I'm going to write out our itinerary for our 30 hours away because it went so smoothly and definitely should be duplicated. Rory and I are getting to know this area really well which also makes for easy planning, and helps the time away feel like actual vacation. Basically we had a Minnesota day, followed by a Wisconsin day.
We met at the park in Lake City right by the marina at 11:30. I brought a greek salad, grapes and chips and we bought fried chicken at the grocery store across the street. We had our picnic right away and then played at the park. But most exciting was Ivar getting to use the remote control car he got from Papa a few Christmas' ago. We had hid it in the laundry room until he was old enough not to break it and I found it while painting the laundry room. Turns out 5 1/2 years old is the perfect remote control car age. (Later Ivar told us this was his very favorite part of the weekend...driving his car in that parking lot.)
After a while we loaded up and drove to Kellogg, where we visited Lark Toys and rode the hand-carved carousel. And Mimi showed us all her very impressive hula-hoop skills. She's really, really good!
And we all got ice cream at Lark Toys too. But then Hattie was ready for her nap, so we drove back to the AmericInn in Wabasha and checked in so that Hattie could sleep. While she slept, Papa and I took Ivar and Elsie swimming at the hotel pool.
A bit before 4:00 we drove to the National Eagle Center. We spent a little over an hour there (it closed at 5) and then walked along the river and scoped out Fun 'n the Sun Family Houseboats for a future family vacation. Rory's family had a houseboat in this area for part of Rory's childhood so they know the river really well. We thought it would be so fun to bring the whole clan for a few nights next summer to play on the river all together. We ate at a restaurant in Wabasha and watched big ships go by. And then Ivar got a fever and said he wanted to go to bed! So we turned in really early. But Madison went back and found a great jazz band concert under the bridge and enjoyed the evening for all of us.
The next morning we ate our breakfast at the hotel and I must say this is a handy part of traveling all together. Rory and his dad were able to take the kids to breakfast while Marlene and I got ready and packed up the rooms. I loved the extra kid help! We visited the Anderson House Bed and Breakfast and then drove across the bridge to Wisconsin. My kids were thrilled to be entering another state! Ha!
We drove right to Pepin and found Laura and Mary's Little House in the Big Woods. Elsie and Hattie wore their bonnets with pride and we took lots of pictures.
On our way back we stopped at the Country Stop, ate lunch at The Pickle Factory in Pepin and then went over to the beach in Pepin to skip rocks, or as Elsie showed us, sit right in the water with clothes on. The weather was spectacular and the white sail boats were beautiful on the blue water.
We got Elsie changed and then drove to Nelson to the Creamery for ice cream cones. We sat on their back patio and decided we'd like to come back for lunch sometime. And then we parted ways and drove back home. It really was incredible how much we packed into 29 hours...which included the drive time! If you're looking for a little summer fun to squeeze in, I can't recommend this trip enough. We are hopeful to head back in that area this fall for another visit to the mighty Mississippi.
No comments:
Post a Comment