Last 2017 Boat Ride on the St. Croix River

Last 2017 Boat Ride on the St. Croix River

Todd Swank's Diary Entry for October 15, 2017

We had the second monthly meeting of the Prior Lake Empty Nester's Club.   I keep thinking nobody is going to show for this event, but another fun group of people were there to spend the evening with us.  We'll see how month 3 goes...

On Friday night, we showed up on the St. Croix River to go for an overnight boat ride.  The boat was all set to be winterized on Sunday, so we knew this would be our last boat ride in 2017 on the St. Croix River.

Karl was pretty excited to see us and greeted us on the back of the boat.  Well, he was pretty excited to see Sheri.  He made me pay a huge entry fee just to be able to set foot on the boat.

The river was very high and the normal staircase was under water.  They had this little gangplank bridge set-up.  It may look sturdy, but it sure doesn't feel that way when you're walking across it with a suitcase and a full cooler in your arms.  Add to the fact that it had been raining all day, so it was pretty wet and slippery.  Needless to say, I was pretty thankful when I actually was able to set foot on the dock.

Soon enough, we were ready to set sail.  Karl and Tina like to snuggle up against each other when they're driving the boat which can be pretty cute to watch.

Our original plans were to go up to Stillwater, but the rain and high water caused us to reconsider.  We decided to go up to Hudson, Wisconsin and see what kind of trouble we could find there.

I had never been to San Pedro Cafe before, but Karl & Tina assured us we would love the food.  They weren't just Whistling Dixie, either.

I can't remember what this dish was called, but it was the first time I enjoyed eating brussel-sprouts.  Paired with a couple of Habanero spice infused Angry Mules and my palate was feeling pretty darn satisfied.

I think we were all pretty happy with our meal, but the night was just getting started.  We were ready to turn things up a bit.

We went across the street to the Agave Kitchen and hung out for the rest of the night.  We had a lot of pleasant conversations and even a couple of inappropriate jokes.  

  

We went back to the boat and had a very nice sleep being gently rocked back and forth by the waves of the St. Croix River.  I suppose it might have also been Karl who could have snuck in my room and just shook my bed for awhile until I fell asleep.  I guess I don't know for sure.

As we pulled away from the dock, I noticed we had spent the night tied up next to the Grand Duchess from Hudson Afton Cruise Lines.  I'm not sure why I noticed that.  Probably just because it's a really big boat and kind of hard to miss when you're pulling away from the dock.

On our drive back, I noticed the river was pretty abandoned.  Not a lot of people like to go for rides on the river when it's raining and the weather is about 45 degrees outside.  They just don't know what they are missing!!

We saw a loon on the way.  It looked like he was busy trying to make the moves on this seagull, so we didn't bother him much.  We didn't want to be Loon Blockers or anything.