The continuing saga of the Traveling Sisters…. Our annual trip was scheduled for April 22nd-28th. Carol and I flew to Minneapolis on the 22nd. Ruth picked us up at the airport about 6pm and we headed back to White Bear Lake to meet up with Earl for dinner. They took us to a great new place in town, Pizzeria Pezza , which was an upscale pizza place. They have wood fired pizzas, salads and pasta, including Chicago style deep dish pizza. We ordered a salad and a thin crust pizza to start, and a deep dish pizza to try. All of their food is made with fresh ingredients from scratch. The deep dish was worth waiting for, and the salad and other pizza were great. Additionally, the owners have a similar restaurant in Chicago called Slyce. I will definitely try it out next time I’m in Chicago.
On Wednesday morning the Traveling Sisters headed for the village of Kohler, Wisconsin for our little getaway. It is about a 5.5 hr drive from White Bear Lake. We stopped for a quick lunch in Wisconsin Dells (need to go back there sometime!) at the High Rock Café in the heart of downtown on Broadway. Food was great! We arrived in Kohler about 4pm and checked into our hotel, the America Club Carriage House.
Kohler is a small town that is home to the original Kohler Factory where the plumbing supplies, tubs, sinks, faucets, etc. are made. When the factory was built the founders opened the American Club with rooms for the immigrant factory employees, who were mostly single men. As they started their families the founders developed the surrounding “garden community” with houses for the families to live.
Today, the original American Club building has been converted to a grand hotel, with beautiful woodwork. There is a library with plenty of sitting room, a restaurant, pub, and a wine.. Additionally, the Carriage House next door has “Club Level” rooms with more space, and is also home to the Kohler Water Spas. We stayed in the Carriage House.
Our room was on the 2nd floor. It had 2 queen beds and a sofa bed, as well as a large bathroom and a bar area. There were 3 sinks with mirrors which was great for the 3 of us. On the upper level was a large hot tub area with a fireplace and lots of lounge chairs for resting. On the lower level was a co-ed pool with a waterfall, then a men’s and women’s locker room. In that area there was a hot tub and a plunge pool (very cold!), a steam room and sauna. Additionally, lots of lounge chairs. Down a ramp to a lower area were all the personal treatment rooms. Then on the main floor they had the salon/spa area for facials, mani-pedis, selection of products for purchase, etc. Also, several lounge chairs for relaxing. All of the areas showcased Kohler products of course. The bathroom in the main salon spa area had an awesome toilet! None of us tried out all of the features, but the toilet had a motion sensor lid that rose when you came in the room, then a remote control on the wall for various features. The seat was heated (I need to get one of those!), and additionally you could try out the following features: music, dryer, spray, front, rear, and more…
Staying at the Carriage House included a continental breakfast, afternoon tea and evening wine. The breakfast was much more than continental; it included breads, cereal, yogurt, fruit, lox, hard boiled eggs, etc. The afternoon tea was coffee, tea, soda, and snacks – crackers, nuts, etc. That was removed at 5pm and at 5:30 they served Wine and tapas type hors d’oeuvres, olives, cheeses, crackers, veggies, etc. No shortage of food! How can we try out the restaurants when so much food is available all day?!
After getting settled we walked to the various spa areas, then walked over to the American Club main hotel to look around there. We came back in time for the evening wine and tapas, then went to the pool area and tried out the hot tub, plunge pool and steam room and sauna. It was relaxing and restful and we were all tired. Although we had a bite to eat earlier we walked over to Horse and Plow, the American Club Pub. The food was good and just what was needed to round off the day.
Thursday was Spa Day, something we all looked forward to. We got up and had the continental breakfast at the hotel, then took the hotel shuttle to The Shops at Woodlake. We started at the Craverie, a Chocolatier where we had coffee. Then we walked through the different upper scale stores. When we were ready we took the shuttle back to the Carriage House and got ready for our spa treatments. Ruth and Carol both had facials, and I had a Citrus Scrub which included a Vichey water treatment. It was so nice and relaxing. Afterward we stayed in our robes in the Spa area and had lunch. Ruth and I had also arranged for pedicures so after we stayed for that (wonderful!). That evening we took the shuttle to Cucina, a great Italian restaurant nearby.
Friday morning we had breakfast then got our car and stopped at Craverie again for coffee before we headed back to White Bear Lake. It was a fun and relaxing time, although the weather was a little cold. On our way back to MN we stopped in Stevens Point for a quick lunch at The Wooden Chair.
We got back to Ruth’s place about 5:30pm and Justin and Earl were getting dinner ready. Mike and Doug were coming and expected to be there by 7pm. Justin had brought brats from a nearby meat market – Bloody Mary and Philly Cheesesteak brats.
After a big breakfast Saturday morning- thanks Earl! –everyone but Ruth and I headed for the Twins game. Ruth and I opted out – too cold. We headed downtown to the Minnesota History Museum and Library and spent most of the time in the Library doing family research. We had lunch in the Museum restaurant before we headed back home. That night we went over to Nacho Mama's’s in Stillwater. Small place and there was a wait, but it was worth it to have an authentic Mexican meal. Always Doug’s favorite. It would have been fun to walk around Stillwater, but it was raining very hard at the time.
On Sunday we went to the Como Conservatory in downtown St Paul. It was raining so hard when we got there so we weren’t able to see any of the outdoor exhibits, but it was beautiful inside. It was the last day of the Spring flower exhibit so we were fortunate to see that. We went from there to the Landmark Center, home of the original Post Office and Courts in St Paul. It is now a Cultural Center and is used for different events, weddings etc. The original courtrooms can be rented for meetings.
We headed over to Alyssa’s and Trent’s for a family visit with them and Amy and kids. It was great to see them, meet Mave and visit with everyone. Justin and Kristen and the boys were not able to come over but we had seen them Friday night.
After leaving Alyssa and Trent’s we drove to Forest Lake and went to Acqua for dinner. It rained very hard all the way there – almost making us turn around and go home instead. Dinner was great, and we had a nice table by the window – too bad about the rain.
Monday –still raining - we decided to go see a movie before heading to the airport. We had lunch in downtown White Bear at Washington Square, and then headed to the airport.
It’s time to start planning for our next “Traveling Sisters” trip. Where should we go? Branson? Santa Fe? Arizona?
