Our Sunday Outing on the Croix

I think this sign reads "welcome". Last weekend(I know, I am a little behind on my posts)we went for a short day outing to the Little City of Marine on the St. Croix. We needed a little bit of Family time together. Doug went on his annual trek to Oshkosh air show in Wisconsin. So when he got back we needed alittle day outing. Even tho I was feeling sick we decided to get out and explore the St.Croix River Valley. We usually end up in Stillwater, MN. We wanted something different and smaller town feeling. So we explored Marine on the St. Croix. On the way we stopped at a farmers market and picked up fresh veggies(cucumbers, peppers, Beans etc...) YUM, love the garden veggies and I plan to start up my garden again next year(I hope)!


The drive is so scenic towards the river valley and we had to explore this cute General Store once we hit Marine on the St. Croix.




Took a pix of Aaron and Doug outside of the General Store on this red bench.


Our next stop was to find a place to eat breakfast. We wanted a small town, eatery atmosphere and we went exploring to find it. Well, little did we know that Marine on the St. Croix is well....very small town and had very little to offer for eats. LOL! We were going to give up and go to Stillwater when we saw a sign that read, "To Quacks" for Breakfast dining on marina. So we went and followed the sign. We were kinda scared to get outta the car, as it was only a parking lot next to the river and only visible was a shed? So, I did what any good wife does...I sent Doug to explore without me. LOL! Well, no sense in all of us walking only to find it was too scary. Doug reported back to us and said, it's only a outdoor cafe on the dock. Greasy spoon probably. We were feeling the need for adventure so we went for it. I am so glad we did. So scenic overlooking the St. Croix River and the bluffs. Here is a photo of the outdoor dock cafe:


The food was good, expect alot of food and greasy spoon style(no health food here). Fried food but it was tasty. I had the breakfast quesadilla and Doug had some eggs with mushrooms etc..... Aaron had Mac N Cheese. What else huh? As you can see our day was not sunny and nice. Infact, after we were done eating...thunder rolled in and we just missed a rain fall. Luckily we timed it just right. The staff was super nice and the girl took our pixs at the table-above pix.

This is cute! Aaron loved the rubber duck they gave us to identify our order(girls bring out our food).

We were so glad we stopped and tried out Quacks at Marine Landing. It's always fun to try new places.

After we were done filling our belly's full of yummy grease(ha)! We decided to check out the charming town of Marine on the St. Croix. We had such a fun time exploring the homes in that area. Lots of Charming old homes and so beautiful. Doug and I favorite pass time is gawking. Love home gawking and it's FREE and FUN to do as a family. Luckily Aaron has acquired our taste in the gawking factor. So he doesn't get too bored in the car.

We stopped at the Museum in town and we were the only ones in the place(so funny). The museum had alot of fun items (check it out below)
Museum building open to public.

Inside of building displaying several old time items.

I like the hat pins and watches etc....love the bling on those pins.
Old vintage wedding dress from the 1800's. Which reminds me, at the end of my blog post I have some info on something to do with Weddings. Check it out at the end of my post.
Old cooking stove and some pixs of Aaron playing "kitchen" with the stove.

Once we got done with the museum......we got in the car and decided we seen the sites of Marine on the St. Croix and started for HOME. On the way back we drove thru the scenic overlooks of Dellwood and White Bear Lake area. WOW! Magnificent Lake homes/Mansions on the lake. We drove all around the lake looking for fun homes to gawk at. We found this semi private drive around the lake and wow were their some homes on that road. We even found one we could go into(Model Home/Parade of Home house). We really enjoyed it and got some ideas on landscaping from the model homes back yard

Aaron was getting a little antsy in the car so we spied this playground for Aaron to play for awhile and burn some energy. On White Bear Lake Beach area and meanwhile we watched the
Kite surfers




Really windy that day for the surfers....and for us as we took this pix with Aaron.

Now getting back to the Wedding I was going to mention at the end of my post. I've been kinda missing in Action on my blog. We are gearing up for a party at our house. My MIL and FIL's 50th wedding anniversary is soon. So we are celebrating with friends and Family. We been getting everything planned and ready. Cleaning house, and picking up yard, etc.....We are even renting one of those tents for outdoors. Can't wait to get some pixs to share. I'll let you know how it goes.