Annual Momcation in Lake Pepin

Do you ever go anywhere without your significant other and/or kids? Get away, enjoy some adult time, no responsibilities, do whatever you want on your own schedule, and just BE!   It’s a great feeling sometimes, isn’t it?!  The best part of doing that though….coming home!!!!  Getting a “welcome home” kiss from your spouse and a “hi mommy” and a hug from your kids is just the best time ever!

My girlfriend and I went away this past weekend and had a little ladies weekend - a momcation if you will. Our second annual momcation to be exact!  We’ve made it a new tradition of ours to check out bed and breakfasts in cute little towns with shopping, boat cruises and yummy food. Last year was Clear Lake, Iowa and this year was Reads Landing, MN.

We started our trip bright and early with a coffee stop at Starbucks prior to a 4 mile hike around Frontenac State Park......

Yup, can’t get any better than a jolt of energy before working our butts off going down steep inclines and lots of stairs all to just go back up them!!!  haha  But seriously, the views were amazing and work out was worth it - despite the overcast, low cloud coverage and high humidity. At the end of the hike, Alli’s iWatch told us we had taken 8,102 steps and climbed the equivalency of 36 flights of stairs!!! WWHHHAAAATTTTT    Yeah, can you say thigh and glute workout?!

From there we drove into Lake City for a quick lunch before boarding our cruise boat tour. We ate at the Lake House on Pepin while sitting outside on the patio. Other people’s kids were playing down by the water - laughing, splashing and yes even one decided she wanted to investigate a dead fish!  blagh  Cruising the lake on the paddleboat, Pearl of the Lake, was very relaxing. Listening to the tour guide was both educational and entertaining! We even had newlyweds (and their family) on the boat with us….a beautiful bride in a dusty rose dress and handsome groom in a gray suit. Nontraditional approach to their wedding day but it looked like it was amazing for them!!! The crew even allowed them to take photos in the Captain’s Quarters with the beautiful wooden steering wheel.  Too cool!   Towards the end of the cruise though, weather moved in and we eventually started getting wet and had to move downstairs to the interior part of the ship. Nope, didn’t bring the umbrellas on the boat with us.  ☹  Oh well.

We then checked into our B&B, the American Eagle Bluff Bed & Breakfast. The hosts are AMAZING! So kind, very chatty, and made us feel at home in their place. They don’t actually live there though and the other room wasn’t rented out, so Alli and I had the entire place to ourselves! Beautiful views from atop the bluff, flower gardens all around, porch swing in front of a koi pond and birds singing everywhere. It was a little bit of heaven in my eyes. We couldn’t stay there the entire night though, we just HAD to eat something for dinner and Alli had pasta on her mind. So we traveled back into Lake City to Nosh. Very upscale and the food was delish! We sipped on wine while eating fresh calamari, seafood paella & chicken alfredo. Yes, after all of that you can say we were a bit too full to try their dessert. Bummer, maybe next time! The chocolate cake sounded amazing!!!  Well, by the time we were done it was still raining - but we didn’t let that stop us. We took a little walk, under our umbrellas, out on the pier in the marina and enjoyed wondering what the heck people did for a living to afford the amazing yachts that sat there.  Pretty sure half of them cost more than my house!  Yikes  So, then we decided to go somewhere that was more in our “comfort zone”….Reads Landing Brewery….oh yeaahhh....good stop!  Garlic fries and beer, what better way to end the night?!

If the mosquitoes hadn’t have been so bad, we would have spent more time outside at the B&B. But yea, they were swarming us!!!! I at least took advantage of the night breeze (which thankfully kept the skeeters away) and sat outside on the porch swing sipping my wine and watching the fireflies flutter about before heading to bed. In the morning we awoke to enjoy coffee while walking out to the “lookout” point on the property. You could see for miles, it was incredible!!! Then we came back to fresh-cut fruit, yogurt and fresh-baked muffins. Enjoyed a lovely conversation with Perry while his partner, Raynard, finished prepping breakfast. Caramel sauce over crusted french toast. Mmmmm….to die for!  We all at breakfast together, chatted a bit more & got to know eachother a bit before having to part ways. We signed the guest book, exchanged some hugs and gratitude and went on. YES, if anyone is wanting an amazing experience at a B&B, I highly recommend this place! They have snowshoeing in the winter too....might have to come back and give it a try!

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What’s on the agenda for day two?!  Well, we drove into Wisconsin and visited the Maiden Rock Winery. My one goal was to refill my growler with the ever so delicious honeycrisp cider. To my dismay, they were all out and wouldn’t have any barrels ready until after next week.  BUMMER   Looks like the hubby & I will have a good excuse to go back out there for a little date-day sometime soon though!  So instead, we ventured into Stockholm and walked around all the cute little shops. A must-do while there is visit the pie shop….enjoy a piece there and bring some home to enjoy later on! I can’t even explain how delectable some of the flavors sounded. Do you think we could get them to start a new trend and offer “pie flights”?!  I would love to have the option to try a bite of a few different flavors instead of just settling on one piece of one flavor. Well, since that's not an option yet, I chose the caramel apple crunch pie and brought home the blackberry-raspberry pie. And Alli is a cherry girl through and through. That was her top choice and only option! And yes, we sampled eachothers and all were great! Next time we go back it’ll be a toss-up between the banana cream and the peanut butter fudge…or something new they have to offer! I think they have over 20 flavors!!!!  *pause while I wipe the drool from my mouth*

Now it’s time to head home, but we couldn’t leave that side of Pepin without stopping at the famous Pickle Factory and trying their fried pickle spears dipped in ranch dressing!  YES, they were as good as it sounds. Sitting outside listening to live music, the breeze in our hair and a cool cider beer to wash it down…perfection!  Well, perfect until one of the bites happened to be a bit hotter than anticipated and completely burned the roof of my mouth!!!!  YIKES   Let’s just say it was difficult to eat pizza at home later that night, but soothing to enjoy some ice cream.  😉

Everyone has people in their lives that stand out above the rest, and I’m so blessed to have a friend so close by that is just that! Even through the difficulties and craziness of work, kids, and life….we still find time to get together and make lasting memories.

If any of my readers have ever been around the Pepin area, what are some other good places to add to our “must visit” list?  Our next annual B&B destination will be Stillwater, Lanesboro, or someplace else by the water and with cute, fun shops.  Any suggestions/referrals would be appreciated!