I have a little love affair with a town named Lanesboro, Minnesota.  It’s located about an hour’s drive past Rochester in South Eastern Minnesota’s beautiful bluff country.  I’ve been to Lanesboro many times, but I hadn’t been back in about 5 years until just a few weeks ago.  A friend and I ventured down for a childless Mother’s Day weekend (great thing!) and the trip reminded me about everything that I love about Lanesboro.

  1. Bed and Breakfasts -  As a teenager and young adult I hated the B&B experience.  There are rarely TVs and you have to have breakfast with a bunch of strangers and stay in someone's house:  creepy.  As an adult, B&B's are places that I'm learning to enjoy.  A lovingly provided home cooked meal that I don't have to cook, clean up or feel guilty about not cooking and cleaning up, and getting the chance to meet and learn about both the others at the breakfast table and the owners of the B&B are things that I now really appreciate.  Lanesboro has a ton of B&B's.  My favorite is the Habberstad House.  This is where we stayed over Mother's Day weekend and I continue to call it my favorite.
  2. The Countryside - The Root River rolls through Lanesboro and the surrounding communities.  It's a sweet, meandering river, not too big and not too small.  It provides recreation as well as beauty.  The bluffs are also scenic and lovely.  I could stare at their pretty looks all day long while sipping a glass of something tangy and cold or licking an ice cream cone.
  3. The Relaxed Way of Life - Lanesboro and the surrounding communities offer plenty to do, but I never feel in a hurry to do anything while I'm there.  I like to have a schedule so that I know what I would like to do, but if I miss out on something or many somethings, that's okay.  The town wants you to relax.
  4. Outdoor Adventure - The Root River Bike Trail and the Harmony-Preston Bike Trail offer plenty of paved multi-use trail.  You can spend your weekend biking your booty off, covering the 150 miles if you bike all of the trail or meandering the 4 miles to the pie shop and back.  I've done both variety of trip and enjoyed them equally as well.  As long as the water is high enough, you can kayak, canoe or tube down the river.  Lanesboro has a few different outfitters that will rent equipment and ferry you between your start and finish point.  There is also a nature center with a high ropes course and hiking everywhere you look.
  5. Variety - Considering the size of Lanesboro and the surrounding communities, there are buckets of things to do.  Harmony has a renovated movie theater, Lanesboro a professional theater company and a community theater company .  The area boasts two cool caves that both offer tours, a myriad of Amish tours & Amish shopping,  first rate bird watching, a winery, massage, a farmer's market on Saturdays during growing season, plenty of history lessons, and a very nice not-for-profit art gallery.
If you've never been, give the place a try, and if you are like me and haven't been back in a couple of years, get your butt on down the line.