Tesha

WANDA GAG HOUSE Ever read “Millions of Cats” as a child? I read it to my daughter because she loves cats as much as I do. So when I learned that the author, Wanda Gag, grew up in New Ulm, I marked her childhood home as a Must-See during our trip there. It is indeed a cool house. Wanda Gag’s father was an artist, photographer and all-around wacky guy. After falling out of the family’s hands for seven decades, the Gag (pronounced “gog”) family home at 226 North Washington, was purchased in 1988 by a group intent on restoring it. Today Anton Gag’s original color schemes once again decorate the interior and exterior walls of the Queen Anne home. In one section of the house, the restorers had to peel away 20 layers of paint ... read more

MORGAN CREEK WINERY Billed as the only underground winery in Minnesota, Morgan Creek Winery (morgancreekvineyards.com) is about 10 minutes outside New Ulm. The drive in is beautiful; turn right before the creek. The winery building is set inside the hill and spills out into a pasture. There are plenty of tables for folks to sit a spell, as well as a fire pit. Live music drifted out of the building, and folks were spending their Friday evening sipping wine and snacking on wood-fired pizza ($6.25-$7), swiss raclette ($4.75) and bruschette sticks ($6.75). My toddler immediately went running through the field, straight to the swing hanging from a huge tree. We chased her down there and relaxed awhile, enjoying the early evening light coming down on the vineyard. Then we headed back up. I had some ... read more

I think kids are happiest in water. My 15-month daughter is no exception. So for her dad’s birthday, I decided the perfect outting would be to a hotel with a water park. I found 4 in the Twin Cities, Minn. area, and decided on Grand Rios at the Ramada off of Interstate 694 at Lakeland Avenue. It was a good choice. I picked it for a bunch of reasons. First, the room rates were cheapest at $70 for a king room. We only needed 3 waterpark passes, so I didn’t see any reason to pay a higher room rate and get the four passes that came along with it. The water park at the Depot in downtown Minneapolis mostly looked like a big pool with a few waterslides. The waterpark by the Mall of America looked ... read more

DECEMBER 16 -- PACKING UP Today we leave, and there's lots to do. When we returned to the villa after sailing last night, I started packing while Jesse watched the little one. We wanted to be ready to leave right away in the morning so that we could have as much time as possible at Old San Juan before our flight left. In accordance with our lease agreement, we had to strip all the beds and leave the bedding in the laundry room. We also swept and made sure the fridge was empty -- that part wasn't hard. The teens had devoured most of the food already. I did still have a few snacks to bring with for the airport. After lugging our luggage downstairs, our next step was to get our rental car. Jesse and ... read more

ON A SAILBOAT Tuesday, our last full day in Puerto Rico, was the day I had most looked forward to. We were going sailing for the day. Sailing on the ocean. Ah. How wonderful. Well, it was and it wasn't. The sailboat was fantastic, the company good, and the food delicious. However, my body couldn't quite handle the waves and I was seasick most of the day. Go figure. Things got better midday when Ingrid loaned those of us who were nauseous bracelets that put pressure at a point on our wrists. I need my own for flying! Our day started early, although not as early as the day before. We had time for breakfast before we left for Puerto Del Ray marina, which is just southeast of the Fajardo port. Our sailboat was leaving at ... read more