Wine and Spirits Travel

Like most of the world, I haven’t taken any big trips the last few years. Getting on an airplane or a cruise ship has not seemed like a good idea for someone who is immunocompromised. An opportunity came up that made me rethink this. American Queen Voyages is not your usual cruise line. The majority of their cruises are wholly within the United States (a few stop in Canada). Their ships are all small and they have four riverboats with wide open areas so you are not ever waiting on lines for food or disembarking with thousands of people. I was offered a cruise that was entirely in the Midwest, so if there were any health issues, I could be home within a few hours drive. I have to confess that it was also nice to not have to worry about tropical storms and rough waters as we would only be on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. The ship I was heading to is the America Queen, christened by godmother Priscilla Presley in 1995, and refurbished 12 years later. It’s the largest of th

My friend Jaimee and I checked out early from the Hotel Ivy in Minneapolis.  We had a full day ahead of us to explore. Our first stop was for brunch at Spoonriver , in the Mill District that runs along the Mississippi River. The food that chef/owner Brenda Langton offers here is local, organic and gourmet. She’s also come up with an interesting cocktail menu to bring into the restaurant. The brunch menu at Spoonriver definitely had my attention and I knew right away it was going to be tough to narrow it down. I was especially impressed with all the vegetarian and vegan items, which all sounded good.  We ordered the Bloody River (voted best by Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine ) and the scone of the day cherry, banana and coconut. Both were wonderful and we were beginning to think we couldn’t go wrong with anything ordered. I settled on a special omelet with wild rice, squash, leeks and Amish cheddar cheese. I had a side of their vegetable and potato hash browns wit

I had always thought of Minneapolis as a shopping mecca as it is home to the Mall of America, one of the largest malls in the world. I recently started hearing more about the cities food and cocktail scene and decided it was something I needed to check out for myself. It’s about an eight hour ride from my home in Champaign, Illinois, to Minneapolis , Minnesota. I brought my friend Jaimee along for the ride and we were both surprised to see the change in landscape as we drove through Wisconsin to Minnesota. I made note that I needed to check out the Badger state on a future visit. We were staying right downtown at the Hotel Ivy , a four-star hotel next to Orchestra Hall. The room won my favor with a large tub (I will never understand hotel rooms with only showers). I was also surprised to learn that this contemporary accommodation is actually on the National Register of Historic Places as the Ivy Tower was originally designed by architect Thomas R. Kimball for the Second