On Sunday, December 11th, 2011 from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, the Duluth Historic Bed & Breakfast Inns will be opening their doors to share their history and beauty, while adorned for the holiday season.  Each inn will offer visitors a unique and festive décor, along with holiday music and refreshments.

This year net proceeds will benefit the Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank.  Duluth’s B&Bs provide a unique dining experience to thousands of guests each year. This event will help provide meals to many of those less fortunate during the holiday season.

Duluth has some of the finest inns in the state of Minnesota, so seize this opportunity to experience the grandeur of the season! Indulge yourself in the historic and timeless beauty of Duluth’s elegant inns dressed in their season’s finest. Taste some wonderful treats while you take in the splendor of some of our city’s grandest homes.  Take pleasure and joy in this holiday season by gathering your friends, family, and co-workers for this unique event.

Tickets to view all seven inns are $25 in advance ($30 at the door).  Tickets are available by calling the A.G. Thomson House at 218-341-0140.

The popular Lanesboro Holiday Inn Tour is coming soon, and this year it comes with a special twist.  The Tour welcomes people to visit the Bed & Breakfasts and inns that have made Lanesboro the Bed and Breakfast Capital of Minnesota.

Bed & Breakfast Decorated for the Holidays

This year the Tour will happen over two days: November 19th and 20th.  Six inns will be open on Saturday November 19ths and six more on Sunday the 20th.  Each inn will be decorated for the holidays and will offer a warm welcome to their special homes.   The Old Village Hall Restaurant and Pub will also be serving Amuse Bouche (bite-sized appetizers) to all ticket holders as part of the tour.  Visit the inn tour web site to purchase tickests and see the inns participating in the tour.  The times of the tour each day are 2-6 p.m.

Tickets purchased in advance are $20 for a one-day visit, $35 for two days.

Guests who are staying at any of the sponsoring inns that weekend will receive half-price inn tour tickets.

Enjoy the charm of Lanesboro and the beauty of the decorated B&Bs as a way to begin your holiday festivities.   For more  information, call 800-944-2670 or 507-467-2696.  Tickets—which are limited—can be purchased online at or in-person at the Lanesboro Visitor Center in downtown Lanesboro.  Advanced ticket purchase is recommended.  Tickets purchased on the day of the tour are $30 for one day and $45 for two days.

Make your visit to Lanesboro complete by dining downtown and attending the holiday play “Parfumerie” at the Commonweal Theatre.  See you at the 3^rd Lanesboro Holiday Inn Tour!

March 6: Tim Spitzak, editor & publisher of the “St. Paul Voice” has written a book called The Messenger. Spitzak, who holds a B.A. in journalism from UW – River Falls, and has been in the journalism business for over 20 years, says of his book, “It tells the story of a young journalist, John Jenkins, as a dull obituary assignment opens his eyes to just how remarkable a small town life can be… It’s about a guy whose life is transformed by the life of another… I wanted to write something about a real human experience… Community journalism has always been a passion for me… Everyone has a story to tell.”

Bill Wittenbreer, Public Service Librarian at Augsburg College and scholar of 19th Century Art in Minnesota has written a chapter in The State We’re in: Reflections on Minnesota History. Wittenbreer’s chapter is about how people in early Minnesota made predictions about the future. The predictions are interesting and sometimes humorous. Bill Wittenbreer is a graduate of the University of Minnesota with a B.A. in history and holds a M.A. in history from St. Cloud State University and a M.A. in library science from Dominican University. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Minnesota Museum of American Art and is the author of several articles on Minnesota painting and painters.

April 10: Gunda Davis, a resident of Bettendorf, Iowa, tells her story in Pumpkin Soup and Shrapnel – Growing up Under the Third Reich. She studied at the Universities of Berlin and Heidelberg and West Virginia Institute of Technology. She is an avid gardener and volunteers in community service, especially for the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. The Quad City Times says of Gunda’s book, “In clear, concise prose rich with detail, Gunda Davis writes of the conditions that spawned the rise of Hitler, the hold that he had on people and the pain and suffering that his dictatorship ultimately brought. The riveting narrative takes readers into Davis’ comfortable, cultured world as it turns into hell marked by gas mask drills, bombings, starvation and frequent moves to escape the chaos.”

Eric Dregni, Assistant Professor of English at Concordia University, St. Paul, and a Fulbright Scholar to Norway has told of his adventures in his book, In Cod We Trust. In this cross- cultural memoir, Dregni tells the hair-raising, hilarious, and sometimes poignant stories of his family’s yearlong Norwegian experiment. Among the exploits he details are staying warm in a remote grass-roofed hytte (hut), surviving a dinner of fermented fish thanks to 80 – proof aquavit, and identifying his great grandfather’s house in the Lusterfjord only to find out it had been crushed by a boulder and then swept away by a river.

May 15: Cindy Thury Smith and Shirley Dalaska have spent countless hours doing research on their just-published book, Civil War Veterans: Hastings, MN: A Documented List with Selected Biographies. Hastings at the Mississippi River was the point of embarkation for thousands of Minnesota men who enlisted in the Union Army. These men were sometimes mere children who insisted on becoming drummer boys while others were professional people who left wives and children back home so that they could fight for a cause that was a passion for them. There are fascinating, warm, and sometimes heart-wrenching biographies composed by other historians from Hastings. All these stories put the Civil War into perspective and add such human interest to one of the nastiest wars of all time.

David P. Page is Chair of the Journalism Department at Inver Hills Community College and possesses an impressive and extensive knowledge on the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald. He will speak and do a power point presentation on Fitzgerald and the Civil War. He has co-authored The St. Paul Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald and F. Scott Fitzgerald in Minnesota. Mr. Page comes to us with a rich background in teaching at all grade levels and with Masters’ Degrees of Arts in the Professional Writing Program from the University of Minnesota and in public Affairs from the University of Iowa. His presentation at the LeDuc Historic Estate is co-sponsored by the Hastings/Prescott Area Arts Council.

The LeDuc Historic Estate is owned by the City of Hastings and managed by Dakota County Historical Society along with help from a local group called Friends of LeDuc.
Classic Rosewood Inn in Hastings is a member of the Friends and would like to encourage attendance at these events by offering a 20% discount for guests staying at the inn either the Saturday night before the event or the Sunday eve of the event. Just mention Authors’ Sunday at the LeDuc when making your reservation.

When you travel on snowshoes, you travel the way humans have for thousands of years. Historians believe people developed snowshoes in Asia, perhaps imitating the broad, thickly furred paws of animals such as lynx and snowshoe hares. One recent guest at Classic Rosewood Inn described their snowshoe adventure at Afton State Park like walking on clouds in fluffy slippers. Snow shoe rental is available at the park for $6 but it is a good idea to call ahead and reserve. Another adventure that is avaialable even in winter at the park is a four stage geocache adventure with GPS units provided. It is a good idea to call ahead for the use of the GPS units as well especially if planning on coming out on a weekday.  Winter Wonderland packages are available with R & R after S & S (snowshoeing or skiing) at nearby Classic Rosewood Inn and Spa with an insuite massage and soup supper for only $120 in addition to the room price.  

R & R at Classic Rosewood

A helpful guide to Minnesota State Park Trails is available by calling 651-296-6157 or emailing  info.dnr@state.mn.us. Combining trail adventures with a B & B in Minnesota is a natural way to enjoy the state. Minnesota innkeepers are quick to share the best trails for hiking, x-country skiing &snowshoeing.Visit this MBBA website under Find Lodging and scan down to trail information.

Community Christmas Tree

Lanesboro invites you to their Winter Escapades

Downtown Shopping District

Lanesboro is ready for the Christmas holiday season!  Join us for 3 weekends of fun during the month of December.   See calendar_of_events for details.

All 3 weekends:
Shopping! Historic downtown district filled with specialty shops.
Theatre: Commonweal Theatre performances:  “Little Women”
Dining: Three fine dining restaurants, some with special menus.
Lodging: Twelve Bed & Breakfasts to make your visit memorable.

Downtown Theatres

December 3-5:
Sat: free movie “Elf”
Sun: Christmas Inn Tour, Visit 15 historic inns decorated for Christmas and serving holiday delicacies
Tickets $20,   Call 800 944 2670

December 10-12:
Sat: $1000 Medallion Hunt – advanced clues to lodging patrons.
Breakfast with Santa
Indoor/Outdoor Carnival
Torchlight Parade

Downtown Christmas Decorations

December 17-19:
Friday: Holiday sing along with Dan Chouinard and friends at the St. Mane Theatre.
Saturday: Christmas Tea
Free movie: “Muppets Christmas Carol”

There is so much more going on all three weekends.  See schedule of events for more details.  If we have snow, the state trail will be groomed for cross country skiing.

Take a break from the holiday rush to connect with friends and enjoy a leisurely weekend away.

Lanesboro: The Bed and Breakfast Capital of Minnesota

]]> http://www.minnesotabedandbreakfasts.org/blog/2010/11/lanesboro-winter-escapades/feed/ 0 http://www.minnesotabedandbreakfasts.org/blog/2010/11/victorian-holidays-at-leduc-estate-in-hastings/ http://www.minnesotabedandbreakfasts.org/blog/2010/11/victorian-holidays-at-leduc-estate-in-hastings/#comments Sun, 21 Nov 2010 03:19:08 +0000 Pam Thorsen http://www.minnesotabedandbreakfasts.org/blog/?p=1629 Tours of the LeDuc Estate in Historic Hastings take on a special glow this time of year (December 4-5 and 11-12). Plan to do Christmas shopping in the museum store there and find good old fashioned value in antiques, embroidered dish cloths (finished with 1860 patterns) felted purses, beaded jewelry and even rock candy and cracker bread. A substantial collection of books related to Minnesota history is available as are some stunning works of local photgraphers. Tours are $3 to $6. Then for a very special experience, make reservations for the Victorian Holiday Dinner December 5th and 12th at 5 pm. (651-43707055) This experience can be packaged with an overnight or two at the Classic Rosewood Inn also decked out for the holidays with Victorian details with a Santa collection and angel collection and at least a dozen trees including a very special tree adorned with baby shoes in what was once the nursery. Ask for the Victorian Holiday Package when reserving either the second or third weekend in December.

The Pillar Inn, Cold Spring, MN, will host a Holiday Market on Thursday, November 18th, from 530p-730p.  Items available for sale will be custom-made jewelry by Cherish Designs, Tastefully Simple items, Scentsy items, craft items, and more!  Complimentary appetizers and wine will be served and guests are welcome to tour any open guest rooms at the inn which are decorated for Christmas!

Friday evening (3-8p) and Saturday (9a-4p) the St Cloud Historic & Neighborhood Preservation Assn hosts their Victorian Holiday Boutique in an 1880′s Victorian home at 327 4th Ave S, St Cloud.  Local and regional artisan gifts will be available along with tea, crumpets, live music and more!  (tea and music will be in another location in a beautiful historic home two blocks down). $2 admission.

Also on Friday evening, downtown St Cloud with have the very cool Art Crawl from 5-9pm.

And, the Zonta house will be open to tour Friday evening 3-9p, and Saturday 9a-4p at 1008 Celebration Circle, Sartell MN.  This event charges  admission of $10 at the door (goes to a good cause) and you see a gorgeous home decorated for the holidays by various local businesses.