This week’s episode of Moveable Feast really lives up to the “moveable” part of its name, when John and Rachel dig into the latest issue of Minnesota Monthly to talk about great Midwest vacations you can take by rail or trail.
With the Amtrak station now located at St. Paul’s Union Depot, families with kids can opt to travel by train, as one Minnesota Monthly writer recently did for a vacation to the Wisconsin Dells. The train gives kids the chance to walk around, go to the bathroom, get food from the dining car, and best of all, distracts them enough that they abstain from the dreaded “Are we there yet?” refrain.
A shuttle from the Kalahari Resort picked them up from the Amtrak station and took them straight to the massive hotel/waterpark combo, so getting around without a car wasn’t an issue. The Kalahari, like many Wisconsin Dells resorts, is big enough and packed with enough activity and dining options to keep the kids occupied for days, until it’s time to board the Amtrak for the trip home.
Your mind may jump to hiking or biking when you think of trails, but paddlers rejoice—our country’s waterways are also designated as “trails” as part of the National Water Trails System. One Minnesota Monthly writer grew up in Winona along with chef JD Fratzke of The Strip Club, and the two embarked on a kayak journey down the Mississippi from Fort Snelling to Hastings. They even cooked their own riverside catfish lunch, but they cheated a little bit—the catfish was brought from home.
Listen to the full episode of Moveable Feast.
