By Emily Wangen

The Pelican Breeze II hosted a blogger cruise for area bloggers Tuesday, including a tour of Albert Lea Lake as well as a donated lunch.

The cruise was an idea by Albert Lea blogger, Robin Russell.

Russell noted how the community of Clear Lake has been open to bloggers and wants to make Albert Lea a blogger hotspot. She brought her idea to the Albert Lea Convention and Visitor’s bureau, and planning for the event began.

Russell and her family run a blog at Russellsadventures.com that is centered around their life and the adventures they go on. The blog began as a place for Russell to share updates with family about the birth of her twins who are now 7 years old. From there it turned into a journal for her, a place to write her thoughts and feelings on becoming a new mother. As she learned others were reading her blog, she decided to continue sharing her life out loud and got her family more involved. The Russells are a family of six and enjoy sharing their adventures on their blog.

Donna Hup from Northwood also began her blog as a way to update family. She started blogging around 10 years ago as a way to update her mom about her life with her husband as team truck drivers. One day she took a look at her blog’s analytics and found that more than just her mother were reading her posts. Hup blogs about travel, food, entertainment and truck driving on her blog.Through blogging, Hup has traveled around the country, recently to Los Angeles, where she attended the world premiere of “Finding Dory” and interviewed Ellen Degeneres.

Another blogger, Lacey Hanson, started her blog, smalltownsolace.com, in January as a way to continue writing after quitting her job as a reporter. Through blogging, Hanson said she has been able to get out of her comfort zone and share her story. She writes about being the wife of a farmer and being a mother. This summer she plans on writing about travels to Minnesota state parks and tips for moms who want to take their children to them.

The bloggers make connections through blogger groups. The groups allow bloggers to meet fellow bloggers and eliminates isolation, according to Hup.

Some advice Hup offers to anyone who wants to start blogging is to be themselves because the readers will connect with someone who is being authentic. Russell echoed that advice and added to be patient because it can take time for a new blog to become popular.

Verlaine Williams with the Pelican Breeze was excited to have the bloggers on the cruise and at Wind Down Wednesday. For many of the bloggers, this was their first time at the downtown festival. Williams hopes the blogger cruise will bring more exposure to the community of Albert Lea.

Lunch was provided by Erbert and Gerbert’s.