Red Wing Continued...

Our weekend in Red Wing was a short 2-nights, 3 days.    On day two we did some of the best vacation exploring that we could have done.  We also had more physical activity in 12 hours than cumulatively in the last 30 days!  The morning started out by going to a State Park just 1/2 mile down the road.  We checked in at the ranger office and then followed her suggestion to head up to the bluff were there was a beautiful overlook and some trails.  We spent some time at the overlook which was indeed beautiful and then took a brief walk on the bluff trail.  Since we were on the trail for some time and we were going down down down on steps, we decided it to be best to turn around and head back up before we went too far down.  After we reached the top we drove back down to an area not in the park, but just down the road.  It was called the boardwalk, you can see why in the picture.  It was so cool.  It was about a mile out to the cove it took us too and it was a pretty cool walk!  There were cool frogs, unknown wildflowers, and some beautiful, huge trees! When we got to the cove, it was a light colored sandy beach with a slight tide coming in.  There were several boats out on Lake Pepin, be we were the only ones on the beach.  It was fun!  We took the mile hike back and then headed into Red Wing.  

We were a bit disappointed by the shopping and dining choices in Red Wing.  The shops all had tourist prices on their product, and the dining areas were all kitschy overpriced cafe and coffee shops.  We decided to eat at a pub - hey, we are from Wisconsin!  The food was good and hit the spot after all our activity in the morning.  At the Staghead - I enjoyed an excellent burger topped with Gorgonzola cheese and with a tasty chipotle sauce on it.  Tim and his mom 

enjoy a local bottled beer with their meal.  After eating, we went to the old Pottery Place, where Red Wing Pottery was made.  It was renovated into guess what?  Shops.  Mostly antique shops, and a shoe store.  We found a fun retro cookie jar for $7 at the antique shop and then we moved on to the Red Wing pottery shop.  We watched while some of the potters made product to be sold in the store.  They had some very nice stuff! By the end of all this shopping we were ready to relax.  We went down by the waterfront where the historic train station was and many boats were going up and down the river.  We found a shady spot and relaxed.  Later that afternoon we enjoyed "Pork in the Park" by the church and then headed back to the rental house for more adventure.

After we relaxed for a short time, we went for yet another adventure on the bikes!  This time we went a different direction and ended up by a cemetery.  We spent a little time looking at some of the gravestones in the new part of the cemetery.  Then we decided to move.  Although we though the cemetery was small, we hadn't yet found out that it went back into a whole other stretch of cemetery, which was very historic.  We winded back to the oldest part which had a sectioned off area.  There was a historic plaque that described the people buried there as the settlers of Old Frontenac.  Many of the gravestones in the area had birthdates from the early 1800's.  It was so cool.  My imagination ran wild thinking about what the people were like, what kind of clothes they wore, what they did to survive.  

We left and headed back to the home.  That night we also encountered 3 deer that we watched for some time and also went on the swings by the nearby park.  It was a blast!  

On this vacation I learned how fun it can be to explore - off the beaten path!  More importantly, sometimes you can find the coolest things...if you are just willing to go on a whim.  I doubt I would have been able to find many of these experiences we h

ad by searching the internet, or looking at a library book.  It was a great vacation!  Thanks for reading what I have to share. -L