Wisconsin WithOUT Kids - Great River Road {Pepin}

Do you know the difference between a trip and a vacation?

Trip = with kids

Vacation = withOUT kids

We were fortunate to take a two day vacation this summer to the Lake Pepin area of the Mississippi River.  First off, Warren trained Nick on the irrigation system.  Due to the dry weather and new cranberry vine plantings daily irrigation was/is necessary.  That being done, I stocked up on kid friendly food and left a few notes of what should be done, then we packed our bags, grabbed some cash and drove off into the sunrise.  Yes, we got outta there early.  

We drove along Hwy 35, Great River Road, through a number of very small towns.  Our first major stop was at the Monarch Public House in Fountain City for an afternoon meal.  We both opted for American instead of Irish cuisine and had an outstanding fish dinner.  Warren doesn't like tartar sauce, but after convincing him to try it he declared it delicious.  Even the coleslaw was delish.  And Warren had the best Bock beer I've ever tasted.  Did you catch that?  He ordered it, I drank it.

Longest running bar in Wisconsin

 Then we headed down the street to the Fountain City historical museum, a one room deal.  A local resident donated his collection of 1700 spearheads and arrowheads.  That was quite a sight.  The historian shared the story of the Rock in the House.  And it became our next stop.

A 55 ton boulder crashed into the master bedroom of this house and is still there.  Pay $2, see the destruction.

Continuing North along Hwy 35 we stopped at Nelson Creamery for an ice cream cone.  They have quite a variety of snacks for purchase and I bought some beer sticks (beef sticks).  The back patio was very pretty and relaxing.  It was a nice shady spot to eat our ice cream.

French silk -YUM!

 Next stop was our motel, Great River Amish Inn.  We got settled in, read over the attraction brochures and then made our way to Lake City, Minnesota for a moonlight paddleboat cruise.

We couldn't have planned our vacation for a better night because there was a full moon.  Pearl of the Lake paddleboat runs a moonlight cruise on full moon nights.  We boarded early for a 7-9 pm cruise.  It was a nice clear evening for watching the sunset and moonrise. 

Since our lunch was at 3 pm, after the paddleboat tour we were ready for some din.  It was 9:45 when we got back to Pepin.  We stopped into The Pickle Factory and our waitress was a dream.  She said as long as we could make our menu selection within the next minute or two the kitchen would still be open.  That was a fun place with great music and good food.

Day 2 brought more food.  Brunch at Homemade Cafe.  We got pretty standard breakfast fare.  The decor is so cute and again great service.  

We walked around Pepin, checking out all the little shops including this neat tinsmith and blacksmith store.  It appeared to be a husband and wife team.  He's the blacksmith and she the tinsmith.  They were enjoyable to talk with and allowed us to watch them work for a bit.

We also spent quite some time sitting on the benches along Lake Pepin near the marina watching sailboats and fisherman.  Simply relaxing and soaking up the sunshine.

I had seen a snippet in a travel brochure about the Maiden Rock overlook.  Supposedly it's one of the best places to spot Peregrine Falcons and see a large expanse of the Mississippi River.  We drove to the top, following the directions to a "T".  We did spot two falcons, but never quite found the overlook.  We found a grown over parking area and a trail of sorts, but nothing that looked inviting.  We didn't want to risk getting to the edge and not knowing it.

We spotted an orchard and stopped in.  They offered 5 free samples of their wines and ciders.  We tried a few and settled on purchasing a bottle of Dolgo Crabapple wine.

 And then once again we were at ground level and stopped off at the historical marker for Maiden Rock.  One look up at the rock and I'm glad we didn't try to find the path to the outlook

And that's all she wrote.  One more stop for ice cream in Mondovi and we drove home, happy to be altogether again......until I looked in the laundry room and out at my drooping flowers and down at the dry garden and......

And that's Wisconsin WithOUT Kids {Lake Pepin edition}

I Recommend...

Michael Perry and the Long Beds.

To backtrack a bit, I bought Warren Coop for Christmas. He'd already read Truck and Population 485 and it was all I could do to keep him out of the book store so I could "surprise" him Christmas Eve with Coop. He read it within the next 48 hours. He'd read me just enough passages and I'd snuck off with the book just enough times to know that it would definitely make its way to my "must read" list. I also discovered his blog (Thanks, B) and from a link in his sidebar found out he'd be in our neck of the woods January 29. Perfect! A book reading (my first ever) and a chance to hear the band. And only an hour away with our favorite restaurant marking the half way spot. So we lined up a babysitter which was no small feat. Try finding a babysitter willing to sit for 5 kids at the end of a dead end country road. And even harder is having enough jing to pay said babysitter for watching 5 kids for say, 7 hours. Times are different now days; I remember babysitting 3 kids for $1.00/hour, 40 hours a week all summer. Let's just say last night cost us more than I earned in a 1985 week.

So he quietly walks on stage wearing a red plaid flannel shirt and carpenter jeans. He has this well they paid for this so I might as well read something attitude and then has the crowd roaring with laughter within the first couple of sentences. This was quite easily the best performance I've seen next to anything my kids have ever done of course. One minute my cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing so hard and the next that spot under my chin where it curves into neck hurt from trying to hold back the tears. And if I'm not mistaken he even had a mist in his eyes when reading his memoir of preparing for the birth of his daughter.

Be prepared, though, if you get a chance to attend a reading you will walk away with a serious understanding of the pain and resulting heroism of passing a kidney stone. You might want chickens. You might Google M.C. Escher illusions. If you have a secret yearning to give birth at home, you'll definitely want to drink tea with Leah. And for the entrepreneurs, Timothy hay will be your next big endeavor.

Then the band played and they were all great. I've been thinking all day of stepping outside the box of classical violin and trying my hand at a little fiddle. But I cannot express how much I loved the acoustic bass guitar. Before last night I recognized two types of guitars: electric and acoustic. But the long haired bass player with the overgrown mustache-you know the kind that stores lunch's best crumbs for a mid-afternoon snack-he made the best music on that longnecked guitar. The deep bum, bum, bum hooked me right in. I'm listening right now.

Now do yourself a favor and go read some Michael Perry.

A Few Observations

Hawaiian shirts. DH and I went out for dinner and music last Friday and counted more than 10 men, over age 45 in bright, flowery, palm leafy, sail boaty Hawaiian shirts. We both chuckled, thinking about the future and wondering if we'll still be with it or if we'll, I mean if he'll be wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Well, fast forward to the next night at my cousin's outdoor wedding. I couldn't help myself, I started counting Hawaiian shirts and then began to fret because a very with it 12 year old was wearing a very cool Hawaiian shirt, as was my 36 year old cousin (only 2 years away for my honey), as was my big city, stylish 50 something uncle. My theory was blown in less than 24 hours. Hawaiian must be making a come back; now where did I put those pineapple burmudas from junior high?
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Midweek hotel stays are great. Better prices and fewer people. I did however find a few people begging to be watched. Like for example, this young couple with one toddler. They came waltzing into the waterpark with enough gear for a 3 day campout. They set up camp at a nearby table where mom started giving orders to dad about where the child could swim, what waterslides he could use and that he was not supposed to go underwater or drink the water. Well, mom plopped down with a magazine and dad hopped in the kiddie wading pool with his boy. They made a beeline for the teeter totter, which squirted water as you went up and down. Mom gave a look and they were off to something new, the cloth swings, which admittedly didn't look very sanitary. Dad pushed the little guy, he laughed, mom gave a disapproving look. The waterslide came next; the boy went underwater, probably swallowed a little by the way he was coughing. Mom had had enough. She called them in and they packed up all the gear. Mom passed the huge (Texas huge) beach style bag- the orange mesh kind with splashes of pink and yellow tropical flowers- to dad and she carried the boy out. I doesn't seem right to pass judgement on this situation, but I will say they would've had a lot more fun if mom and dad were both playing with little junior in the water, maybe even splashing a little.
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Next up, my three year old. His favorite part at the waterpark is the hot baff, which in adult language would be the hut tub. What harm could a cute little boy who likes to soak in the hot baff bring anyone? Well, the lifeguard seemed to think a lot! I stopped counting at 24 whistle blows, but 6 of those whistle blows were at my son. He walked up the waterslide; used the sprayer to spray all the little girls in the face at point blank, stood on the teeter totter, lugged the tubes from the tube corral to the kiddie pool and sat in the lock and dam play area, twice. The lifeguard was busy. And so was I.