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<\/a>Donnie, Starlet, Linda and Old Man on the river<\/p><\/div>\n
I had the occasion last month to visit Minnesota<\/strong>, home to Paul Bunyan<\/strong>, the Vikings<\/strong> and Linda\u2019s mother, Phyllis; sister, Starlet; brother-in-law, Donnie and various nieces, as well as some great-nieces and nephews \u2013 their greatness varies, but mostly they\u2019re great.\u00a0 Some of our friends doubted our sanity in 1)<\/strong> flying anywhere during Covid, and 2)<\/strong> going to the state that was ground zero for all the national riots.\u00a0 How some ever, we\u2019ve become callus to comments about our sanity \u2013 they seem to come with predictable regularity.\u00a0 So off we went.<\/p>\n While we did fly into the eye of the storm (Minneapolis), we were quickly picked up by Donnie & Starlet and whisked 85 miles south to Rochester<\/strong>, home to the Mayo Clinic<\/strong>.\u00a0 So, if Minneapolis is ground zero, Rochester would be ground one million, what with all the highly qualified doctors, state-of-the-art medical facilities and all those \u2018Minnesota nice<\/strong>\u2019 folks.<\/p>\n I won\u2019t bore you with all the darn tootin\u2019 card games we played or with Gene & Denise Cobb\u2019s bucolic, five-acre vegetable and flower garden (featuring the finest salsify<\/strong> in the land), but what I will bore you with is a side trip we took to the Mississippi River<\/strong>.\u00a0 Yes, for those who are geographically challenged, the \u2018Mighty Mississippi\u2019<\/strong> starts in Minnesota, from a glacial lake that’s only about 2 square miles, Lake Itasca<\/strong>, to be exact.<\/p>\n Will and Gene in Cobb backyard<\/p><\/div>\n Denise in Cobb backyard<\/p><\/div>\n We drive to Lake Pepin <\/strong>on the Mississippi;\u00a0yes, the Mississippi has lakes, and Pepin is the largest one. On the east side of the lake or river is Pepin, Wisconsin,<\/strong> on the west side is Lake City, Minnesota<\/strong>, where we stop to have lunch, and learn that:<\/p>\n As \u2018Old Man River\u2019<\/em><\/strong> and the \u2018The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn\u2019 <\/em><\/strong>echoed in my brain, I wondered what else I didn\u2019t know about what most people mistakenly think is America\u2019s longest river.\u00a0 That\u2019s right, that honor goes to the Missouri River<\/strong>, which is about 100 miles longer and originates in Montana<\/strong> and empties into the Mississippi in St. Louis,<\/strong> where they jointly ease their way to New Orleans<\/strong> then into the Gulf of Mexico<\/strong>.<\/p>\n I was interested in what Google had to say about the river; not surprisingly, quite a bit.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a few gems (OK, maybe not gems, but possibly of some esoteric interest):<\/p>\n Old Man River from Wisconsin side<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n We leave the river and stop at a winery<\/strong> and get a better understanding of why Minnesota is known for a lot of good things, but not it\u2019s wine.\u00a0 We head directly to The Little Thistle Brewing Company<\/strong>, a local craft brewery, where Gene Cobb is an investor, and get the taste of wine out of our mouths with some great craft beer.<\/p>\n All is still NICE in Minnesota (except the wine), and it’s somehow reassuring to know that during these crazy times Old Man River<\/strong> just keeps rollin’ along.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow I had the occasion last month to visit Minnesota, home to Paul Bunyan, the Vikings and Linda\u2019s mother, Phyllis; sister, Starlet; brother-in-law, Donnie and various nieces, as well as some great-nieces and nephews \u2013 their greatness varies, … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Cobb-backyard-2-300x225.jpg\")
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