Red Wing, MN is picturesque. It has a lovely little historic downtown. It’s only about an hour drive from the Cities. It has a great art festival, and a bluff that’s great for a casual hike with a nice view at the end. But after all of our travels during the boys’ spring break, what made Henry really want to come back to Red Wing is how frequently you get to be right up close to real, moving trains.
Not much was open, but the train station, understandably, had to be. We were grateful, since we’d pretty much been using port-o-potties all week.
And here’s the reason we come here most falls:
I do love my Red Wings.
They were especially useful this week trekking around, because we were on all kinds of terrain. We don’t shy away from mud. You just need the right footwear.
Mimicking this odd little jester statue.
There were a lot of fun-looking places where we might normally have grabbed a treat, but nothing was open. So, when we noticed a vending machine behind an old gas station that sold cans of pop for 50 cents…it was actually really exciting! Especially since these two never drink soda. We dug out enough nickels and dimes from the car coin-stash that we were able to each choose our own flavor.
Once we were all sugared-up, it was time to hit Barn Bluff. It’s hard to miss when you’re there, and Charlie was dead-set on getting up there. We took the easy, less-interesting path on the way up. It made for a quick walk, and the way was super wide, which was good for social-distancing.
Here’s the town!
On the way down, we took the Quarry Trail, at Henry’s request. It was so much more beautiful, and a bit more treacherous. It was also super narrow and muddy, so when people came from the other direction, we had to just hold our breaths, shrug and all look sorry at one another that we physically couldn’t stay six-feet away or one of the groups was going off the edge of the bluff.
The part was really pretty!
We saw some rock-climbers enjoying the walls, which looked really fun, but above my skill level.
On the backside of the bluff is the old kiln that used to process the limestone found on the bluff. Luckily, the mining was stopped at some point, so the bluff wasn’t completely hacked away. Look at this big ol’ thing!
And as a perfect end to our day, right before we loaded into the car to head home, another train rumbled by.
