Arriving in Red Wing on the American Queen

My friend Lynn and I slept well on our first night on the American Queen. We had a full day a head of us and we started with a quick breakfast at the Front Porch Café. One of the complimentary amenities of the cruise line was unlimited specialty coffees and we took full advantage preparing our lattes to taste with our eggs and pastries.

The American Queen is all about conservation. Everyone was given a water bottle and there were water filling stations on every floor. There were no plastic water bottles available.

Another thing available to all passengers at no charge were the hop on, hop off bus tours at every stop. It was nice to have the freedom to explore, with transportation that included taking my scooter on the bus, a guide telling us about the towns and attractions, and all admission fees paid by the American Queen Voyages.

Our first experience with the tours was in Red Wing. I had never been to this Minnesota town before and I was looking forward to checking it out. It’s known mostly for pottery and shoes. Am off combination, but it worked for the town.

The tour guide told us about the stops available to us, as well as other places within walking distance of the bus stops. She also told us about Red Wing’s scenic bluff, houseboats, and fishing in Pottery Pond Park. The town is also filled with historic houses, including the TB Shelton Mansion.

We had limited time and decided to skip the Military and Marine Museums, but some veterans in our group enjoyed them. It was a beautiful day around 70  degrees, with no rain in sight so we were ready to do some walking. Well, Lynn was walking and I was on my scooter.

Our first stop was the pottery museum. We watched a demonstration of basic pottery making and heard about the history of this art and how it brought a lot of income into Red Wing. We also saw many examples of the pottery made there, from simple dishes to more complex and colorful designs.

We got back on the bus to the downtown area. There were lots of shops and some restaurants. I was drawn to Red Wing Confectionary, where the owner was actually making chocolates in the back of the store. I had a Café Mocha and bought some treats to bring home to Mom.

After the candy store, we went to the bus stop by Red Wing Shoes Museum. We missed the world’s largest boot (638 ½). We did have enough time to go to the Red Wing Arts Cebter in the old train depot. They had some locally made jewelry and beautiful scarfs.

We were back on the American Queen in time for lunch in the dining room. Lunch each day was a choice of buffet or sit down. Many chose to do a little of each, as did we. We had the first of many creative salads, this one with blueberries and feta cheese.

For a main course, I had a Thanksgiving meal, which I love anytime of year. There was blueberry cheesecake for dessert.

After lunch and some work, I took a nap before showering and dressing for dinner. I don’t have a chance to get dressed up too often and I liked it. 

Dinner did not disappoint. I started with a Spring Mix Bouquet, had a very tender pork chop with fresh vegetables, and chose the pecan pie for dessert. There was a waiter ready to pour more complimentary wine at all times.

The show was “Southern Celebration” and the music and dancing was quite good. We really liked the balcony seats to stretch out in.

Before we turned in, we had a nightcap in the Engine Room bar, where there was music and dancing each night. We didn’t stay long before heading back to our suite on the American Queen to get ready for the next day in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

I was hosted by American Queen on this voyage, but opinions are my own. 

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Mall of America Tour and American Queen Embarkation

My friend, Lynn, and I had a good night’s sleep at the Radison Blu Mall of America, but we knew we had a very full day ahead.

It started with breakfast in the hotel’s conference room with the other passengers to be on our American Queen voyage. Everyone was friendly and we were all excited to be embarking on this journey in the afternoon.

River cruises work differently than ocean liners when it comes to check-in. Since there is no cruise port for everyone to gather in and check-in, it’s done in the hotel. This was pretty much the only thing in our weeklong trip that was disorganized. They used temporary workers in the port and we would later learn that most of the information we were given was wrong.

Everyone tried to keep their cool and figured they’d straighten things (like dinner seatings and excursions) on the ship.

When I found out I would have a free day in the Minneapolis area I wanted to finally visit Paisley Park, Prince’s former home. I thought it would work out, but it just got to hectic to try to make it back in time to get on the bus to the ship.

We decided instead to take an in-depth tour of the Mall of America and have a little time left to relax.

Dan Jasper, Vice President of Communications for MOA, was our guide. He had recently begun doing these behind-the-scenes tours. Even though I had previously visited the mall, I realized there was a lot I didn’t know.

The spot the Mall of America is on was originally the Metropolitan sports stadium. There are still metal plates in within Nickelodeon Universe still acknowledging the original baseball and football teams.

Since I was last here, the mall housed the Patriots and the Eagles for the 2018 Super Bowl, with one team staying at the Radisson Blu and the other at the JW Marriott.

A couple of new spots had opened up, including the M&Ms store and the Crayola Experience. There had also been a three month shut down for covid of the stores, and five months for the attractions.  This led to the opening of the Community Commons, a spot where local shops would get three months free rent to try to get their business back. It has been successful as eight of these stores are now up full time.

We learned that the mall has been home to more than 10,000 weddings, has the Guiness World Record for the World’s Largest Cupcake, has given away 5,205 bicycles, and made the World’s Largest Gingerbread for a nursing home benefit.

Before we finished the tour, we were able to go into the warehouse and see the upcoming Christmas displays. Lynn and I even sat in Santa’s chair.

Dan mentioned Fly Over America to us and I remembered how much I enjoyed it. We decided to go and enjoyed the feeling of flying through the wide-open spaces of the United States, including the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls.

We had time for more Minnesota Wild Rice Soup and Popovers at the FireLake Grill before getting on the bus to Red Wing. The bus, which we’d be using for excursions at ports, was equipped to take my mobility scooter.

It was an absolute pleasure getting on a small ship. With only about 300 passengers on the American Queen, getting on the ship there were no lines and our room was waiting.

We had a Junior Suite and it was a combination of old antique and a brand new, very large, bathroom with a tub. It was one of many accessible cabins on the boat.

The Coast Guard Muster Drill was short since there were so few passengers. Before we knew it, we were at the Front Porch Café sipping champagne.

A cocktail hour with music was held in front of the dining room every evening. Cocktails, wine, and beer were complimentary throughout the cruise.

This would be the only night there was confusion at the dining room entrance as it seemed that no one (including us) liked their dinner assignments. It would have been so much simpler to just ask people when they booked their cruise.

 

We decided to eat at the buffet at the Front Porch, which had Prime Rib every night. The Maitre’d did a great job of getting the dinner seatings straightened by the next night.

Every night after dinner there was an orientation telling us about the port we would be going to the next day.  

American Queen Voyages includes a hop on, hop off bus at every port. They also pay for admissions at every stop on the bus. Additional tours are available at a reasonable cost if you want to see or do something more specific.We would be staying put in Red Wing the next day.

The orientation was held in the same place as the Grand Salon, a spectacular theater that reminds you of the days of Mark Twain or Abraham Lincoln. Since we were in a suite, we had balcony seats reserved each night.

The show on the first night was a welcome by Cruise Director Alex Bernhardt and a performance by his team. They were quite impressive.

It had been a very long day and we were ready to retire for the night right after the show. There would be plenty more time to explore the American Queen.

I was hosted by American Queen on this voyage, but opinions are my own. 

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Living Life Like Mary in Minneapolis

My friend Jaimee and I checked out early from the Hotel Ivy in Minneapolis.  We had a full day ahead of us to explore.

Our first stop was for brunch at Spoonriver, in the Mill District that runs along the Mississippi River. The food that chef/owner Brenda Langton offers here is local, organic and gourmet. She’s also come up with an interesting cocktail menu to bring into the restaurant.

The brunch menu at Spoonriver definitely had my attention and I knew right away it was going to be tough to narrow it down. I was especially impressed with all the vegetarian and vegan items, which all sounded good. 

We ordered the Bloody River (voted best by Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine) and the scone of the day cherry, banana and coconut. Both were wonderful and we were beginning to think we couldn’t go wrong with anything ordered.

I settled on a special omelet with wild rice, squash, leeks and Amish cheddar cheese. I had a side of their vegetable and potato hash browns with it. All tasted fresh and was excellent. Jaimee said the same of her ham, roasted potato omelet.

We were pretty stuffed, but I’m easily tempted with dessert. We decided on the Toffee Pudding and a heavenly looking chocolate cake, only we wished we were able to finish them.

From Spoonriver we went to the Walker Art Center. We walked around this modern museum for quite a while. I was especially enthralled with a Cindy Sherman photographic exhibition (the exhibits here change here often).

Jaimee and I still needed to work up an appetite so we left the car and walked to the Prairie Kitchen and Bar in the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis. It was late afternoon and we caught the end of lunch, but the food tasted just as fresh as it had in the previous place.

 

I had a delicious combination of the roasted chicken and herb soup with wild rice and a goat cheese and Lingonberry tart. Jaimee had the Walleye & Chips, a specialty since the fish is caught nearby. She really liked that too.  Andrew, the manager, and Eric, the chef, both came by to greet us and explain how the menu changes seasonally and they try to keep specials based on what’s available.

We were also convinced here to try some dessert and did so with no regrets. Another specialty of the house was brought out… Sweet Vanilla Pancakes, served with bananas and locally made cinnamon ice cream.

Before I left Minneapolis, I had one last stop to make. It was downtown in the pedestrian Nicollet Mall. The Mary Tyler Moore statue stands there and, just as she did in the opening sequence to her 1970s show, she’s throwing her hat up in the air and cheering the city.

Minneapolis Getaway

I had always thought of Minneapolis as a shopping mecca as it is home to the Mall of America, one of the largest malls in the world. I recently started hearing more about the cities food and cocktail scene and decided it was something I needed to check out for myself.

It’s about an eight hour ride from my home in Champaign, Illinois, to Minneapolis, Minnesota. I brought my friend Jaimee along for the ride and we were both surprised to see the change in landscape as we drove through Wisconsin to Minnesota. I made note that I needed to check out the Badger state on a future visit.

We were staying right downtown at the Hotel Ivy, a four-star hotel next to Orchestra Hall. The room won my favor with a large tub (I will never understand hotel rooms with only showers). I was also surprised to learn that this contemporary accommodation is actually on the National Register of Historic Places as the Ivy Tower was originally designed by architect Thomas R. Kimball for the Second Church of Christ Scientist.

Our first stop was to meet Kristen Montag from Meet Minneapolis for drinks. We were originally set to meet at Union Restaurant (which has a retractable rooftop on the upper level), but it was closed for a party so we instead had martinis at Zelo before heading to Eat Street Social for dinner.

Eat Street Social is quite an eclectic place. From the selection of house made bitters to the unusual menu, I was thoroughly impressed, despite what first looked like an overcrowded bar. This place is anything but a “bar” given the menu of food and drinks they offer.  

I picked the right cocktail to start – T & Tea. It was a smoked plum black tea infused gin with winter tonic (they make and change their own tonics as well as the bitters). Jaimee enjoyed sipping the Tropical Void with Milwaukee’s Rehorst Vodka, pineapple, Jamaican #2 Bitters and lime.

The drinks were delicious, as was dinner. We had a selection of dishes from Steak Tartar (Jaimee said it was tender and flavorful) to a juicy pork chop with wonderful sweet potatoes.

The dessert selection at Eat Street Social changes often, but if the Upside Down Apple Cake we had is any indication, you won’t want to skip the final course.

We took a cab back to Hotel Ivy for the night and stopped for a nightcap at the Ivy Bar (warm and inviting) before heading upstairs. We had one more day left in Minneapolis to sample some more food and check out some art.