Traveling Sisters go to Kohler, Wisconsin April 2014

The continuing saga of the Traveling Sisters…. Our annual trip was scheduled for April 22^nd-28^th. Carol and I flew to Minneapolis on the 22^nd. 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 2^nd 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?

 

 

San Francisco, Sonoma , Napa with my sisters - May 2003

So, it was about time that I got together with my sisters and spend some quality time. Even though Carol lives close in proximity, we are both busy with our jobs, families, etc and don’t get together as often as we like. And Ruth is in Minneapolis, and though we saw each other quite a few times a few years ago when Mom was sick, we haven’t had time do get some real, sister to sister time together. In 1994 we had gone to Puerto Vallarta, and in 1996 we had gone to Reno, but we needed this time together and we wanted to pick somewhere to go and relax. Carol first mentioned San Francisco and as we talked Ruth mentioned Sonoma/Napa. Amy had gotten married in Napa Valley in 2000 and Ruth had really enjoyed the area. It sounded good to me, although I am not a wine drinker, just the beauty of the area, and a chance to be with my sisters was something to look forward to. We arrived in San Francisco and got our car and headed toward Sonoma. It was a beautiful drive and we enjoyed stopping at Sausalito and exploring the shops for awhile. Once we arrived in Sonoma we headed toward our hotel, the Lodge at Sonoma Resort and Spa . The Lodge is beautiful with several different rooms available. We had reserved a cottage for the 3 of us, however once we checked in they indicated there was a mistake and our cottage was not available. After much negotiating, and apologizing on their part, we accepted a room with 2 queen beds, ordered a cot, and they reduced the price of the room and gave us a bottle of wine. One of the days we spent at the Spa. We each had a treatment which included the day use of the facility, so we enjoyed resting by the pools, having drinks and just enjoying each other’s company. On another day we hired a guide and did a walking tour of the Sonoma area. He met us at the City Park and took us to City Hall and all around the area giving us the history as we walked. I have done this before in other cities, and it is fun and informative. Most of the time it is with a group of people, but this time it was just the 3 of us with our guide. When we were done with the tour we went to lunch in downtown Sonoma, and went to a cheese factory that he had pointed out on our walk. The 3rd day we spent visiting the wineries. Although I don’t drink wine I enjoyed each and every one! They all have something unique to offer and it was fun to learn about their processes, and to visit their gift shops, talk to the proprietors and other tourists. As we headed back to San Francisco we got caught in the rush hour traffic, on the busy freeway, with lanes merging in from all directions. Carol was driving and suddenly the traffic came to a dead stop. To avoid hitting the car in front, and also seeing the car behind bearing down on us, Carol swerved briefly into the other lane and side swiped a truck, scraping our passenger side and tearing off the mirror of our rental car. We were all pretty shook up, as we pulled over. The truck driver also pulled over, but was antsy to go. His truck didn’t have damage, but we felt we needed to call the highway patrol. After waiting for over an hour for them to respond we decided to just head to the rental agency in San Francisco and turn it in. We were spending one more night, this time in San Francisco so we didn’t need the car anyway. We turned it in, gave them all the information and took a cab to our hotel, the St. Francis Westin. For our last day of our adventure we explored the City of San Francisco. We had been there before, but it was fun to go again, and take in some new things. We went to the shopping district, checked out the Neiman Marcus and some of the other big stores. We made our way to Union Square then down to the Wharf and Pier 39. We went over to Chinatown and to the North Beach area and checked out some of the shops in the area. San Francisco is a beautiful city, and of course I will be back again someday. The following morning Ruth met up with her hubby Earl who had flown in to meet us. They got a car so they drove Carol and me to the airport, and they headed back to San Francisco to spend a few more days, then on to see their kids in Colorado, before heading home. Another fun trip- except the minor fender bender. And don’t believe it when the rental company tries to talk you into the extra insurance. My own insurance paid all but the $500 deductable, and my Visa picked up that cost as a benefit for premium members. So all and all, we had a wonderful time and will look forward to more sister trips to come.

To see more pictures from this trip, click below