Lady’s Stillwater Travel Guide

Today I want to share my Stillwater travel guide with you. Walking around Stillwater, Minnesota is like walking back in time. Old grain elevators, beautiful Victorian houses, and historic steamboat works dot the small downtown like relics from a century past. But you might not notice them, and here’s why…

Stillwater Travel Guide

Stillwater, a former lumber town on the St Croix River near Minneapolis, has reinvented itself. Once a prosperous industrial hub, it’s now one of the state’s most popular travel destinations.

Why? Clever locals realized history was on their side, and turned the town’s old buildings into new businesses.

Out of the old car garage was born the Grand Garage, a retail space with shops and boutiques decorated with furniture and architectural elements from all over the US.

Think a church confessional for a fitting room and windows from a New York hotel and you’ll get the idea.

From the last remaining sawmill came one of Stillwater’s many famous antiques shops.

Nearby, a prison from the 1850s was converted into apartments, and a former lumberman’s exchange building became the Water Street Inn hotel. Even the old grain elevator is opening as a coffee shop.

And that’s not all. Enterprising locals have used old thoroughfares on land and sea as conduits for new businesses.

Trolleys take visitors and locals on tours of Stillwater, and authentic Venetian gondolas and big white steamboats take patrons out on the St Croix River.

I get my first taste of Stillwater at the Lowell Inn, a historic hotel that pays homage to the town’s past.

Over coffee in the restaurant, Barb from the visitors bureau tells me all about the town.

Starting from its fame as the birthplace of Minnesota in 1848, she talks about its abundance of European architectural styles, tall church steeples, and steep stairways that lead from the riverfront to the residential areas of Stillwater.

Later we take a trolley tour to see some of the famous homes and hear entertaining stories about their former residents.

Afterwards we have lunch at Dock Cafe, a restaurant on the river that serves great local walleye sandwiches and big salted caramel brownies with pretzel crusts.

When lunch is over, I’m on my own to tour Stillwater. I return to the main street, popping into boutiques and shops like Pinch n’ Rub Spice & Tea Hub and the Stillwater Olive Oil Company.

I also climb the hills to admire the river from Pioneer Park, a pretty green space surrounded by beautiful historic homes.

Eventually I make my way to one of the local wineries in Stillwater. They offer me a tasting, and soon I learn all about local varietals that have been developed to resist the harsh Minnesota winters.

Not far from there, I drive to another winery in Stillwater. A big red barn serves as a tasting room for Saint Croix Vineyards, where I try their fruity, vegetal Marquette wine before soaking up the summer sun in the beautiful fields outside.

And when the sun fades, it’s back to my hotel, the Americinn in Oak Park Heights near Stillwater. I’ve been offered a complimentary King Whirlpool Suite for the night, and it’s big enough for an army.

But this army of one has been out in the field all day, and it’s time for a good night’s sleep before leaving Stillwater to travel to more of Minnesota in the morning.

I’m off to Red Wing and Minneapolis next, and I can’t wait to see more of the state. To be continued…

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