My son David and I had already traveled
together in about 30 states. Now, we
were going to add a couple more with his wife Marleen. We were also going to see a different section
of Wisconsin, a state whose eastern coast we had explored back in 2003.
On Saturday morning, June 1, we ate breakfast and headed north toward
eastern Iowa, passing several flooded areas en route amidst this crazy, torrential
rain-filled spring. While in Cedar Rapids, I had my first ever experience
eating pho. It was OK at best. After stopping at a Rest Area/Travel Center
in southeast Minnesota, we checked into the Quality Inn-Eagan.
There was soooo much excitement as we changed into our St. Louis Blues
shirts and checked into the Trail Stop Tavern in Burnsville! That excitement changed to total disgust in a
blink of an eye as our first Stanley Cup Finals home game in 49 years turned
into an immediate disaster. We finished
our food and left while trailing 3-0 after one period.
Since we were on vacation, we quickly headed to a sensational, nearby
hiking area known as Lebanon Hills Regional Park. The basic trails we hiked featured dozens of
frogs, turtles, lily pads and wild flowers.
The calm wind offered fantastic reflective views on the huge ponds,
further enhanced by the ensuing sunset.
All along, I continued to follow game 3 of the hockey finals. The same sun went down harshly on the Blues
as they yielded a whopping four more power play goals in getting pounded, 7-2…
We all did the Sunday morning breakfast buffet before heading to Saint
Paul’s Como shuttle bus station. It took
us to the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory.
We weren’t impressed with much of the zoo section, but this is a very
minor one compared to the Minnesota Zoo in nearby Apple Valley. But we did love the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory.
The beautiful building was resplendent with very tall ferns, charming statues
and fountains, and gorgeous flowers! But
the area out back, known as the Charlotte Partridge Ordway Japanese Garden, was
even more fantastic with tranquil reflecting waters, a variety of bird life and
beautiful waterfalls.
Per a sign in the gardens itself, ‘The garden’s design showcased both
the sansui (mountain and water) and chisen-kaiyu (strolling pond) style of
Japanese garden traditions.’
Next stop was Minneapolis Institute of Art, also admission-free! We were also lucky enough to be granted free
entry on the first day of the exhibit, “Hearts of Our People,” focusing on
Native American Women. I just had to sign up for a one-year free museum membership. The paintings, tapestries, clothing items and
sculptures were incredibly detailed!
After leaving for a brisk, half-mile walk for a nice lunch in the
terrific atmosphere of Ichiddo Ramen Restaurant, we returned to the museum. More highlights for us were outdoor sculptures, the ancient Egyptian section; colorful, full-wall Asian murals, a wealth of Impressionist paintings and some highly unique contemporary paintings and sculptures!
We totally loved our next stop! Minnehaha
Regional Park is one of the coolest city parks in the entire country! I know.
I have visited nearly every metropolitan area in every state. What’s so
special about the park? Well, the main
feature is the 53-foot Minnehaha Falls, made famous in Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow’s 1855 epic poem, “Song of Hiawatha.”
There are a few easy access points to the falls, and the park features
some terrific hiking trails elsewhere along Minnehaha Creek, with a very close
proximity to the Mississippi River! Added to the falls were areas of great
rushing creek waters, stone bridges, wading areas, live band entertainment,
refreshment places and a variety of in-park transportation methods to explore
further. That’s why we were there for a full 2 ½ hours!
Always seeking to eat at non-chain restaurants and normally
international ones to boot, we had a terrific dinner at quaint, decorative
Christos Greek Restaurant. 
Monday was our mini travel day!
We drove north to Shafer, MN for Franconia Sculpture Park. It’s well
worth the less than an hour drive from the Twin Cities because it’s 43 acres
large, chock full of several dozen of the most unusual outdoor sculptures you’ll
ever see, and it’s continuously expanding!
One of our favorites was the tall tower, with three-wide old AM/FM cassette
players. A sampling of the others
included a large yellow tank, a strange cast iron bird, a brief trail of
mirrors, a triangular climbing roof, and Lizard Lounge.
There is also a remnant of a very sad day in history. It’s the authentic street sign of the
Lorraine Motel. Franconia is open every single day of the year from dawn to dusk, and it’s giant welcome sign has the tagline, “BIG SPACE…BIG ART…Imagination in Action!” It even has its own huge ‘Hot Metal Pour’ station for the majority of items made on-site.
From Franconia, we continued east toward the town of Taylors Falls. Our first stop there was the Minnesota section of Interstate State Park along the St. Croix River National Scenic Riverway. The Glacial Potholes Trail beckoned us. The up and down climbs were aerobically nice, some of the potholes were incredibly deep, but the views of the river were even more spectacular!
Back into town for lunch at Juneberry Café where we left our car to walk
to a bridge, then under the side of the bridge and back up to a road on the
Wisconsin side of Interstate State Park.
While there, we hiked on the western terminus of the Ice Age National Scenic
Trail, part of Dalles of the St. Croix River State Natural Area. The river
views looking back to the Minnesota side, which we had just left, were
breathtaking!
We walked back to our car and drove just a short distance to the Cascade
Falls area in the village of Osceola, WI.
Our first activity was a short hike to the relatively unimpressive
Geiger Falls. The 25-foot drop of the Cascade
Falls on the Falls Bluff Trail Loop was far better! It took awhile to hike there, winding along
the St. Croix River with kayakers in front of us and amazing bridge and river
scenes to our far right.
At Cascade Falls, it was so cool and refreshing to be able to walk on
the small rocks and dirt toward and behind the first several feet of the falls on
the left side. The falls is some 35 feet wide. It was so nice and peaceful,
with very few tourists passing by to grab a share of the views and spray. Understandably, I didn’t want to leave that
area. But the best waterfall of the day
beckoned us!
Continuing our drive back southward in extreme western Wisconsin, we
arrived in Willow River State Park. Oh,
how we loved Willow Falls! Considered
one of the two most impressive waterfalls in the state, we reached the major
viewing areas by way of the Burkhardt Trail.
It’s more than 100 feet wide and has at least six major drops, the
largest being about 15 feet high! You
could access it from quite a few different points, and also climb up a couple
of the cascades from the far right side, but the rocks were far too slippery
for me in my half dozen attempts. But we
spent more than a half hour there, as I walked around talking to several
people, and took a wide variety of distant and close-up photographs.
It
took us 40 minutes to drive back to our hotel, excitedly anticipating the
crucial game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals!
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