Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for minnesota
A Gem in Duluth
By Linda Tancs
Glensheen Mansion, perched on the shore of Lake Superior, is the most visited historic home in Minnesota. The 12-acre estate features gardens, bridges, and the famous 39-room mansion, a Jacobean gem completely intact, from the owner’s top hat to his wife’s letters and bedsheets. It was built between 1905 and 1908 for Chester and Clara Congdon, an influential family known for opening up iron mining in the Duluth region. Tours are self-guided; choose from the Classic Tour or Full Mansion Tour. The Classic Tour includes Glensheen’s most famous rooms on the first three floors; the Full Mansion tour includes all five floors of the mansion.
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A North Shore Art Colony
By Linda Tancs
Located on Lake Superior’s North Shore, Grand Marais, Minnesota, is an artists’ paradise. In fact, this charming harbor village boasts the oldest art colony in the state. The Grand Marais Art Colony provides artists with independent work space in professional studios amidst the backdrop of a stunning landscape nestled between the Sawtooth Mountains and Lake Superior. Autumn is a great time to participate in Art Along the Lake, a 10-day, self-led art tour during peak fall colors that offers the unique opportunity to meet local artists in their home studios and gain insights into their creative processes.
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A Sculpture Park in the Midwest
By Linda Tancs
Located in the scenic St. Croix River Valley of Minnesota, Franconia Sculpture Park is a 50-acre outdoor museum operating more than 50 public arts programs each year. It features a rotating collection of over 100 contemporary sculptures and an active artist residency. Open daily, admission is free.
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A Landmark in Duluth
By Linda Tancs
The Aerial Lift Bridge is a landmark in Duluth, a port city on Lake Superior in Minnesota. In fact, the lake itself is its closest rival, being one of the Great Lakes and the largest freshwater lake in the world. At 138 feet tall and 390 feet wide, the steel bridge spans the Duluth Shipping Canal, connecting the sandbar of Park Point with the rest of Duluth. The elevator bridge features a suspension system that raises the bridge to a height of 135 feet to allow ships to pass underneath. Check the lift schedule to watch this amazing feat. You can also walk across it to experience the bridge in its entirety.
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Minnesota’s Highest Waterfall
By Linda Tancs
Three viewing decks at High Falls provide visitors to Minnesota’s Grand Portage State Park with various vantage points to see and photograph the state’s highest waterfall. High Falls Trail is an easy, one mile round-trip hike; you might also opt for the rugged 4.5-mile hiking trail to Middle Falls, with spectacular ridgetop views of Lake Superior and Canada. One of the smallest state parks, it is the only one whose land is owned not by the state but rather by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on behalf of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, who manage the park jointly with the state.
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A Gem of a Church in Minnesota
By Linda Tancs
The practice of using vertical posts, or staves, to construct massive wooden buildings is what sets stave churches apart from the others. Stave churches were built in and around Scandinavia from the waning years of the Viking Age (the 11th and 12th centuries) to the early 16th century. One of the oldest- remaining stave churches in Norway is Hopperstad in Vik, built in 1130. You’ll find a full-scale replica of it in Moorhead, Minnesota, located along the boundary with Fargo, North Dakota. A symbol of Norwegian heritage so prevalent in the Red River Valley, the Moorhead Stave Church offers guided tours from April to December.
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Peace and Quiet
By Linda Tancs
If you’d like some peace and quiet, then head to Minneapolis, Minnesota. That’s where you’ll find the world-famous Orfield Anechoic Chamber of Orfield Laboratories. Internationally recognized as “The Quietest Place on Earth,” the room offers a keen sensory experience unlike any other. The lab offers multiple options for tours, each with different lengths of time in the anechoic chamber.
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Eagle Watch in Minnesota
By Linda Tancs
The Upper Mississippi River Valley is home to hundreds of bald eagles. It’s the perfect place for an interpretive center, which is what you’ll find along the banks in Wabasha, Minnesota. Home to non-releasable bald and golden eagles, the National Eagle Center gives visitors a close-up experience to the nation’s symbol of freedom along with lectures on their care. You can experience their migratory patterns through field trips and habitat tours as well, or check out their high-resolution webcam stream at any time.
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Minnesota’s Meeting Place
By Linda Tancs
“Tettegouche” is a French-Canadian term meaning “meeting place.” It’s an apt name for Minnesota’s Tettegouche State Park. Located on the North Shore of Lake Superior, it’s a place where several waterfalls meet along the Baptism River. One of them, High Falls, is the highest waterfall (at 60 feet) entirely inside the state’s borders. Hiking trails along the river provide views of many of the cascades. As a preserved example of the North Shore Highlands Biocultural Region, the park’s features also include rugged, semi-mountainous terrain, one mile of Lake Superior shoreline, six inland lakes and an undisturbed northern hardwood forest.
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Following the Mississippi
By Linda Tancs
You may have wondered whether you can drive along the course of the Mississippi River. Yes, there’s a road for that. The Great River Road National Scenic Byway follows the course of the Mississippi River for 3,000 miles from northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, passing through 10 states. Its designation as a National Scenic Byway is in recognition of the route’s outstanding assets in the areas of culture, history, nature, recreation and scenic beauty. The different roads and highways comprising the byway are marked by a green pilot’s wheel logo to keep you on track. Watch for river-related attractions and interpretative centers. You can take in the whole route in 36 hours of straight driving, but why not stretch it out for four to 10 days and enjoy the ride.
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