Following the mighty river from Minneapolis to Chicago takes you through an incredibly lush landscape crammed with wildlife, storytelling, mid-western hospitality and really good food, writes GARY QUINN.
THE GREAT River Road is a rush. It tracks the route of the Mississippi river for 900km, taking you from the culture-rich towers of Minneapolis and St Paul through small adventure-laden river towns and valleys and finishing, with an irresistible diversion, on the fabled streets of Chicago. It’s a trip crammed with wildlife, storytelling, mid-western hospitality and, surprisingly, really good food.
For the eight-day trip I’m riding shotgun with the executive director of Great Lakes USA, Toby McCarrick, whose bailiwick covers the five US states of Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin – a landmass that has the largest expanse of freshwater in the world. The Great Lakes are the big daddies here but cutting like a ribbon through it all is the mighty Mississippi as it winds its way south to the Gulf of Mexico.
The tour begins precariously perched on a Segway (humanonastick.com) on this great river’s banks for a spin around downtown Minneapolis. The city is full of high-art culture, history, architecture and really good fun. It’s a fit city too, with gangs of sculpted, bronzed locals leaving me in their wake as they jog and cycle the downtown area.
At the heart of the waterfront district is the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, a theatre complex with Irishman Joe Dowling as its artistic director. This beautiful building dominates the riverfront but it’s inside where it comes alive. The spaces the architect Jean Nouvel conjures are seductive. It’s easy to imagine Joe Dowling standing on the 178ft cantilevered “Endless Bridge” that floats magically over the river and St Anthony Falls, contemplating a homecoming.
Minneapolis is part of the Twin Cities, with its sibling St Paul further along the river. Like all twins, one seems more confident than the other. It’s the home of Snoopy and F Scott Fitzgerald as well as the state capital.
The people of St Paul have a habit of reminding you that you’re no longer in Minneapolis, which is endearing but not really necessary since both cities have their own vibe. St Paul is the cool laid-back hipster to Minneapolis’s bright lights and cutting edge. More recently Bloomington, home to the Mall of America and just up the road, is eager to make them triplets.
McCARRICK HAS US on a schedule and we’re escaping to the wild. The hills and valleys are surprising – everything is so green and lush. Everywhere we go we meet strangers, chat, and invariably find some bizarre Irish connection.
The people’s delight is incredibly refreshing. There’s no talk of recession, food and drink is great value and they swear the sun’s going to shine all week. There’s something special happening here. Perhaps it’s just quality: what they say they offer is real. When you order a meal it simply is as good as they promise, when you visit an attraction it delivers.
Take the National Eagle Centre in Wabasha (nationaleaglecenter.org): home to five resident eagles, all rescued from poisoning or traffic accidents, while outside its windows wild bald eagles soar and swoop over the Mississippi. It’s an important breeding ground and in winter hundreds of eagles congregate here to feed. Once nearly wiped out, bald eagle numbers have rocketed. In 1990 there were 14 active nests on the upper Mississippi river refuge. By 2010 there were 259 and nationally the bald eagle has been removed from the endangered species list, although it remains protected.
I tell the guide about our own programme to reintroduce three species of eagle to Ireland – the white-tailed eagle, the red kite and the golden eagle – and finish by mentioning that some 37 of those introduced have been poisoned or shot. He looks startled, and says he hopes we can do better.
THE EAGLES FOLLOW us as we move on to Winona, an exciting town dominated by the confluence of a number of tributaries of the Mississippi and a great place for water sports. The original home of water skiing, here we venture onto the river for the first time (see panel) and experience the real beauty of this rugged place with its native American legends.
Later in the day I’m tired and want to skip the local maritime art gallery – how good could it be? Only as good as the paintings by Monet, Manet, Pissarro, and Georgia O’Keeffe that comprise its permanent collection. It’s an incredible find and another reminder of the rich seam of culture that follows the Mississippi.
That night at Alexander Mansion (alexandermansionbb.com), an impeccably restored Victorian house in downtown Winona now run as a B&B, I stay in the best room in the house, the DC Alexander suite. Styled exactly how its former owner enjoyed it in the 1920s, it’s one of the most luxurious homes I’ve ever stayed in and the breakfast is remarkable.
Back on the road we head for Galena, one of the most successful tourist developments in the US in recent years and beloved of well-heeled Chicagoans.
I book into the Eagle Ridge golf and spa resort (eagleridge.com) with its four golf courses, 220-acre lake, winter sports resort and spa treatment centre. The rooms are beautiful, the grounds immaculate and the breakfasts out of this world.
The Irish in Galena are thriving. The Irish Cottage Hotel and bar, (theirishcottage.com) run by two cousins (Jack Coulter and Basil Conroy from Malahide and Kildare respectively) has become a landmark in Galena, unsurprisingly, given the incredibly warm welcome they extend.
BACK ON EAGLE Ridge the Shenandoah riding stable (shenandoahridingcenter.com) was taken over by Galway man Justin Leahy six years ago and in that short time he has totally reinvented the business, managing a great mix of paved and wilderness trails. He takes me out on an Appaloosa – the classic North American horse. The landscape is lush and welcoming. Deer dot the landscape and we’re warned to watch out for the wild turkey.
Now only Quad Cities and Rockford are the last two hitching posts before Chicago. In Quad Cities I visit my first casino and unsurprisingly lose money. The area is a big draw for agricultural tourists being the home of the John Deere Pavilion, a museum dedicated to the invention of the “singing plough” and its modern stablemate, the John Deere tractor.
Rockford, meanwhile, is Harley-Davidson country, as well as a great all-round sports location. You can live the Harley dream here by renting an Ultra Limited, Road Glide Ultra for a three-day weekend for as little as $309 (€224). The roar of these great machines on the highway is an incredible draw and I contemplate driving one the short trip back to Chicago. But McCarrick has his foot on the accelerator.
The best part of this road trip is yet to come, and the Ritz-Carlton awaits. You can’t be late for that.
- Gary Quinn was a guest of Greak Lakes USA Tourist Office (greatlakesnorthamerica.co.uk)
Flying the flag
MARY KARSTON was 18 years old when she sat down in her kitchen with her mother to make the biggest flag in America. They worked day and night on a labour of love until, two days before they finished, someone else, in another part of the country, made a bigger one.
What do you do with the second largest Stars and Stripes in the US? On September 11th this year – and with the help of the local fire department – Mary took it out of storage and hung it proudly from the top of the ladders above two fire engines in her home town of Boscobel, Wisconsin, to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
She captured in an instant the American mood that day – fiercely proud, home-made and traditional.
ayaking Big Muddy Flying the flag Mighty timesalong Mississippi Must see
Kayaking Big Muddy
RANGER ED (Edward J Lagace) kayaking on the Mississippi, aka the Big Muddy by some locals. He’s a Winona district park ranger and passionate about the wildlife of the upper Mississippi.
We pulled out into the main channel and skirted around to the backwaters and chatted to locals on houseboats.
The water was covered in thick algae that conceals a veritable playground for wildlife, creating shade from the sun and lots of hiding places for the shy.
We crept up on blue herons and startled dozens of turtles as Lagace relayed the wisdom of a life well lived along the banks of the Mighty Mississippi.
Must see
IT MIGHT be the stars and clouds that move across the auditorium ceiling or the Spanish and Italian-style village scenes that are built into its walls but the Coronado Theatre (pictured right) in Rockford, Illinois is magic.
The great and the good have all stood under its spotlights and the foyer is a spectacle in itself. It was built in 1927 at a cost of $1.27m – an outrageous sum at the time – and is easily one of the most elaborately designed theatres in the US.