Rick's Travel Tales: Day One - 2010 Summer Trip to Stillwater, Duluth, and Grand Marais, MN

The summer journey to Minnesota is now "in the books". Our four day getaway to Minnesota was a great one, and for once, the weather even cooperated with decent temperatures and no rain (at least while we we out and about). Tons of photos were taken and are posted in Picasa on the web in case you're interested. Click Here to go to the album directly.

Day One - Waterloo to Stillwater, MN

We took off about 7:30am Saturday, after grabbing some coffee and donuts for the drive up Hiway 63. Having not been on 63 North for quite awhile, I was amazed at the amount of 4-lane sections now in place, and how quickly we got to Rochester. We continued north on Hiway 63 over to Lake City, MN. Although it was overcast, you could definitely tell this is area was starting to come alive with tourists, and vacationers... the camping areas were filled with motor homes, and boats seemed to be attached to about one out of every three vehicles in the town.

Our drive continued along the Mississippi River to Red Wing, MN, where we stopped for gas and a coffee refill. Of course it was "Crazy Days" in town, so everyone was out and about... even at 10am in the morning!

From Red Wing, our drive took us on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi up to Prescott, WI, where the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers converge. Then back into Minnesota for the drive up Hiway 95 to Stillwater.

Stillwater, MN

After grabbing a parking spot in the lot along the St. Croix River, we decided margarita's on the deck of The Freight House was in order. Knowing I had "hours" of shopping ahead, this seemed like the best way to start. As you can see its still overcast, but as it turned out that was a good thing, as when the skies cleared it got hot!

From there it was time to wander the shops along the main drag - St. Croix Trail. One of the notable places we visited was the Northern Vinyards Winery - This place was a bee hive of tasters, most notably, a group of women who appeared to be part of a "Bachelorette Party". They were definitely enjoying the tasting! Here's one of the items they had for sale... know anyone who might enjoy this?

Here is an interior shot of the tasting area of Northern Vineyard Winery...

Of course, as you can imagine, Sue had to make sure we left with some of their "product", as you can see by this photo taken outside the store...

The downtown area of Stillwater is very similar to downtown Galena, with a multitude of shops, eateries, and activities to enjoy. While I was waiting outside one store, I noticed a wedding party walking down the sidewalk. You know how wedding photographers are, they always enjoy those "candid" photo ops. I suspect this will be one on their wedding album..

After another hour of wandering, it was time to check out the riverfront, and see if we could find a spot for a refreshing drink (or two)... This is a shot looking toward the Stillwater Marina.

PD Papi's Bar and Restaurant is located next to the marina.. This appeared to be a nice place to enjoy the waterfront, and the music of the locals. It also looked like it was the watering hole preferred by bikers traveling thru Stillwater (and I mean there are ALOT of them!). After finishing off a couple Leinenkugel Summer Shandy's, we wandered back thru the downtown.

Can you believe I went shopping in a spice shop and The Stillwater Farm Store? (there were some interesting bird feeders, garden statues and of course every kind of bird seed and animal feed you could think of)

By now, the thought of dinner was hitting us both so we headed to Luna Rossa. Their outdoor seating along main street (and in the shade) looked like the best way to enjoy a great meal and "people watch". After finishing off a Bruchetta appetizer, and a small pizza, it was time to end our day in Stillwater.