Wabasha, Minnesota
In what is turning into an annual June trip, we took a trip to visit friends in Minnesota this year. It was a shorter trip - just a long weekend - but we crammed a ton into the visit. We went with another family and between us all, there were 10 children, ranging from 18 months up to 11. There was a lot of energy to burn off each day.
Wabasha is at the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Years ago, I visted Memphis with my wife and stood on the bank of the river. It was impressive because of how wide it was, but it wasn't really memorable for its beauty. The Mississippi up in Minnesota is the polar opposite. The river, instead of one large stretch of brown water, meandered and broke off into channels, forming islands and inlets that featured marshes, tall grasses, small side branches, and more birds than you could imagine. Many of our afternoons and evenings were spent on the river fishing. I wasn't super successful, given the amount of time fishing, but I did get one picture-worthy catch.
Wabasha hosts the National Eagle Center which was a short walk from the house. It was a beautiful building right on the river and hosted both live eagles who cannot be rehabilitated along with a very well done museum exploring the ecology of bald eagles, their significance in American culture, and the conservation efforts the center provides.
I'm not one for weird American patriotism wrapped up in bald eagle stuff. Benjamin Franklin actually called them "Birds of bad moral character" because of their tendency to rob other eagles and scavenge. That said, they are impressive birds for their size alone. The eagles in captivity at the center aren't capable of surviving in the wild (one was missing an eye, the other had a mishealed wing which prevented flight), but luckily, there were three nesting eagles - two parents and a juvenile - in the back yard. I was actually able to snag a photo of one eating a fish it had caught just moments before.
I snuck out on a kayak the second morning while the water was calm. I paddled out of the the little inlet we were on and explored some of the river downstream before turning upstream to reach the Mississippi proper. I dipped my paddle in the water, so I've officially kayaked the second-largest river in the United States.
That night, we went to what is probably the most remote pizza place in the nation. The restaurant itself jokes that it's "the best pizza no one knows how to get to." The Stone Barn is actually in Wisconsin, but it's settled into the gorgeous rolling farms which cover the area away from the cities. I won't repeat the story here, but the restaurant is built in what was the cellar of a barn built in the late 1800's and has been turned into a very popular, weekend-only, pet-friendly pizza place. The kids played on the swingset, looked at the goats, and took a hike on the trails.
We enjoyed (too many) late nights and the slower evenings with kids entertaining themselves down by the water or on the swings. We live in an area and go to a church where people come and go. It's sad to say goodbye to friends when they move on, but we also now have a network around the country we can go visit. We're not sure where next year will take us, but we did just have some friends move to San Antonio...
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