The event is so Visit Winona can give some public love to the local businesses that make people want to come to Winona. The Minnesota Marine Art Museum will get an award for being pretty much the coolest place on earth, and some local business folks will talk about what tourism means to them. There’s always a delicious spread of food. And a bar. That’s not why I go, of course. A buffet and a bar — whatever — I probably won’t even get anything from either. And that’s a total lie – I will probably have a chair pulled up to one or the other. BUT I will be listening to Pat Mutter, the tourism queen from Visit Winona, talk about our greatness, followed by Colleen Tollefson from Explore Minnesota Tourism, who will come all the way down the Great River Road to talk about our greatness too. And I will be sitting there eating crackers with both hands marveling at how extraordinary it all is.

What is it, you might be asking yourself, that they will say makes us so great? Well, it’s the rest of the people standing around the room – managers and business owners and committee members of various efforts who have dedicated their energy to making Winona an outstanding place to visit. They are called “Partners” in tourism language — businesses that take a pledge to work with Visit Winona to enhance our tourism appeal either through cash or karma. And while the usual suspects are on the list (hotels and restaurants and golf clubs and such), you might be surprised that this list goes deep into the heart of Winona and includes businesses one might never think of as interested in the tourism industry.

After all, what do Goltz Pharmacy, Yarnology, or Winona Health care about tourism? They are, by most common definitions, the type of businesses that serve a resident population. So are all the realtors, banks, and bookstores named as partners. But see, smart folks in those operations have figured out that the more people who visit and enjoy Winona, the better it is for everybody here, even if visitors aren’t necessarily buying yarn or prescriptions or books. Those business people’s vested interest is that they LIVE here and want to see Winona thrive, so they throw their hat and maybe a few dollars into the ring and say, “Me too – I support Winona and I want to be part of this.” sigh. It makes me a little misty.

The other reason I’m excited about the event is that I’m going to shake down those businesses for prizes to give away here on the blog. Listen, I’m thinking about you guys, and I’m aiming for some sweet stuff so we can keep having fun here celebrating Winona’s awesomeness with contests for local businesses. So help me out here… if I was going to come back with a giveaway, what would you want it to be? If you don’t live here, tell me what would get you to town, and if you do live here, what would make you love this place more? You can leave multiple comments, but a max one comment per day until 7 p.m. Monday the 16th. I don’t know what I’m giving away yet — but whoever I draw out next Monday is going to win it. I can only promise you this… it will be cool, and you’ll want it. We shall call it the Mystery Prize. Let the discussion begin…

Congratulations to MMAM on the 2012 Tourism Award from Visit Winona!

As my thighs would tell you – I love to eat – fancy food, pretty food, simple food, chips, yeah… But there’s nothing quite as intoxicatingly good as familiar items done so well you almost feel like they’ve been reinvented. I think that’s even harder than creating some exotic, signature dish that no one’s ever had before – maybe you can make the heck out of a pestomole or have invented a brilliant seafood bourride , but can you make a hamburger taste better?

Well, it turns out The Grill at Signatures can. Bacon cheeseburger, meet the 19th Hole burger with Vermont white cheddar, caramelized onions, and apple-wood smoked bacon on a Bloedows bun. For 9 bucks. Oh my lord, people. Hamburger-shmamburger, you say? Fine. How about a chicken cordon bleu sandwich with prosciutto and a mornay sauce, which is also $9. Or a vegetarian pizza with kalamata olives and a handmade crust?

I have a friend who I consider to be gastronomically sophisticated who couldn’t stop raving about the place the other day. She had the cordon bleu sandwich and said it was pretty much the best sandwich she’d ever eaten in Winona. And she said the cheese curds were the best she’d ever had in her LIFE. Ever. I think she even wept a little bit as she recalled them. OK I’m kidding, she didn’t really weep, but she could not say enough good things about it, and that’s pretty exciting for Winona. I, of course, had to see for myself, and I’d like to give a one-person standing ovation to The Grill for my *amazing* hand-dipped onion rings and buffalo chicken pizza. They serve breakfast on Saturday and Sunday too – which I’m hungry for right now as I write this. The menu looks simple and good, and I am so freaking excited that Winona will be serving a nice breakfast.

Signatures has done a pretty good job reinventing itself for our evolving tastes through the generations. From the dining room, one can still feel the remnants of the gilded days as a private country club, with beautiful food, a stunning view, and an elegance that indisputably makes it Winona’s only fine dining establishment. (I have said for a long time that it is Winona’s best-kept secret, and I shake my head at people who will drive to La Crosse or Rochester and pay literally twice as much as they would pay here – I’ve eaten in those places and the food is not better. But I digress…) The addition of The Grill, which was created by remodeling the bar area of the restaurant to make better use of the seating space and the patio, is just a plain smart idea intended to capture the casual diner who still wants a great meal, but one that is cheaper and more, well, casual.

And I just want to make a disclaimer — I oodle a lot about Winona’s restaurants and their offerings, but I’m not like one of those food critics who goes in and gets a bunch of free stuff to try so I’ll write about it. I’m just a regular paying Joe like everybody else – I just happen to have a blog and a somewhat unnatural love for the things that Winona does well. Call me crazy. And hungry.

So, I bet you’re hungry now too. Let’s have a little contest for the $25 gift card, and then somebody gets to eat. How about I will draw a winner from the comments people leave saying which thing on the new Grill menu they want to try. But no skimping out and just naming the things I already named – you have to look for yourself here and you can leave one comment per day from now until the contest ends:

http://signatureswinona.com/menu/ipaper/show/222

I will take comments for one week until 7 p.m. on Sunday, April 22, and then I will cut up all the comments and draw a winner. And I’ll leave the first comment, which is “Everything,” but of course I can’t play.  Your turn.

The brainchild of Sam Brown, the festival creates the perfect marriage of music and community. All sorts of venues around town – including places you would expect to hear music and places you wouldn’t – will play host over a three day span to more than 100 musicians from all across the Midwest. People can buy day passes or wristbands for the entire event (which at $35 should feel like stealing because it’s such a good deal), and even better, the proceeds from the event are donated to local charities.

So really, a musical event doesn’t get much better than this. OK, well this year it actually did get a little better than that. On April 21, the last day of MWMF, a national headliner will join the festival when long-time folk musician Greg Brown takes the stage in Somsen Auditorium. Ticket’s for Brown’s performance are separate from the festival passes, but for $26 you see a guy whose history includes touring with Buck Ram, founding the Red House Records label, releasing more than two dozen albums, and being nominated for Grammys. And NOW his resume will also include playing at the Midwest Music Fest – something I think artists are starting to brag about.

At last count there were 115 groups signed up to play in at least 10 different venues at MWMF. Seriously. That, folks, is a music festival. And it all happens over three days – April 19 – 21 – and it all happens here, in Winona. Local groups, up-and-coming musical acts, and Midwest performers who have amassed large and loyal followings will all be here, playing just about every kind of music you can think of. For charity. It is so freakin cool I can hardly stand it.

If you want to learn more, go to www.midwestmusicfest.org, and you can volunteer too, by emailing the organizers. But whatever you do, GO. You’ll talk about it all year.

OK – now let’s have a little fun. The festival has donated a wristband good for the whole Midwest Music Fest, a $35 value. I am going to give it to one of you, and here’s how:  Leave a comment on this blog and tell me why you think music is good for a community. It can be long or short, and you can enter more than one comment, but only one per day (and it can’t be the same comment) between now and when I draw a winner on March 19 . On that day I am going to literally print off all the comments, cut them up, put them in a hat (OK, a bowl – nobody has hats like that anymore) and draw one out. I will post the winner on this blog. Sound good?

So let’s go people – and I’ll leave the first comment:

I think music is good for a community because it brings all kinds of people from all walks of life out to the same place to tap their toes together, and I think that’s cool.

Don’t get me wrong. I haven’t been a part of it, exactly, unless you count standing on the sideline taking photos as “taking part”. Every year I think I’m going to do it, and I start mentally working out, but I never seem to make it to the *actual* working out part. Then the race sells out, and then I’m off the hook. Yeah, I know, I should work out anyway, but it really seems to cut into my eating time, and it’s hard to run with a belly full of pizza. Don’t judge. Think of it like I’m leaving that one last spot for you.

But really, if I’m ever going to run a triathlon, it will absolutely be Trinona. After all, it was named 2011 Race of the Year in Minnesota, winning the nod over 60 other multi-sport events across the state, and drawing participants from 20 states and Canada. And it’s not even four years old. That, folks, gives this race a fair amount of swagger.

But here is why it has been catapulted to stardom as an event: As far as ways to test your body go, this race has it all. It’s in a beautiful place, it has big, fat prizes, and it has a course that will make even the most accomplished athletes a little weak in the knees (and it’s probably made more than a couple of them cry). Every international-length triathlon has their version of the 1.5K swim, 40K bike, and 10K run, but only Winona has a hill so wicked that 3-time Tour De France Champion Greg Lemond came here to improve his skills. Seriously, it has been dubbed one of the most challenging triathlons in the Midwest. Garvin Heights is a 1-mile uphill beast that will tear the heart out of the most stalwart competitor and leave it laying on the 6-inch-wide shoulder, and Gilmore Valley Road is a thrilling (read: terrifying) descent that will leave everyone on it praying to their maker that their brakes don’t fail. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?

I’m kidding – it sounds horrible to me. But for tenderfoots and people who don’t feel like meeting their maker, there is a sprint version of Trinona that is still beautiful and challenging and has great prizes, but doesn’t leave competitors wondering if they might die.

And it has great swag bags – or so I hear. I guess you actually have to compete to get one.

Maybe this will be the year I finally pull the trigger and become a Trinonan. There is still time, but judging from registrations so far, not much. It’s not a question of whether this race will sell out or not, it’s a matter of how fast. If I do see you there, I’ll probably be the one laying on my back in the grass with a paramedic standing over me. Actually, I’ll probably be the one taking photos, but I’ll try to get a good shot of you

I swear, it used to be that if you wanted to eat or have a drink outside in Winona you had to sit on your car in the parking lot. It might have been that the city was stingy with permits, or it might have been that restaurant and bar owners were leery about sinking money into square footage that would only get used for half the year, or maybe it was a little bit of both. But for a long, long time in Winona we were relegated to the great indoors when we wanted to get out in public.

But no longer , and I am oh so thrilled to take you on a little walking tour of my favorite patios in Winona:

Green Mill – perhaps the grandfather of outdoor restaurant dining in Winona – offers a lovely view of Sugar Loaf and sunsets on its pretty wrap-around porch. Good food, great wine list, interesting people watching – this place hits the spot more often than not for me.

Signatures – those not golfing at the Bridges might forget that on the back side of this historic restaurant is a breathtakingly beautiful patio that offers about the best views one can get in Winona. With flower beds, expansive views, sunsets and a killer wine list, it is quite possibly Winona’s best-kept secret on the patio tour.

Mangos – my new favorite patio when I want to nosh on something interesting in a festive, friendly place. The people are sweet, the food is great, and it’s hard to beat watching the sun set with a big fat margarita in your hand.

Minnesota Marine Art Museum – kind of like Brigadoon, this lively patio for drinks and a bite to eat only appears on Tuesdays throughout the summer and into September, but this is a stop on the tour worth working your schedule around for. The riverwalk is always available for a contemplative stroll along the banks of the Mississippi, but each Tuesday it springs to life during happy hour, and when it does there isn’t a better spot to get outdoors in Winona.

Jefferson Pub and Grill – a standing ovation for the patio addition at Jefferson’s which is now an awesome outdoor spot for a bite to eat before a movie or after a stroll through Levy Park. And the walleye sandwich is to die for.

Lakeview Drive Inn – of course. Across the street from Lake Park, Lakeview is a fun spot for a burger and an ice cream treat. And while you can eat in your car with the help of a good, old fashioned carhop, they also have some tables if you’d rather just sit outside.

Ed’s [no name] Bar – no secret that’s about my favorite place to see and be seen in Winona, but maybe a little more of a secret that they have a nice, big outdoor space attached where you may even find a fire burning in the outdoor fireplace. And the wine special on Wednesday nights is the best deal you will find in Winona, anywhere, ever.

The outdoor patio walking tour would not be complete without mentioning some of the quicker-fare options like Culvers, Godfathers, Schniepps, even Westgate Bowl has a couple of tables outside.There might be others, and if I’ve missed you I’ll find you, because I’m a junkie for sitting outside on these gorgeous days.

And for the record, I don’t really think you should try this as a walking tour, per say, unless you’ve got all day, because this tour stretches from one end of Winona to the other. But when you’re ready to get outside, no matter where you are in this great river metropolis, there is somewhere to sit yourself down and enjoy the view.

A view from the riverwalk at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum

There was, of course, the Winona Country Club, a beautiful private enterprise tucked in a valley just on the edge of Winona. But the thing was, you weren’t eating at the Country Club unless you were a member or a guest of one, and plenty of Winona’s regular folk who just wanted a little good food weren’t.

Something kind of magical for Winona happened a few years ago, though I think some people still don’t realize it. The Winona Country Club transformed itself into Winona Golf and Dining, which doesn’t sound like a big whoop-de-doo until you know what that *meant.* No longer was this jewel shielded by the invisible gates of privacy – for the first time in history the doors were flung wide to all comers and oh man, I’m there.

Now the restaurant is called Signatures, and any Winonan can sit on its elegant porch and gaze off at the rolling green of the golf course with deer prancing around on it (seriously) and song birds flitting by while polite servers bring you another mint julep. I’m just kidding about the mint julep, I don’t even know if they make them there, but it sounded like something wealthy folk who sat out there in the 1920s would have drank.

The place has come a long way since the 1920s, besides the fact that it is now a public restaurant. There is no more swimming pool but there is a sunny patio with brilliant gardens and a spectacular view. And there is no more “men’s” room for cigars and brandy – ladies can have all the cigars and brandy they want in there too. Haha, okay, kidding. You can’t smoke cigars indoors in Minnesota anymore.

The one thing that is probably exactly the same as 80 years ago or so is that the food there is local, like right next door local. Chef Doug grows an herb assortment outside the back door, and many of the ingredients in his signature dishes come from growers around Winona.

It would be hard for me to overstate how much I love the food out there… I’ve just never had a bad meal no matter what was being thrown at Doug. Mediterranean theme? Okay. Venetian? No problem. I was out there a couple of weeks ago for the Winona Community Foundation annual dinner – a celebration with a Taste of Brazil theme. Now, I’ve never had Brazilian food, but if it tastes like what those servers brought me I’m in. Skewers of grilled meat, salads, polenta, potatoes, the spread went on and on – and these amazing little cheese rolls that we sent our server back for more of. I mean come on, they were *warm*, and I could actually hear myself getting fatter but I didn’t care – it was the best thing I’d tasted in forever. If there had been another basket I would have put them in my purse. Okay, probably not, but they were really good.

I swear, if you get in your car and drive to La Crosse looking for a nice place to eat you’re crazy. Guess what, Winona: There IS fine dining here, a place that puts every other restaurant in 50 miles on notice. Winona is on the Foodie Map, and restaurant reviewers are raving, the people who discover it are raving, I’m raving… wouldn’t you love to find something new to rave about too? This, my friends, is it. Thanks Doug and Dave and gang for an awesome place with linen napkins and everything good that goes with it.

Gone fishing...

Last Friday was just such a day, the kind of day with so much going on that I wished I could clone myself. And quit my day job. Okay, not really, because I kind of need that, but seriously, who WOULDN’T want to sit and Blooming Grounds and decorate cupcakes on a Friday afternoon and then eat them. Yeah.

There was so much going on Friday that I couldn’t even keep track of it all — it wasn’t a matter of finding where there was something, it was a question of where there wasn’t. The event was dubbed Flooded River Fringe Friday because, aside from the fact that we’re a little flooded down here in these parts right now, you couldn’t swing a stick and not hit a musician, an artist or a poet in Winona that day. But please don’t try that – the stick swinging part I mean, because, well, it’s mean, and you could hurt somebody. Just trust me on this one.

I have to take my hat off to the group behind all this, or groups, I should say. The instigator is the brain trust of the Frozen River Film Festival – Crystal Hegge, who I ran into at the tail end of Fringe Friday listening to Gospel Gossip at Ed’s (no name) Bar. There’s a chick who needs to be cloned – how she kept those juggling pins in the air all day long I have no idea.

But while the impetus may come from Frozen River, the action comes from the growing number of artists and businesses in town who have taken up the mantra that it is time to reinvent this river town into a music mecca.

Truth is, they’re doing a pretty good job. Crystal and I were ruminating about a few years ago when on any given night you were unlikely to find live music anywhere, much less a choice between places. Aside from occasional coffee house performances and bands at The Bar in Goodview there really wasn’t much of anything. Nothing against coffee house singers or foot-stomping in Goodview, but Winona needed more.

At the same time, a curious thing was happening in town. Maybe it was because of the Great River Shakespeare Festival or the Minnesota Marine Art Museum or the Beethoven Festival or Frozen River or those fabulous blue heron statues in the Blue Heron Project, or maybe it was a mystifying twist in people’s psyche, but people started talking about art. More artists were hanging out shingles, more musicians made themselves known, and Winona was starting to take on the vibe of a really cool place.

What happened last Friday wouldn’t have been in the faintest imagination of people here four years ago. Galleries all over town opened their doors for musical performances and socializing, coffee houses and bars hosted full line-ups too, even Yarnology, a trendy little knitting shop, had music. Seven Hawks Vineyard donated wine that was given away, photographer Shannon Porter (my brutha from anutha mutha – just ask him) took free Fringy Photos, Bluff Country Co-op donated proceeds, Beno’s Deli gave double punches… Oh yeah and there were poets and readings and a midnight showing of a film — I’m telling you, this town was humming.

I love, love, love what this coming together of great minds is doing to Winona. What is so incredible, so amazing about the success of it all is that it completely organic – from the people for the people. There is no committee at City Hall or the Chamber of Commerce pushing this effort forward, it is bubbling up from people who live, work and play here who really, really want this town to be a little more awesome. I love you guys. Thanks for giving me a fun town to live in. And please, please tell me when the next Fringe Friday is, and tell my boss I’ll be sick that day.

Stay in touch with Fringe Friday events here:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fringe-Friday-Winona/114162715264302#!/pages/Fringe-Friday-Winona/114162715264302

One of the fabulous birds of the Blue Heron Project

GRSF walked out that night with the Visit Winona Tourism Award, an annual nod to the entity that best embodies the spirit of community tourism.

After seven seasons there is no question that Winona has a love affair with Shakespeare, but it’s not because they sweep into town each summer and put on some plays that we like. Well, that’s a little bit of the reason why, but it’s just a slice of the Shakespeare pie that Winona loves to devour. Okay, weird analogy, but I haven’t finished my first cup of coffee yet so my caffeine-deprived brain can’t come up with something better. And I haven’t eaten carbs for a week so I must be craving pie.  But let’s focus…

Winona loves GRSF because GRSF loves Winona back in ways that make this community more vibrant, more interesting, and, well, more fun to visit. Those visitors, who come by the thousands each season for some Shakespeare, pump cheerful tourism dollars into our restaurants and hotels and shops, and stop to visit some of our other attractions like the Minnesota Marine Art Museum while they’re here. For the community it is like being infused with rich plasma, or probably gasoline, which I think is more expensive than plasma right now.

But even visitors don’t just come for the plays, they come for the Shakespeare Experience, and if you haven’t had it, you don’t know what you’re missing.

Here are a few of my favorite things about the Shakespeare Experience:

Concerts on the green. GRSF throws these cool little parties outdoors near the theater, and everyone, whether they are headed for a play or not, is invited for free. Sometimes they turn it into a picnic, which even non-play-goers can eat at for a couple bucks, and other times it’s just music and people and fun.

The Front Porch Series. GRSF is making us smarter by bringing in all kinds of speakers who talk about not just theater but the world and all sorts of interesting topics. Oh yeah and guess what? If they aren’t free they are just $10 – which is soooooo cheap for what you’re getting.

Access. I can actually afford to go to these plays, which is saying something. GRSF has regular ticket prices of $20 to $40, but also has $10 Tuesdays, student rush tickets, and even gives bundles of tickets to local libraries to give away for FREE. Who can’t afford that? On a Saturday night $40 will get you in the front row, and I recommend the front row, which leads me to my next reason.

Chris Gerson is hot. I’m just sayin. As one of the core actors for past GRSF seasons he has become a darling in his own right in Winona, and though they haven’t announced the cast for this year yet, I think I speak for all women (and a few men) when I say we hope he will be back. Yes, yes, we know he’s married to a beautiful girl who also happens to be with GRSF, but he’s still fun to watch. Okay, I admit that thing he did with his back in The Tempest gave me the creeps, but I’m over it.

All kidding aside (you’re right, I was only kinda kidding), the actors for GRSF make this place their home for months and besides mingling with the locals they give a little something back in other ways too. Like… in a couple of months I and a handful of others will have dinner with two of GRSF’s actors (Chris Gerson??!!) (kidding – please don’t get a restraining order against me) because GRSF donated it as an auction item to Big Brothers Big Sisters Taste of Winona. We will be noshing on Chef Doug’s food at Signatures (also donated) with the actors because we won the item in the auction. Seriously, how cool is that? These actors are busy and they don’t have to give up their precious free time but they do, because this has become their community too.

There is more, so much more, to Winona’s love affair with Shakespeare, the summer learning programs for youth and the Friends of Will coffee talks and the time the company gives to local schools, but really, you need to just come experience it for yourself.

Go here to find out more: http://www.grsf.org  I promise by the time you leave you’ll be in love too

Wellll, kind of. As the story goes, Ed Hoffman opened a cool little speakeasy in 2007 in downtown Winona, but the place was finished being remodeled before he had finished noodling around what he would call it. So he opened anyway, with just a Prohibition-looking sign that featured a liquor bottle with XXX across it, a guitar, and a feather (okay, I don’t know why a feather, but hey, he’s an artist, and the sign got the point across).

In what has to be the most complete act of faith ever, he unlocked the door and opened for business without a name, with nothing really except some word of mouth from people in the know.

But it turns out this place is so cool it doesn’t need a name. Slowly but steadily people started to wander in, having heard about Ed’s live music or his urban palate of micro brews or the moody decor that is a deliberate blend of Victorian splendor, retro glamor and warehouse district grunge. Yeah, you kind of have to see it to get it, but trust me, it’s pretty cool.

Fast forward four years: The bar still has no official name and has evolved to be known as Ed’s (no name) Bar. It is the heartbeat of Winona’s music scene and the darling of a cross section of people so wide you could never list all their walks of life. On any given night, old timers sip Grain Belt at the bar while young guns sample the latest IPA, or vice versa, and the elbow rubbing is the coolest in town.

And I mean cool. On Friday night, there was a guy with a Mohawk on one side of me, a museum curator on the other, and a 70-year-old guy in front of me telling me why he loved the IPA on tap. I mean seriously, where else can you go that you can change the conversation and the vibe by 180 degrees just by turning around? On Friday the joint was jumping with a funkadelic DJ, Saturday is the 80s Prom, and next weekend the bar will play host to a full line up of diverse musicians coming to town for the Midwest Music Fest. On the calendar going forward is everything from metal to gospel, with beer tasting nights, comedians, readings, you name it. Ed’s events fill up Winona’s dance card in a way no place in town has done before, and Winona is loving it.

Now that the weather is nice, the fenced in garden out back with it’s big clay fire pit will become the city’s hot spot for a beer under the stars, or a glass of wine, or a bottle of wine, which you can buy at Ed’s instead of going back for a bunch of glasses. Now don’t go there thinking you need to drink a whole bottle of wine, and if you do for God’s sake don’t drive, but I’m just saying it’s an option if you are with FRIENDS. But hey, I’m not your mother.

I have fallen in love with this little no name place. It’s one of the few places in town I feel like I could sit in by myself and not feel weird. Uhh, I’m not saying I do that. Okay I’m not saying I do that often. But I think it’s a pretty big statement about a place to think that you could. It’s better with friends though – I suggest you bring a couple with you. That is, after all, how this little bar made its name, or rather managed to thrive without one.

You can find out more about the place on Facebook, or check them out here for a little peek: www.edsnonamebar.com

And this photo was taken at a different rock concert in Winona, but Ed has cool bands like this too. I just haven’t photographed them because I’ve been too busy daaaaancing. 

Winona's music scene is coming to life

As I stood on the banks of the Mississippi River at Verchota Landing last week soaking in the sunshine I felt the chill of winter melt off me and I knew – THIS is spring.

In front of me, literally hundreds of birds of every sort were angrily swimming and flying away from me after I disrupted their peaceful float into the shallows of my favorite landing on Prairie Island Road. Before I clunked down there with my noisy boots and my big, shiny camera, the birds were clustered in the warm, shallow water right next to shore, I’m sure loving the spring sun as much as I was. From the looks of it, no one had bothered them in a while, because where they were floating was actually over the parking lot thanks to a spring thaw that has filled the Mississippi beyond its banks.

Okay yes, I might have been kind of breaking the rules going down there, if the barricade going across the road meant anything. I mean, I did have to climb on rocks to go around it because I guess the landing is closed, but it’s not like I was going to walk out in the water and sit on a half submerged bench because I couldn’t tell it was flooded. I just wanted to see that gorgeous display of spring migration a little closer.

The birds, of course, had other ideas. As they hurried for a safe distance from the intruder, I spotted canvasbacks, or maybe they were redheads, or wigeons – because frankly I’m not that good, along with mallards and some geese and one lonely swan, and a bunch of other ducks I couldn’t begin to guess at. Whatever they all were, it was beautiful watching them lift off the water en mass, even though it meant all those pretty pictures I was going to take flew away with them.  The geese were thoroughly chewing me out as they went, and only the lonely swan seemed unfluttered by my presence and actually came a little closer for a look. It was so calm and so strangely alone I wondered if it used to be someone’s pet, and one day decided to answer the call of the wild. Or maybe it thinks it’s a goose like that Ugly Duckling story – but then I guess it would have to think it’s a duck… whatever.  Or maybe it just doesn’t like other swans. 

Anywhoo, I was sad that I didn’t have more time, because I knew if I just sat down and was still long enough they’d probably all come back in and let me have a closer look at them. Maybe. I did hear once that birds view a big, round camera lens like a predator’s eye, but who knows if that’s true because hey, ducks can’t talk. I do know that in late spring and early summer I can go sit along the side shallows of this landing and watch a pretty spectacular display of egrets, who use it as a rookery, and a bunch of their duck friends without them getting too excited. 

On this day there were no egrets – I thought they’d be wandering back by now, especially since I saw two sandhill cranes (!) fly over me two weeks ago on the Upper Mississippi Wildlife Refuge. And I’ve seen a handful of blue herons – my favorite river bird – flying around. I wish someone would send a memo to the egrets and tell them spring is here in Winona and it’s time to get crackalackin. 

In the meantime, if you feel like trying to sneak up on one of nature’s best displays on the Mississippi River, you can’t do better than Verchota Landing, underwater or not. But if you go, you’d better wear quiet shoes and bring a folding chair and a snack – patience is a virtue here. And save me a spot, but if I’m not there say hi to my buddy the swan for me.

A lonely swan at Verchota Landing