My grandmother has always been afraid of water. She once told me that her father lost some relatives in a Lake Pepin disaster and from that point on he was afraid of water. He would fish from shore, never went in a boat, and didn’t have his children learn how to swim – in turn he passed his fear on to his daughter. It wasn’t until the 1970s when she found a letter in a drawer...
Within the borders of Crow Wing State Park are the remnants of Old Crow Wing, one of the most populous towns in Minnesota during the 1850s and 60s.
Our visit to the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge was the first time I had been up close to the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge and it was in rough shape:
Located in the heart of the Twin Cities where the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers converge, Fort Snelling State Park provides not only a quick nature escape, but also the opportunity to temporarily go back in time. When I walk through the park, I always find myself reflecting on the early days of Minnesota’s history and imagining what it must have been like for the first people living here...
“He taught both in scientific words and with dirt-stained hands….” – Jane McKinnon The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is the Upper Midwest’s largest public garden and is open 363 days a year. Part of the University of Minnesota, the earliest grounds were established in 1907 as the Horticultural Research Center. They developed cold-hardy crops and we have them to thank...
The Como Park Conservatory has always been one of my favorite places in the city. In fact, not only did I insist on dragging my family there to take my senior prom photos, but I was also married there. A lush and fragrant setting, the gardens create a tropical paradise regardless of the weather outside.
Did you know that Minnesota is home to The Jolly Green Giant? When I started researching this, I hadn’t realized that there was a 55-foot tall fiberglass statue in Blue Earth, MN. I was aware of the enormous wooden sign of the Giant (with Sprout!) on Route 169 near Le Sueur, however. The few times we drove by when I was a kid, I remember waving at the sign enthusiastically and being amazed...
“One lifetime isn’t long enough for all the things I’d like to do.” ~ Hilma Berglund This quote stopped me in my tracks during a visit to the American Swedish Institute. This woman had so succinctly articulated my own sentiments, but who was Hilma Berglund? As is the case with many historic women, Hilma Berglund was the daughter of poor immigrants who came to America in the pursuit of a better...
The stock market crash of October 1929 sent the United States spiraling into the deepest economic downturn in history. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office on March 4, 1933, nearly half of the country’s banks had collapsed and between 13 and 15 million Americans were unemployed. FDR called the Congress into Emergency Session five days later and proposed the Emergency Conservation...
This post marks the end of our first scamping season. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been the proud owners of our bouncing, baby Scamp for six months already! We spent more time camping this year than we have in any other in any other season, but still, all good things must come to an end. Before the snow flies, we had one final outing and then put her in storage for the long...
Sometimes referred to as Minnesota’s last true wilderness, Big Bog State Recreation is home to the largest peat bog in the lower 48 states. It is larger than the state of Rhode Island. Home to the Ojibwe Indians until the late 19th century, Big Bog was left relatively untouched when logging spread through the area due to the swampy nature of the land and lack of mature pine trees. The bog...
