Happy Honeymooners

For our 25th anniversary we stayed at the GrandStay Hotel in Parkers Prairie. We had checked out a few bed and breakfasts in the area, but the GrandStay had the best prices. Fergus Falls was our preferred location, but WeFest was scheduled for the following week-end. It was a quiet stay.

The down side of staying in Parkers Prairie is that there was only one place open for eating in town on Tuesday evening. Many of the area cafes and supper clubs are closed until Wednesday, or even the week-end. We had dinner at the bar, both of us choosing burgers. They were good, mine a close second behind a Culver's cheeseburger. But we were  glad to have options the other evenings. Burgers and fries the whole trip would have been fattening. After dinner we drove to Adley Lake Park. It was isolated, quiet, and very peaceful. Cows grazed across the lake. It would have been a wonderful place to sit and read a book.

On the first day of our vacation we went to Alexandria and met Fr. Joe for lunch at the Travelers Cafe. The three of us took a walk in the city park along Lake Carlos and Ole. After wards I stopped at Dawn's Quilt Shop. I bought precisely 3/4 of a yard of solid fabric to match some previous purchases. Now I am able to sew the apron for Anonymous for Christmas or for her birthday. Dawn's shop has doubled in size, but I did not enjoy it. I felt overwhelmed with prints. The center of the store was as packed as the outer edges with fabrics and counters and quilting machines. I did see one cute cat print which I had to leave behind, since my goal is to deplete my stash, not increase it. After that we made a stop at Carlos Creek Winery for some taste testing. I sampled the sweet wines. Samples were $10 for five or six samples out of six different categories of wines. We made no purchases, but I was  tempted by their Hot Dish Red and the Minnescoto, which the sommelier  recommended with orange juice for a mimosa. On the way back we hiked to Inspiration Peak, stopped at Our Lady of the Hills,  and then ate dinner at The Peak Supper Cloud

On Thursday we went to Glendalough State Park and hiked for two hours. I so wish that I had had my swimming suit with. The beach looked wonderful, sandy and clear. We could have gotten in some free fishing had we planned better.

We stopped at Vining to look at the talented and comic sculptures of Ken Nyberg. We also stopped at a little shop called Old Sweet Song. I could have dropped a bit of money on proprietor Ruth Hanson's paintings at the shop had I had the money to drop! She had some very nice farm scenes. Other items which caught my eye were some photo note cards done by her brother, and a cute Viking ship votive candle holder.

Here are some of our pictures.