River Towns in Illinois and Wisconsin
#2
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Plenty of charming town in Illinois and Wisconsin, but hills are the problem. If you like hills and charming towns I can recommend two in Minnesota. One is Red Wing and the other is Stillwater. Red Wing is on the Mississippi. I believe Stillwater is on the LaCroix, which appears to be the upper Mississippi. Both towns are old with high bluffs overlooking the river.
Cross into Minnesota from LaCrosse, WI
and drive north along the Mississippi
to Red Wing. This may be a litlle farther than you planned but trust me, if you do this on a blue sky day, scenery in the midwest just doesn't get better. Red Wing is a nice small town. Stillwater is more interesting and LOADED with history and old houses. I'm not a big fan of fake "trolley" tours, but this one was woth it. Phenominal architecture. If you go on the right day, actress Jessica Lange may even yell at your trolley to move away from her house.
Cross into Minnesota from LaCrosse, WI
and drive north along the Mississippi
to Red Wing. This may be a litlle farther than you planned but trust me, if you do this on a blue sky day, scenery in the midwest just doesn't get better. Red Wing is a nice small town. Stillwater is more interesting and LOADED with history and old houses. I'm not a big fan of fake "trolley" tours, but this one was woth it. Phenominal architecture. If you go on the right day, actress Jessica Lange may even yell at your trolley to move away from her house.
#3
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Stillwater, MN is on the St. Croix and has lots of antique stores and other neat things and Red Wing is on the Mississippi (just down river from where the St. Croix and Mississippi come together. I also enjoy Wabasha and Lake City, Mn If you like B & B's there are a lot of them in these 3 cities and also some neat old hotels - Lowell Inn (Stillwater); St. James Hotel (Red Wing) and Anderson House (Wabasha). There are some river towns in WI but can't think of any that stand out to me.
#5
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Ohmygod, my husband went to prep school in Prairie du Chien, WI!!! Red Wing is certainly a good choice, Dubuque is a nice town to visit as well. We used to visit friends who had a summer place in Detroit Lakes, MN--great area though not on the river. Used to take Amtrak from Chicago--a 12 hour trip!! Kids loved the train! Don't know how it is now, that was 20+ years ago.
#9
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Campion was a Catholic Jesuit prep school in the 60s and even then the boys called it prision prep! How appropriate that it is now an actual prison! And, yes, the Lutherans tried it for a while but apparently it didn't work for them either. Things do come around in full circle!