednesday night meal for $20 each and is a fun night. Go to www.minnetokayachtclub.com to sign up. We went last night.
One thing that makes The Minnetonka Yacht Club, which is founded in 1882 one of the oldest clubs in country, is the fact that it is on an island. To get there you simply grab the radio and ask for the boat to come over to one of the two parking lots people park in. Oh you don't HAVE a radio? That is exactly what E & I experienced last night. We parked at 19500 Park Ave in Deephaven as requested where the Minnetonka Yacht Club has a club house and looked around. Luckly, there was another member that pulled in to help us. Ten minutes later with the club house locked we were still looking for the radio.
E sent email to the Director of the MYC which we had been emailed the previous day. The club is VERY good at communication… well except for the radio thing. Ten seconds after E sent the email, she heard a radio squawk in a blue box right next to where she was standing. She called me over and within about 30 seconds a boat was being sent to pick us up ten minutes later. It was a bit of a pain, but WE were gonna Party on the ISLAND!
When we tell people we are going out to the Yacht Club they instantly raise their nose and assume we are meeting Snooky people. Nothing could be further from the truth at both Wayzata and Minnetonka Clubs.
So, we took the ten-minute boat ride to the island. Actually, it is two islands, a smaller one to dock their boats and a larger one for events. The current islands clubhouse was built in 1946 but I would argue it looks barely ten years old they keep it in great shape. So, we got off the boat and walked up to the registration table a few steps away.  The club had our food tickets read and showed us the bar table a few feet away. They had beer, 2 canned wines and some seltzer stuff for about $10 each. Not the finest wine list we had ever seen, but we were on the ISLAND partying with the Yacht people…. It was fine.
Then we went to the food line, which was only us in line and got their catered food. It was an interesting bowl of Mediterranean pieces: rice, olive, beef, chicken, peppers, spices, sauces…. It was all very good. We talked to a handful of people at the table all intelligent and very nice.
One of the reasons we came out to the event was to learn about the club. The Wayzata Yacht Club we belong to is almost exclusively adults. The Minnetonka Club on the other hand is more of a family organization. Kids from 3-18 were running and playing all over the island. As E said, isn't it great that these kids have a SAFE place to play in a world that is not so safe anymore. And everyone was having a good time watching the boats, eating & drinking as the sunset past over beautiful boats and houses.
We walked around the island and through the club house. Both Wayzata & Minnetonka Clubs both have sailing schools for the kids and adults if they have needs. There is no question we will send both our grandkids through the class. There are few things that can teach a young person systems and solutions like sailing a boat.
We got on the boat and left the island as the sun was setting. Getting us to our SUV before dark. The Wednesday food nights are run in the summer from early June through Labor Day. It was a very pleasant evening. And we will return next year with our son, daughter-in-law and grandkids.

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