Journal entry by Joanne Negstad — Aug 9, 2018
For many years Joanne and I, often with another couple, would make one trip each summer for dinner at the Harbor View Cafe in Pepin, WI. Pepin is on the shore of Lake Pepin, roughly across from Wabasha, MN. or, about an hour and a half from Minneapolis. Today, for the first time, I went with out her.
Traveling with good friends, L. & C. S., we stopped for lunch at the St. James Hotel in Red Wing. Seated on the deck with a view of the Mississippi River we enjoyed the beautiful day. My chicken salad was one of the best salads in my memory.
Joanne stayed in the St. James, loved it and we had eaten there. The presence of absence was with us.
Next we visited the Minnesota Marine Art Museum (MMAM) in Winona, MN. I had been told it was good; I would say it is amazing! Nothing had prepared me for its reality. In the European room there were paintings by (everything hung is original) Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Gaugin, Picasso and O'Keeffe and many other famous artists. There are two original versions of Washington Crossing The Delaware, by Emanuel Leutze; one hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the other in MMAM.
The presence of absence was profound...Joanne loved art museums and she would have loved it.
Crossing Lake Pepin to Wisconsin we drove north to Pepin and The Harbor View Cafe. The cafe does not take reservations, though in the last few years it began accepting credit cards. Housed in an old, lake front building it is famous for gourmet food. There are no printed menus, the fare available is printed on a blackboard, because it changes from day to day. I had beef tenderloin, smothered in mushrooms, on a bed of wild rice with asparagus and mashed rutabaga...yes, it was good, well maybe except the rutabaga, all this preceded by salad with blue cheese dressing.
Harbor View opens in the spring and closes for the season in the fall. Many of the customers come by boat. It is open for lunch and dinner. When the doors open for dinner at 5:00 people are lined up waiting to enter. I've never been there for lunch.
This is the first time I have been at the cafe without Joanne, who loved the it, the food, and the trip. Yes, the presence of absence was profound. Yet, I must say, I did enjoy the day.
Blessings,
Al
Traveling with good friends, L. & C. S., we stopped for lunch at the St. James Hotel in Red Wing. Seated on the deck with a view of the Mississippi River we enjoyed the beautiful day. My chicken salad was one of the best salads in my memory.
Joanne stayed in the St. James, loved it and we had eaten there. The presence of absence was with us.
Next we visited the Minnesota Marine Art Museum (MMAM) in Winona, MN. I had been told it was good; I would say it is amazing! Nothing had prepared me for its reality. In the European room there were paintings by (everything hung is original) Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Gaugin, Picasso and O'Keeffe and many other famous artists. There are two original versions of Washington Crossing The Delaware, by Emanuel Leutze; one hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the other in MMAM.
The presence of absence was profound...Joanne loved art museums and she would have loved it.
Crossing Lake Pepin to Wisconsin we drove north to Pepin and The Harbor View Cafe. The cafe does not take reservations, though in the last few years it began accepting credit cards. Housed in an old, lake front building it is famous for gourmet food. There are no printed menus, the fare available is printed on a blackboard, because it changes from day to day. I had beef tenderloin, smothered in mushrooms, on a bed of wild rice with asparagus and mashed rutabaga...yes, it was good, well maybe except the rutabaga, all this preceded by salad with blue cheese dressing.
Harbor View opens in the spring and closes for the season in the fall. Many of the customers come by boat. It is open for lunch and dinner. When the doors open for dinner at 5:00 people are lined up waiting to enter. I've never been there for lunch.
This is the first time I have been at the cafe without Joanne, who loved the it, the food, and the trip. Yes, the presence of absence was profound. Yet, I must say, I did enjoy the day.
Blessings,
Al
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