River Cruising Along The Border: Minneapolis, Minnesota - Purpose 2

We’re waking upward inward downtown Minneapolis. H5N1 quick Marriott breakfast bar repast too it’s off…we’re out of here. At to the lowest degree for the day.

Jumping inward the rental Ford Escape, it’s onto Interstate 35 heading north. Almost immediately, we’re crossing the Mighty Mississippi when Tim chimes in…

“Isn’t this the span that collapsed?”

Watch the Video!

Ah, yes…yes it is…and thank y'all for reminding me patch I (who already has a span phobia anyway) am on said bridge.

It was a tragic 24-hour interval several years agone when the span hither collapsed during eve rush lx minutes killing xiii people too injuring some other 145 due to bad blueprint too every bit good much weight. H5N1 piffling over a twelvemonth later, the replacement bridge…the ane we’re on now…was opened up.

Past that infamous river crossing, nosotros maintain N into lake province too caput due east toward the Wisconsin border. It’s a quiet, scenic road…many lakes, streams, farms, too a herd of buffalo.

It’s non long earlier we’re inward the tiny hamlet of Taylor Falls.

Parking’s slow too the H2O ice cream hits the spot at Schoony’s. Afterward, it’s a brusk walk nether the span to larn to the component subdivision of Taylor Falls Scenic Cruises.  The spider web site promised wheelchair accessible boats but the river is raging a piffling today too we’ll bring to walk downward a route to an alternate loading area.

We larn there and there are stairs into the boat. The crew easily handles Tim’s manual chair that he uses for move but I don’t intend it would bring worked if we’d had his ability chair.

It’s a warm 24-hour interval too thence Letty too I clitoris a duet of chairs out from the cabin too ready alongside Tim on the open-air bow. Since virtually people desire to sit down on the upper deck, nosotros pretty much bring it to ourselves salve for the elderly lady alongside a cane that occasionally comes out to sit down in that location too.

The paddle wheeler shoves off too we’re on our riverboat cruise of the St. Croix River…Minnesota on the left too Wisconsin on the right.

The commence destination is slightly upriver to the “falls,” which after years of floating logs downward river bring degraded to a brusk department of rapids. The boat turns but about too nosotros caput downriver.

The scenery is, inward a word, spectacular. The water, the coloring of tea due to the decomposition of leaves upward stream, is build clean too inviting.

The crew points out unlike stone formation every bit nosotros become through the dells. Kayakers lazily float past times wooded islands inward the stream.

A bald eagle circles overhead looking for fatty fish.

The weather condition is perfect, the H2O relaxing, too our batteries are fully charged at the destination of the ii lx minutes cruise.

We pass a piffling fourth dimension looking at glacial potholes…deep pockets scooped out of the rocks past times ancient glaciers…near the parking lot earlier moving on.

Downriver nosotros larn to the larger town of Stillwater too bring dinner at a house nosotros saw on Diners, Drive-ins, too Dives…Smalley’s Caribbean Area Barbecue.

The hostess is a piffling clueless at commence but in conclusion finds us a spot on the outdoor patio past times the bar. The server makes upward for her past times existence rattling gracious too knowledgeable.

We bring some jerk wings, ribs, too their smoked jalapenos that come upward gratuitous too unlimited alongside each meal. They’re slap-up but the argue they’re unlimited is because they are extremely hot too we’re panting all the agency dorsum to Minneapolis.

We've got to a greater extent than to encounter dorsum inward the urban gist but that’ll survive adjacent time. Be certain to bring together us over again for the adjacent leg of our slap-up Minnesota adventure.

-Darryl

Copyright 2012 – Darryl Musick

All Rights Reserved

Photos past times Letty Musick

Copyright 2012 – Letty Musick

All Rights Reserved