catherineldf | Back from vacation! (Reply)

Okay, weekend road trip with friends.But I didn't do any work so therefore it = vacation. What did we do? Went to Wisconsin! Some years back, my friend Matt and I met an older gay man from Alma, WI who was running an ice cream shop/hotel on Alma's main drag. He had brochures featuring photos of a glorious garden and was a big promoter of all things Alma. In addition to his own Hotel de Ville and Fire & Ice (the ice cream coffee shop), Alma is the home of the glorious Castlerock Museum, which has a great collection of historical arms. Plus art galleries, little art shops, an old theater and such. I have been desperately wanting to go stay at this hotel for ages - Jana and I made it to town to check out the museum and ice cream shop pre-COVID lockdown, but weren't able to get time to stay there. Achievement unlocked! It is a charming old pile, full of antiques and history and we enjoyed our time there. The garden is a marvel (statuary! a waterfall! a fountain! a hobbit hole!) and I'm so glad I got to see it again.

We also went to Cultural Cloth in Maiden Rock, WI, which is a delightful store that sells fair trade fabric and crafts, mostly by women, from around the world. I got a new throw and pillows for the couch, which sorely needed some new coverings. We ate pie in Stockholm at Stockholm Pie and visited several shops. We went to the Castlerock Museum and had a fine time, as well as visiting various places on the main drag through town. We did a side trip down to Winona to see the Minnesota Marine Arts Museum, which was a marvel, and checked out a local used book shop, a comic shop and a farm to table cafe. Definitely going back!

The next day was supposed to include a trip to Lark Toys, the Eagle Center in Wabasha and lunch at Reed's Landing, but one of my friends got word of a family health emergency and we had to cut the trip short. But it was still a delightful weekend! Conversation, jigsaw puzzles, watching things, reading and generally much-needed relaxing. Now let's hope our pal gets good news to wrap things up.