Scenes from the North

Our cruise on the beautiful Upper Mississippi took us to Stillwater, MN, on the St. Croix River. Along they way we connected with Gold Loopers Ken and Pat on 20 Buck$ in Wabasha. They introduced us to 2 really good restaurants- Stacy's Kitchen for breakfast and Olde Triangle Irish Pub. We cruised through Lake Pepin and on to Red Wing, their home port. We can recommend the pizza at Red Wing Brewery!

We said good-bye to Ken and Pat and continued upriver after breakfast at Bev's Cafe. After transiting Lock 3 we turned up the St. Croix River, which here becomes the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin, and continued about 24 miles upriver to Stillwater, the first capital of Minnesota. We spent a night on the free municipal dock with our Gold Looper friends Clay and Sally and their guest Caroline on SasSea Sally. Mark's cousin Janet and her husband Ralph drove over from their home in Roseville to have dinner with us at the Dock restaurant.

We were in Stillwater just one night, but we had plenty of time to check out the local shops. The River Market was closeby and is much like the Pioneer Food Co-op we know in Iowa City- lots of local, organic produce and meat, a bakery and deli, etc.

We then moved just 5 miles or so to Bayport to enjoy a relaxing "down" day to to laundry and relax. What a beautiful marina!

Next stop, Red Wing again. SasSea Sally caught up with us and we shared dock tails and dinner at Kelly's Tap and Grill. Their claim to fame is their location on highway 61 and the 61 beers they have on tap. 

Mara Beel is now in Wabasha. We were so impressed by the National Eagle Center here that we became members today. This facility does an amazing job of treating injured eagles and housing those that are unable to live in the wild, and educating visitors about these majestic birds. We caught the 3 pm feeding for 2 of the birds- lovely dead rats! Good thing we ate lunch first! We really like Wabasha. It has shops and restaurants within easy walking distance of the marina, the eagle center, and lovely bike and walking paths,

Stillwater- Can you spot our tiny boat? Hint: we have a dark blue hull. Our friends are in the white trawler next to  us.

The famous boat houses of Red Wing

There's light up ahead.

It's Septoberfest in Wabasha, MN

These folks are scattered around downtown Wabasha.

The National Eagle Center at Wabasha

Columbia, hit by a car while feeding on a dead deer. 

Donald, a Golden Eagle from California, whose wing was broken when he was hit by a car.

Things we didn't know:

• Eagles can see a rabbit 3 miles away
• Their eyes are so large they can't move them- they must move their heads
• Eagles have 7,000 feathers
• It is illegal to own an eagle feather

Chief Wapasha

Mark and Friar Tree

The good friar's expression is a bit wooden