It always feels like a milestone on our trips when we cross over the Mississippi River, whether going or coming. And it never gets old. Today the Mighty Miss was a foot above flood stage. (Ned tells me I’m the sweetest girl West of the Mississippi. In the East, not so much).
We stopped in Wabasha to check out a chocolate shop. It’s not bean to bar, even though the shop had a mural and display about how cacao is grown. The owner, not knowing we were chocolate makers, stated many dubious facts regarding cacao and chocolate. Ned subtly tried to educate him on a few things, such as the correct pronunciation of the criollo bean and how chocolate is actually made. After learning we were chocolate makers the owner didn’t back down, but continued his enthusiastic schpiel of misinformation. Oh well, why let facts get in the way? We still bought some chocolate, market research and all. We’ve coined a new term, “fake chocolate.”
Next stop, Lark Toys, just down the road in Kellogg. What a fun shop! They have every toy imaginable, a great collection of toys from years past and a one of a kind handcarved carousel. We were impressed with all toys they made available for the kids to try out. It was actually more fun watching the kids play than looking at the toys. Okay, Ned and I played around a bit too.
And now, for the highlight of the day! We stopped by Rochester to visit my college friend, Sister Marisa. She just moved back to Rochester to work at Assisi Heights, which is the Motherhouse for the Sisters of Saint Francis. Marisa and I went to Holy Names College. Our big claim to fame was doing a skit for the dorm from the movie White Christmas (“Sisters.”) Hard to believe no one picked up our act.
We were honored to get a private tour from Marisa of the Motherhouse. It was amazing! The building is 400,000 square feet and has an inner and outer courtyard. It sits majestically on a hill on 100 acres. We were impressed to see a solar farm, honey beehives (yes, we had to get some of that honey!), a beautiful vegetable garden and wildlife. The inside is incredible. The first long hallway we went down displayed the history of the Order, honoring various Sisters and their service to society. The chapel took my breath away and the parlor rooms were from a bygone era. Marisa has taken on the responsibility of being the Archivist for the Order. No small undertaking! We also got to view the archive intersanctum. The Sisters of Saint Francis were instrumental in the development of the Mayo Clinic. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed, (okay, I did sneak a few, sorry Marisa!) but here’s a link that shows an overhead view of the property.
Overhead view of Assisi Heights
The property was built about 60 years ago and is modeled after the original monastery in Assisi, Italy. Ned and I hope to visit there this fall.
Marisa, thank you so much for the tour of Assisi Heights, downtown Rochester and the Mayo Clinic. I’m also glad we did this in June and not January. Good luck Marisa with adjusting back to Minnesota winters after so many years in California. (Another tidbit: The George E. McDonald Courthouse in Alameda is named after Marisa’s dad, Judge McDonald).
Traveling through the prairie, we thought about stopping and seeing a sod house that was advertised along the side of the road. Turns out we pulled into someone’s yard. They wanted us come knock on the kitchen door and pay admission. It was too close to dinner time and it felt too weird so continued to drive on. Next stop Laura Ingalls childhood home in Walnut Grove. We got there within 5 minutes of it closing. We opted out of paying the admission price and just took pictures of us goofing around in the parking lot. (There are a LOT of Laura Ingalls homes and museums. We’ve visited one in Missouri and I think there’s one in South Dakota too).
We pulled into Lake Shetak Campground. Ned said it looked familiar. I checked our notes and blog. Yep, turns out we were run out of here by the Park Ranger almost exactly 8 years ago - short by one day! The story goes we had wanted to take a drive thru the campground and pick out a site before paying. Well apparently that violated all kinds of Minnesota State Park rules. The ranger came tearing after us in a pick-up truck and gave us a major chewing out. We said, “fughetaboutit” we’re outta here and left the campground. The ranger followed us for several miles in hot pursuit. We drove across the state line.
