 |  |  | |  | |  |
| | | | | | |
 | ||||||
|
      |
|
location: rochester life > featured stories
|
Small Town Spotlight: Lake City
By Ed Walraven
It's a city built on and of the water.
It's a city built on and of the water. A dozen miles downstream, where the Chippewa River is swallowed by the Mississippi, the turbulent confluence has created, over millions of years, a dam of sediment. Slowed, the Mississippi overflowed into what's now Lake Pepin. In the late 1700s, the area's economy was dominated by the fur trade, serving as an Upper Mississippi shipping outpost for John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company. By the mid 1800s, lumber boomed. The trees were cut by the jacks, hauled by the horses, sluiced into Lake Pepin, barged downriver. In the early 1900s, fishing boats and excursion steamers peppered the lake. Clammers sold freshwater shells (and sometimes pearls) to the nearby Pearl Button Factory. Today, the lumber and pelt industries are gone. But, on summer weekends, Lake City's downtown shops take advantage of a tourist trade generated by both the small town roots and the lure of the lake. With only 4,500 residents and still not overrun by visitors, Lake City's downtown has not succumbed to the kind of gentrification which is inevitably followed by the blight known as "tourist town gift shops." Here, even the usual tourist traps are top-of-the-line. The city's specialty shops still sell locally-produced items, rather than hawking the usual sightseer trinkets of plastic backscratcher hands or green glow-in-the-dark hoop earrings or exceptionally long-billed baseball hats which read — and we're quoting here — "Mine Is Bigger Than Yours." A walking tour of the downtown takes visitors past the 130-year-old Hanisch Opera House (now the Corner Closet and Sparkling Clean Laundry) and the tiny two-room jail, now empty, which housed up to 27 people at one time during the early 1900s. The Government Pier, completed in 1934, is a hotspot for fishermen and water watchers. Also, the two-mile long Riverwalk edges the lake and is the perfect waterside walk. The well-publicized basics still bring in tourists. Lake Pepin is the widest point (at nearly three miles) on the Mississippi. The Lake City Marina, with 650 slips, is the biggest small-boat harbor on the river (and was dedicated in 1934 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt). The area, known for the Haralson variety of apples (described as a "sweet tasting, all-purpose apple"), produces 25 percent of the state's 700,000 annual bushels of apples. And, in 1922, 18-year-old Ralph Samuelson strapped $2 worth of pine boards onto his feet and was pulled behind a bi-plane in the world's first display of water-skiing. It's just a slight widening in a river, a 100-million-year-old glitch in a glacier's path. But, for landlocked Rochesterites, it's a 40-mile drive to a day-long stroll through a classic downtown, then onto a two-mile-long Riverwalk to watch the constant fishermen and occasional clammers as sailboats tack and jibe on Lake Pepin. Lake City Shopping Some make the hour trip from Rochester just to enjoy homemade lunch or a full English tea at Chickadee Cottage Tea Room and Restaurant, located in an early 1900s home surrounded with a gazebo and gardens, (317 North Lakeshore Dr., 651-345-5155 or 888-321-5177). Another classic dining hotspot is the well-known Waterman's, (1702 N. Lakeshore Dr., 651-345-5353). Lake City's lakeview restaurant specializes in house-smoked barbecue ribs and chicken and features staples like steak and seafood. Boat owners and sea lovers gravitate to First Mates Gift House, (1015 North Lakeshore Dr., 651-345-5169), a nautical theme gift shop offering such collectible items as Harbour Lights lighthouses from Hawaii. Wild Wings, Inc., (2101 South U.S. 61, 651-345-5355) specializes in paintings and furniture with nature themes. The Corner Closet, (101 West Center St., 651-345-5448), offers casual clothing — from OshKosh to Union Bay — for the entire family. The Energy Zone, (116 South Franklin, 651-345-3900), offers women-focused fitness programs, including a strength training/circuit system, wellness classes, and a spacious sauna. Combine state-of-the-art equipment with old-fashioned networking and socializing with other women. Tom Heffernan Ford (651-345-5313) has been selling vehicles in the area for over 25 years. For lodging, The AmericInn motel, (1615 North Lakeshore Dr., 651-345-5611), offers an indoor pool and sauna, and the acclaimed Victorian Bed & Breakfast, (620 South High St., 651-345-2167), presents every guest a room with a view of Lake Pepin. Both the Lake City Country Club, (33587 Lakeview Ave., 651-345-3221) and family-owned Lake Pepin Golf Course, (near Wabasha County Roads 4 and 10, 651-345-5768), overlook the lake. The
|
| | | |
|