At the end of June 2018, my mom and I set out to drive the upper portion of the Mississippi River. We started at the headwaters in Itasca State Park in Minnesota where it starts as a small creek and followed it through 5 states to St Louis, Missouri. From that little creek, we watched the river grew to two miles wide at Lake City, MN. We didn’t see the widest part at Lake Winnibigoshish near Bena, MN, where it is wider than 11 miles....."mighty" indeed. It was a great trip where Mom and I got to spend quality time together and we were able to see parts of the country we hadn’t visited before.
Bucket List: One of the goals on my bucket list to visit all 50 states. On this trip, I got to mark off my 48th state, Wisconsin. So only Arkansas and Hawaii left to go.
Here is a list of our stops along the way:
Itasca State Park, MN - Headwaters of Mississippi, Chester Charles II Lake Cruise, Wilderness Drive Loop
Bemidji, MN - Lake Bemidji, Paul Bunyan and Babe statute, Minnesota Nice Cafe
St. Cloud, MN - Munsinger Gardens and Clemens Gardens
Minneapolis, MN - St. Anthony Falls Visitor Center and Lock and Dam + Stone Arch Bridge
Prescott, WI - Great River Road Visitor & Learning Center
Red Wing, MN - Artist Center with Sculpture Garden
Alma, WI - Buena Vista Park
La Crosse, WI - La Crosse Queen River Boat
Prairie Du Chien, WI - Villa Louis
Le Claire, IA - Buffalo Bill Museum
Dickeyville, WI - Dickeyville Grotto
Dubuque, IA - Fenelon Place Elevator, National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium
Davenport, IA - Figge Art Museum, Lagomarcino's Soda Fountain
Nauvoo, IL - LDS Temple and historic Nauvoo
Hannibal, MO - Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum + Mark Twain Riverboat Cruise
St Louis, MO - Gateway Arch Tram Ride and Gateway Riverboat Cruise, Missouri Botanical Gardens
Statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe in Bemidji, MN.