The Minnesota Explorer is a magazine that highlights different events throughout our state. Recently, it featured an article on Christmas shopping in historic small towns. I love exploring different small towns and this sparked my interest, so I did a little research. I didn’t really need to shop for anything…much of my Christmas shopping was done…but the idea of walking in and out of stores, gazing at window displays, seeing Christmas lights light up the streets, was appealing to me.
After checking out a couple different towns I realized all I wanted was right here in my hometown of Northfield….and…the organized Winter Walk made it even more festive.
The Winter Walk happened last week on a beautiful evening. The weather was mild, stores were open late, luminaires lined the closed-off main street, Christmas lights lit up Bridge square and there are some fun window displays.
The streets were filled with many folks out enjoying the activities. It was a wonderful sight.
Walking along the street, tasting sweet treats, drinking cider and hot chocolate, smelling the wood burning fires in fire pits – offering warmth along the way,
watching the horse-drawn wagons full of people go by,
looking in the store windows and occasionally going into a store.
It was delightful.
Maybe I’ll visit a different small town next year but for now, Northfield’s Winter Walk was what I was looking for.
