Stillwater, Minnesota

Today I set out from my undisclosed location and explored Stillwater, Minnesota and its environs.  After parking my temporary hybrid Bigfootmobile, I took two pictures of the Stillwater Lift Bridge.  At one time, this bridge carried Minnesota route 36 over the St. Croix River toward Houlton, Wisconsin.  Today, it is open only to bicycles and pedestrians, but still includes a section that lifts upward to allow boats to pass underneath.  Here's one shot of the bridge.

When you enter the bridge from the Minnesota side, this is what you see.  The roadway is now divided into four lanes, two for pedestrians on the outside and two for bicycles in the middle.  I walked across the bridge to Wisconsin, which includes the trees in the background.

From the bridge, I took this picture of part of Stillwater, including a dock along the river, a park, and two churches in the background.

When I got back to the Minnesota side, I took another picture of the park.

I wandered around downtown Stillwater, and found the Historic Stillwater Stairs, but did not climb them.  As you can see, there's a wine shop to the left and coffee shop to the right.  Pick your poison, as in either alcohol or caffeine.

After I found a place to have lunch, I continued northward on Minnesota route 95 to a scenic overlook.  It didn't have any good views of the St. Croix River, but did have this marker to the "GEOLOGY OF MINNESOTA".  In the background, it's Wisconsin toward the left and Minnesota on the right.

About a quarter mile from the overlook is a wayside that includes this historical marker about the St. Croix boom, where logs were loaded into the river.

A set of steps leads from the boom site's parking lot down to these cliffs near the river.

Near the cliffs is this beach and some more trees.  Again, Wisconsin is in the background across the river.

After seeing the St. Croix boom area, I decided to retreat toward my undisclosed location, but stopped at an overlook just south of Stillwater.  From here, you can see a modern bridge spanning the St. Croix River.  The bridge is where modern Minnesota route 36 meets Wisconsin route 64.  Part of Minnesota route 95 and what looks like a hiker-biker trail are in the foreground.

That's all for today.  Stay tuned for whatever else I can find.