Stillwater, Minnesota

This lift bridge above is in Stillwater, Minnesota.
The bridge was built in 1931.
18,000 cars travel this bridge every day.


Stillwater is THE OLDEST town in Minnesota.
It's located 30 miles east of Minneapolis on the St. Croix river.

Stud Muffin and I visited Stillwater for three days over the Memorial Day weekend.

We stayed at this Bed and Breakfast Inn.

This B&B is called the Rivertown Inn.


This house
was built in 1882 by one of the many rich lumber barons who lived and worked here.

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When you arrive at this B&B,
one parks in back, and walks by the Carriage House which houses the $395 a night suites.

No, you did not read that wrong.
I said $395 a night. Those rooms are for the rich folk. Stud Muffin and I ain't rich so we had reservations for one of the po people's rooms in the main house.

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But to get inside the main house,

one had to pass through the side yard...

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Where there were mermaids welcoming you.

I swear when I saw these two mermaids, I thought of my sister JoJo and how we fought all the time as kids.
Cuz it looks like they're fighting over that flower or lily pad or something.

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But then there was other yard statuary that didn't remind me of us at all :)Hehehe

There was a big fountain up front welcoming guests...

And gorgeous, relaxed seating.

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Is this bench to die for or what ??!!

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We climbed the stairs to the beautiful front porch.

See those two rocking chairs?
Yup, ol' Tim and Angie sat there for quite a spell one evening, sipping a nice velvety beverage and greeting fellow guests arriving back late from dining.

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We spied the gazebo but didn't become familiar with it as there was so much exploring to do in the town;
time flew fast.

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But look at this front porch!
This is where we ate the five course
gourmet breakfasts.

Seriously, it was loverly. Lurverly. Lovely.

So our trek took us to the front door...

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and we were greeted
​and entered into the check-in parlor room.

And then were given a quick tour of the accommodations including one of the dining rooms.

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And the Piano room....

Where they held nightly cocktail hour between 5-6pm with free wine, delectable cheeses and meats, seasonal fruit and homemade crackers.

Uh, all my cocktail hour pictures both days were taken quite a long time after cocktail hour ended when the plates had been raided pretty good :)

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And because we were the first to check in,

I discreetly raced down the hallway...

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to take pictures of the other bedrooms.
Cuz I knows, once a person checks in, the room doors goes closed.  Shut. Locked. No peekin' or sneakin' once the doors are shut. Unfortunately.

Now this was our room, the Rosetti Bedchamber.
Doesn't that just make you want to put on a smoking jacket, grab a pipe and brandy and talk horses and hounds and 18th century British politics?

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Our room was called a bedchamber
​cause it was the smallest room.

At a B&B, "smallest" is language for "most affordable" :) 

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The room had a very pretty bathroom.

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And when we left for downtown or dining,
we descended this stairwell.

Don't even get me started on how much I wanted to slide down that banister.

I'm total serious.

Because I am, after all, very mature for my 48 years of age.

Don't judge. How old do YOU act sometimes?

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And this was the view of the stairwell outside our room. 



​Absolutely gorgeous.

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The Inn is located just 2 1/2 blocks up from the St. Croix river.
Many times guests will walk the three minutes to the historic downtown district.

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For breakfast though,
you just stay put at the Inn.

Because each day was a five course breakfast (served out of this gourmet kitchen), on the front porch with the engaging Chef Ray describing each course.

FIVE COURSES!!!

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Saturday's Menu

Sunday's Menu

WHO IN THE WORLD EATS FIVE COURSES FOR BREAKFAST????!!!!!!!
Seriously!!!!









Uh, apparently I do.

Um, I forgot to take a picture of the Rustic Breakfast Hash from Sunday...Tim and I totally scarfed it down so fast before I could realize there was no picture...but let me describe it to you off the menu...This healthy  combination of fingerling potatoes, roasted sweet peppers and fennel is topped with Chevre, ham and finished with tarragon and an organic poached egg.

Sounds terrrrible doesn't it?  Heck no!!
It was awesomely breakfast hash heaven!!


And Ima tell you folks, this post does not even include pictures of the unbelievably fantastic, well presented dinners we had in Stillwater. They really have several top restaurants!
But we'll save that for another day...:):):)
Why I always gotta be blogging about food?


Okay catch ya later guys!

Thanks for humoring me through all these  photos!!!

Have a good week!!!!

Talk at ya soon!!