Wisconsin – Valerie's Voice

2025 Villa Louis Carriage Classic

As soon as I learned of the Carriage Classic, I knew I wanted to attend. A few years ago we toured the 1871 historic home, Villa Louis (on the National Register of Historic Places), on St. Feriole Island on the Mississippi River.

It is there where I learned the Carriage Classic is an annual event, going on 45 years, and is always held the weekend after Labor Day.

We visited with the owner and learned this restored carriage was a 1864 Studebaker Trap, originally owned by the Studebaker family.

Carriages came in all colors: black, yellow, cranberry, green…

…and a beautifully restored wooden carriage.

Folks from all over the United States trailer their horses and carriages and gather together in the park across the lawn from Villa Louis in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. They come to participate in contests and to show off their pride and joy, their horses and carriages.

Many of the carriages had an area for picnic baskets and/or luggage in the back.

The idea of yesteryear with horses and carriages, and my fairly new interest in horses, encouraged me to put the date on the calendar earlier this year, so as not to miss this event. I’m glad we made time for it.

It was a wonderful drive down the Mississippi River on our first day, stopping to take a bike ride on the Root River State Trail and discovering lefse chips. We continued on to stay overnight near the Carriage Classic so we could be at the entrance soon after it opened on Friday morning. Friday was the first day of the three-day event. We enjoyed our one day attendance a lot.

A modern horse in the front of this line…

It was unusually cold and windy. Due to the wind, I did not wear my “fancier” straw hat that I had brought along, but many of the Classic participants did wear their hats, and some dressed in costume, which is part of the tradition we were told.

There were several miniature horses too.

Many of the carriages were restored, and shone beautifully. All the horses were groomed impeccably. The carriage drivers meandered on a wide-open field before participating in their special events. Spectators could meander along with them, and take photos. That was special.

This carriage was pulled by four horses…we only saw one with four horses this day.

I enjoyed taking over a hundred photos, of the horses, carriages, hats, temporary stables, historic hotel, flowers and more…there was so much to see. It was all so picturesque.

There was a food stand with delicious breakfast and lunch items for reasonable rates so we didn’t have to leave the grounds. There were table and chairs set up for comfort, and small bleachers were at some venues. There was live music – a man and his synthesizer – playing tunes during the competitions. There was no entry fee, and no parking fee.

Even though the temperature was chilly, the sky was mostly sunny and it was a delightful day to be at the Carriage Classic watching the nuances of “another world” go by.

The large open field where we could walk among the horses and carriages.

Root River Trail and Beyond

It was a sandwich board that caught my attention while biking on the Root River State Trail.

I saw the words “lefse chips” and, being the Norwegian that I am, all things lefse makes me curious. So we veered off the trail and biked a block into the small town of Peterson, population 227.

We found the store (not too difficult) and walked through the middle of the magnetic screen door – a great invention.

This screen door is flexible. The two screens come together in the middle and latch with magnets. One can easily walk through the door. It was unique.

Tiger Trail Lefse Chip Co. is a small store that makes and sells lefse and lefse chips. I had never heard of lefse chips (much like Mexican tortilla chips) . They sell mainly online, and mostly to breweries and wineries. However, in this small storefront there were several samples of the lefse chips to taste. We liked them all. We bought a bag of the Hot Honey BBQ chips to bring home (and support this small business).

More cyclists stopped to explore the store too, and it felt festive on this chilly morning in this small town… that has big displays of gnomes, including statues, flags and wall murals.

This mural is painted on the side of the Post Office.

The light poles in the town of Peterson have banners with gnomes on them, in multiple colors.

After a good rest, we got back on our bikes to ride the “rail to trail” bike path that runs along the Root River. Yellow coneflowers, goldenrod and black-eyed susan’s were blooming along this beautiful portion of the trail.

Even though it was a chilly morning, the sky was partly sunny and the trail was busy with hardy bicyclists. Earlier in the morning we left Northfield and drove a couple hours to get the trailhead. It was about 50* when we started to bike.

After our ride, we ate our picnic lunch outdoors, at the Rushford trailhead (it had warmed up by then).

An old jail house. Through the windows you can see the bars of the small, cell inside.

The old train depot, in Rushford, is currently being renovated. Next door was an old school, a chapel and a jail house. Presumably those three buildings, along with the depot, will be part of the trailhead museum when all is finished. The town of Rushford, population 1,852, seems to be growing.

The Root River trailhead in Rushmore, Minnesota.

After lunch we continued to drive to Marquette, Iowa for an overnight stay. The drive took us through southeastern Minnesota bluff country and along the Mississippi River.

It was picturesque with green bluffs, the blue skies and puffy white clouds. A great day for a gorgeous drive. The place we stayed had some beautiful annual hanging baskets that are still vibrant.

We stopped to observe an interesting boat while driving back from the restaurant that evening.

It was intriguing to see this “pushboat” resting on land on the banks of the river, near Prairie du Chien. (This is when the internet is so useful. We found the faded name of the boat, on the outside of the bridge, so we looked up Wade Childress and found information.) We learned it had sunk near Fort Madison Iowa in 1985.

It was a fun day of discoveries.

Barn Bluff

We have hiked Barn Bluff before in Red Wing, Minnesota, but I had not known the Native American He Mai Can name meaning Hill, Water, Wood. And I had not heard the Native American legend before.

A sign at the beginning of the Barn Bluff trail tells of this legend, and it also lists names of a few famous people who have hiked the trail, including Henry David Thoreau.

The legend is told by Henry Lewis (1819-1904), an artist famous for his paintings of the American West. It reads:

Many hundreds of years ago a mountain twice as big stood in this place. The inhabitants of two Dakota Villages quarreled over possession of the mountain, and to settle the dispute without bloodshed, the Great Spirit divided it into two parts. He left one part here and moved the other half downstream to a second village. The portion that was moved, according to Lewis's interpretation, rises above today's city of Winona and is called Sugar Loaf.

I have not climbed Sugar Loaf Bluff, but I have seen it while visiting Winona.

We had a perfect weather day as we hiked up Barn Bluff: sunny skies with puffy white clouds, low humidity with temperatures in the 70’s.

We enjoyed our hike to the West Overlook, which offers great views of the Mississippi River, Red Wing and Wisconsin.

Henry David Thoreau’s quote on the sign described the view as, “Verdant plains, fruitful meadows, and numerous islands abound with the most varied trees,…But above all, reaching as far as the eye can extend is the majestic, softly flowing river.” I imagine the river is much the same, although the landscape is very different since Henry spoke those words. I like his description of the mighty Mississippi River, as softly flowing.

“…the majestic, softly flowing river.” Henry David Thoreau

After our hike we drove through Colvill Park along the river in Red Wing. This is a great eagle viewing area in the wintertime. We thought we’d check for eagles on this summer day, and we did see two eagles perched high in a tree.

Two eagles in the tree tops in Colvill Park.

We ate lunch in Lake City, at a restaurant that has an outdoor patio on the shores of Lake Pepin. There we saw another eagle. This one sat in a barren tree, keeping an eye over the patrons the whole time we were at the restaurant.

On our hike we encountered a woman with four young children. She may have been a grandmother (but seemed more like a daycare worker). I thought to myself, “good for you to bring these kids out for a hike in the woods”. It was encouraging to see children enjoying nature.

Later, while in driving through Colvill Park, we saw this same woman with the four children having a picnic lunch. Colvill Park is a large park, with a massive playground, and it struck me that they were the only ones in the park. These four children are very fortunate to have a caretaker who values the out-of-doors.

The flag flies on the top of Barn Bluff.
The sumac was already turning color…oh my!

An Annual Get Away

It was a quick turnaround for me. We arrived home from an almost four-week trip to North Carolina, and two days later I was driving to Madison, Wisconsin to meet up with a friend for our annual get away.

We have been meeting once or twice a year since 1989. Earlier this year we had planned to meet on two different occasions, but each time we had to cancel, so we squeezed in a trip during the busy holiday season. We did not want to break our record and miss a year.

Colorful dogwood shoots with a pagoda in the background at Olbrich Gardens.

My friend and I met many years ago during a church greeting time. Soon after, she gave birth to her first born and I offered to bring her lunch. Not knowing the protocol for bringing new mom’s lunch or dinner at that time, I simply brought her a tuna fish sandwich in a brown paper bag.

BUT… God multiplied that simple lunch into a nourishing friendship that has spanned almost 40 years and is still going strong.

Madison is a good half way point for us, and is our default destination when we don’t have a lot of time. Our criteria for choosing destinations is the area has to have gardens, water (lake, river, ocean) and antique/thrift stores.

A huge cottonwood tree standing tall and proud without its leaves.

A carefully placed birch stump that looks like an owl.

Although it was a cold and windy December day, we enjoyed walking around Olbrich Botanical Garden in Madison. We have been there many times. Although no plants were blooming, the textures and contrasts of the different fall/winter plants were vibrant.

Lake Monona is across the street. The lake was full of white caps.

We discovered two great restaurants for dinner each night. We’d recommend both. Dotty Dumpling’s Dowry has been in business for 47 years making delicious hamburgers, and it did not disappoint.

This restaurant offered delicious hamburgers. We understand why it was voted as having favorite burgers. They were juicy and tasty.

The Old Stamm House, in an old stone house, had the best Brussel sprouts I’ve ever tasted.

I don’t normally take pictures of food, but these Brussel sprouts were scrumptious!

The lobster ravioli was great, and to top it off we had a Crème Brulée (we split everything, therefore we could enjoy an appetizer and dessert).

Old Stamm House building from 1847…it is not the original site of the restaurant.

Our shopping times were fruitful in finding a few inexpensive little treasures here and there, which provides us with much entertainment just from the hunt!

Back home now, I will settle in and start getting ready for the Christmas season.

Growing Older Quip

This framed print caught my attention in an antique store in Madison, and made me smile.

Olbrich Gardens – Revisited

Visiting Olbrich Gardens has become a tradition for me and my friend from Indiana, every time we meet in Madison, Wisconsin.

An overview of Lake Monona in the distance, from the climbing tower in Olbrich Gardens.

This botanical garden has an indoor, tropical conservatory, 16 acres of gardens in the outdoor area, and an interesting gift shop. The admission is free if you stay outside, and that is where we always want to be! Some years, when we have visited Olbrich in late October, there has been snow on the ground, but even then, it’s a pleasant walk.

A stone pot with overflowing green grass and a wooden stick ball in the center makes for a beautiful visual display.

This year when we visited, there was no snow, an above normal temperature, and the sky was a beautiful blue with bright sunshine. Although it was later in the season, we did find a few lingering blooms before winter brings it to a halt.

The sunlight on this pink rose blossom made it even more stunning.

A couple years ago we discovered an interesting tree called the Full Moon Maple. We enjoy its fringed leaves and the vibrant red/orange color it turns at this time of year…and we like the name!

Frances and me near the Full Moon Maple. 2021

There is a permanent display with a kaleidoscope to look through onto a pot of colorful greens and flowers you can spin around. I always enjoy looking at the geometric patterns through a kaleidoscope, especially when focusing on plants at botanical gardens. I’ve seen these displays at other gardens. What a creative idea someone had.

The kaleidoscope focused on a pot of grasses and flowers.

The gardens are open to enjoy all year. There is a special event in December, “Holiday Express” that would be fun to go back and see…model trains, poinsettias and fresh greens.

It’s an easy drive to Madison from Northfield, and Madison always feels welcoming and is easy to get around. It seems to have many interesting things to do and see, including many bike trails. We have more exploring to do!

Another trio of fall blooming crocuses. I saw these for the first time a couple weeks ago. It was interesting to see more in another place, never having seen them before this year.

But, it’s good to know we can revisit Olbrich Gardens to find respite, and a peaceful place to enjoy nature, every time.

Dane County Farmer’s Market

Madison Wisconsin’s Dane County hosts a large farmer’s market every summer. Vendors set up on the edge of the tree-lined sidewalks along the circumference of the Wisconsin’s State Capitol building, known as “the Square.” Its wide sidewalks accommodate the many shoppers that support this great farmer’s market.

Online descriptions of the market: “All of the items for sale are grown, raised, and produced in Wisconsin by the person behind the stand.”, and “As a producer-only farmers’ market, our vendors are limited by their production and harvest yields. This means that they may sell out before the (posted time) close of Market.”

The capital building is a beautiful setting for this market. In 2021, the market opened on June 17^th and runs through November 13th. My friend from Indiana and I met for a couple of days in Madison, and we happened to be there on a Saturday, so we took advantage of exploring this bountiful market.

On our first walk around, we decided just look and consider all that was for sale: local honey, yummy looking baked goods, fresh harvested vegetables, beautiful flowers and flower bouquets, many flavors of jams and jellies and a wide variety of cheeses. We thought on our second time around we would purchase what we had decided to buy.

Gorgeous bouquets of flowers for sale. photo by FR.

One special treat we had decided on was a savory danish, but much to our dismay and surprise, when we got back to the stand, she had sold out all the savory treats. Lesson learned. However, we did buy other bakery items and some fresh carrots, including purple carrots. In place of the savory danish, we bought a cashew croissant.

The Dane County farmer’s market, on The Square, in Madison, Wisconsin.

The most unique item we bought was homemade graham crackers. I have never seen homemade graham crackers before, and was intrigued. It reminded me of homemade marshmallows I made years ago, after a friend gave me her homemade marshmallows along with a gift of hot chocolate mix. Another friend and I decided to try making marshmallows and they turned out well. But, I’m not so sure about making graham crackers. They seem to need extra special care. If I lived in the Madison area I would go back and buy more homemade graham crackers. They were delicious.

The Madison skyline from the shores of Lake Monona.

We wanted to sit outside on the capitol steps with coffee and watch all the shoppers and browsers pass by, but the three coffee shops near the Square had extra-long lines so we decided to take our tasty treats and find coffee nearby Lake Monona. We found a comfortable spot outside to enjoy our coffee and treats with a beautiful view of the Madison skyline along the water’s edge on this glorious fall, but summer-like, day. It was a great way to end our time together, our mini get-away, before each driving our separate ways back home: me to Minnesota and she to Indiana.

Autumn

Warm, autumn days in southern Minnesota have lingered longer than normal it seems, and we continue to enjoy the sunny days outside. We are grateful for them!

Part of the Spring Lake Park to Hastings trail.

Over the weekend Gary and I biked on another “new-to-us” trail…we went over the Mississippi River and through the woods, along the river to Prescott, Wisconsin.

The bridge over the river, includes a pedestrian/bike lane.

It is a paved trail. We started in Spring Lake Park in Hastings, Minnesota, a lovely park on a bluff, with a great overlooks of the mighty Mississippi River.

We rode from Schaar’s Bluff, down, down, down into Hastings. We have riden our bikes on this part of the trail before. It’s a fun ride. Next we rode across the beautiful bridge over the Mississippi River in Hastings.

From the middle of the bridge, looking south to the railroad bridge.

We crossed the bridge using the pedestrian/bike lane on the east side of the busy traffic lanes. It was exciting to be on our bikes looking over the railing to the wide river. Once across the bridge we continued riding into Prescott, Wisconsin, on an established bike/walking trail that follows the river, and goes through the woods.

It was a awesome, autumn day…blue sky and cool crisp air. When we arrived near Prescott, we rested along the river and watched the river traffic.

A while later we turned around, rode back to Hastings and then went up, up, up to Schaar’s Bluff. We saw a great blue heron, an eagle, three white swans, many ducks and geese…and lots of people. Many folks were out enjoying the last few days of this unusually, warm weather in Minnesota.

There were some beautiful fall colors in different places. I was reminded of a saying I read on a sign I saw in Pennsylvania this month…

“Autumn shows us how beautiful change can be.”

Three Rivers and a Waterfalls

Over the past few days our activities, unintentionally, took us to three major rivers.

Our first hike was at Ft. Snelling State Park. Gary and I have a long, but brief, history with this park. When we first met in 1976, Gary was in the habit of hiking in this park. At that time, he had taken an awesome photo of the Mendota Bridge from a unique perspective and had it printed and framed in a 8X10 format. He gave me a copy when we first met. And, then he took me to this unique park in the heart of the city.

Current view of the Mendota Bridge from Ft. Snelling State Park.

I don’t remember the trail but I remember the hike because we walked to the confluence of the mighty Mississippi River and the Minnesota River. This was years ago. There were a few times we stopped at the park since then, after we had children, to visit the beach area. And we’ve been to the historic Ft. Snelling itself, which is interesting, but we didn’t hike on Pike Island again until this day, 45 years later. (It’s kind of hard to wrap my head around that).

The confluence of the Mississippi (on left) and Minnesota rivers.

On Pike Island, one side of the trail leads you along the Mississippi River. You approach a point, with a sandy beach, which is the confluence of two major rivers: Mississippi and Minnesota. Then you turn and walk back on the other side of the island, along the Minnesota River. It’s a 3.7-mile loop.

The wildflower: Trillium, found at Ft. Snelling State Park.

It was interesting to be at Ft. Snelling state park a few days after my jaunt in Nerstrand Big Woods where I saw multitude of wildflowers. There were very few wildflowers on Pike island, although I did see a trillium, which I hadn’t seen at Nerstrand.

There were, however, many huge trees on the island, and many of them had hollow spots. It was an interesting trail.

Just a couple days later we were at Interstate State Park, near Taylors Falls. Again, drastically different from both Fort Snelling and Nerstrand Big Woods state parks. This park offered many glacier formations and a scenic view of the St. Croix River. We hiked along the St. Croix River for a couple of miles. The sandstone cliffs tend to make this area of the river very scenic.

Another view of the beautiful St. Croix River from Interstate State Park.

As we entered Interstate state park there was an information sign that read, “Looking for Taylors Falls? There is none.” Although Taylor Falls is the name of the town, there are no falls there. However, the sign told of the nearest falls 10 miles away in Osceola Wisconsin, so we ventured there to explore. We had been to Interstate many times over the years and knew there were no falls in Taylors Falls, but we did not know about the Cascade Falls in Osceola.

They were very pretty…full, wide and cascading. We walked down flights of stairs provided by the city of Osceola, to the falls and then proceeded to hike a quarter mile away to the St. Croix river to see the river from another perspective other than Interstate park. The falls and surrounding area was a fun discovery.

Olbrich Gardens Revisited

Madison, Wisconsin is a great halfway point between my house in Northfield and my friend’s house in Indiana, and it meets our destination criteria of a body of water, gardens and thrift and/or antique stores so we have enjoyed several trips there.

Olbrich Gardens…showing off many beautiful planters.

We traditionally take our annual trip in the spring (ever since 1989), with an occasional trip halfway through the year if we can fit it into our schedules. We have met in many different locations around the country but Madison is convenient destination for us.

Along the trail on a beautiful fall day.

This year we planned a trip in May, but because of the pandemic we delayed it, until finally we decided to go… six months later. It was a tough decision, as are a lot of decisions around COVID these days. We decided on Madison because it’s easy to get to. We were careful where we went and we wore our masks.

When we meet in Madison, we always include a trip to Olbrich Botanical Gardens. The gardens are a must see. Spring, summer or fall, Olbrich Gardens is always a special place to wander the trails and enjoy nature’s beauty.

The purple aster among the white birch is appealing to the eyes.

We had fun walking around the gardens with our masks…but not our facemasks. The first day together we found sparkly, purple eye masks, new and unopened, at a thrift store, so we each bought one to add a whimsical touch to our time together.

We decided Olbrich Gardens was the place to don our masks and find a photo op. So, when we arrived at the gardens off came our facemasks and on went our sparkly eye masks.

This framed print was hanging in an antique store and we liked the caption. It went with our whimsical mind-set.

Olbrich Gardens had a lot to offer at the end of October. There were still lovely flower arrangements and colorful trees to enjoy in their fall glory.

This tree was labeled Full Moon Maple. Love that name…love the color.

Bright sunshine shone down on us and its warmth embraced us. We took great delight strolling around in it.

I didn’t record the name of this unique berry bush. Yes, these are real, natural berries.

At one point during our afternoon a message popped up on my phone alerting me to a photo memory. I looked and it showed photos from a Fall trip my friend and I had taken last year (2019) to Madison. The photos were from Olbrich Gardens and the date was exactly one year ago TO THE DAY. That was crazy! It felt like a confirmation. We reminisced, and recalled in 2019 it snowed the night before we visited the gardens so the ground and paths were covered with the white stuff. Not so this year.

Olbrich Gardens is a place to revisit again and again. Our trip turned out well. Although we shortened it, it was good to be together, in-person, to catch up with our lives. Someday we will not have to worry about COVID, but until then, a lot of decisions are heavy and difficult.