Traveling the Great River Road: follow the scenic circle through charming towns on the Mississippi shores of Minnesota and Wisconsin - Tour Of The Month

Travel America, July-August, 2002 by Carla Waldemar

The bridge swoops into historic Wabasha, Minnesota. Just under it a promenade has been created along the waterfront, with park benches as box seats to watch the river traffic.

Kiosks provide information on upcoming nature hikes and birding walks, while eagles stage their seasonal aerial acts. Follow Main Street, torn from a page of Sinclair Lewis, to the town's Old City Hall, whose antique bricks now host gift and crafts shops and an ice cream parlor.

It's almost mandatory to schedule a calorie break, and perhaps an overnight stay, at the gingerbread-Victorian Anderson House Hotel, operating since 1856 and prominent in the National Register of Historic Places. Here guests can relish country cooking, including the kitchen's famous Friday fish fry (sidewalk tables in summer), golf on a course high above the Hiawatha Valley, or hop aboard a moonlight hay or sleigh ride.

Back on the Minnesota stretch of U.S. 61, the road swings through the apple-orchard country around Lake City on up to Red Wing, a vintage river town named for the Dakota Indian chief who once lived here.

Red Wing boasted five railroad stations in its heyday in the 1870s. Just one remains, dominating the harbor park and offering tourist information. Tourists can pick up maps to tour the town's historic district, where 72 buildings merit listings on the National Register.

One of Red Wing's most elegant houses is the Pratt-Tabor Mansion, now a B&B. A few blocks away stands the dowager red-brick St. James Hotel where, in the good old days, traveling salesmen jumped off the train to splurge on a dollar room and Sunday dinner. It's still a popular destination for romantic overnights and lavish Sunday brunch, complete with river view. Nearby, the Sheldon Auditorium, an opera house erected well over 100 years ago, has been graciously restored and once again offers entertainment. It's worth a peek.

Anchoring the north end of town, the historic Red Wing Pottery Factory has been resuscitated as a warren of designer discount shops. A spin up to Memorial Park above them rewards the farsighted with a 10-mile view of the river valley.

Continue on U.S. 61 as hilly forests give way to gentler farmland nearing Hastings once again, and the completion of the scenic circle.

For Wisconsin tourist information, contact (800) 432-8747; www.travelwis consin.com. For Minnesota information: (800) 657-3700; www.exploreminnesota.com.