Visit Bluff Country

A guide to Historic Bluff Country

Visit Bluff Country

Fiddlin’ in the bluffs

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Sausage Grinder is performing at the upcoming Bluff Country Gathering.
Photo submitted

The 23rd Bluff Country Gathering will take place in Lanesboro, Minn., May 18-21. A celebration of American traditional music and dance, the event brings masters of old time music to teach two days of workshops covering such things as fiddle, banjo, mandolin, guitar, ukulele, singing styles, square dance calling, etc. Though the workshops are only open to registered participants, the public is invited for a concert Friday, May 19 and barn dance on Saturday, May 20. These events are held in the Lanesboro Community Center and start at 8 p.m. The concert is $15 per person and the dance is $10.

Performers this year include Sausage Grinder (California), Adam Hurt & Beth Hartness (Virginia), Sheila Kay Adams (North Carolina), Whitt Mead (Ohio), Paul Bradley (Massachusetts), and Chirps Smith and Dot Kent (Wisconsin). Dot Kent will also be calling the Saturday night dance.

The music you will hear is old time country music, fiddle, banjo and stringband music, unaccompanied ballads, harmony singing, and more. For the dance, no experience is necessary, you need not bring a partner, and the caller will teach you moves before each dance.

For more information, you can check our website by going to www.boveeheil.com and clicking on the button for Bluff Country Gathering or give us a call at (507) 498-5452. There are no advance tickets sold for the concert or barn dance, only at the door, but there’s plenty of room!

Norwegian for a day

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The Decorah Nordic Dancers performing at Spring Grove’s Syttende May celebration. Photo by Charlene Corson Selbee

By Charlene Corson Selbee

You do not have to be Norwegian or a kid to enjoy Spring Grove’s Syttende Mai celebration Wednesday. May 17 through Sunday, May 21.

On May 17, Norwegians celebrate the 1814 signing of the country’s constitution. In Norway Constitution Day is a party for everyone especially children. Spring Grove has planned a weekend of events for children, so don’t leave yours at home! There will also be plenty of activities for adults.

Barnetoget, the children’s parade starts off the activities at 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday at the Spring Grove School. The parade heads down Main Street to the Viking Memorial Park. Kindergarteners will ride in the Viking ship and children in grades 1-6 will follow behind singing and waving Norwegian flags. At the park the children will weave a Maypole and play familiar outdoor games like Kubb, rope pulling, and sack races before enjoying a delicious snack of Varme Pølse (hot dog wrapped in lefsa) and Spring Grove soda.

What could be more fun than Running with the Gnomes 5K race on Saturday? Join in and dress up as your favorite Gnome.

At noon on Saturday is the Grand Parade featuring the Nordic Dancers, a group of youth from Decorah, Iowa, clowns, dogs, antique cars, floats, and more.

On Friday evening from 7-10 p.m. is a dance specifically for teens at the Fest Building.

On Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Viking Park and the Trinity Church grounds will be filled with children’s activities including the pedal pull competition, inflatables, yard games, nerf war, petting zoo, bingo, human hamster balls, Balloons by Kevin, Tappy’s Face as well as Kaptain Kirby Train. The annual soap box races will be held on South Division Ave.

Adults have not been left out of the fun! Visitors will find Pat’s Brewery selling wood fired pizza and craft beer; for the book connoisseur, local author Joanne Griffen is signing her new book and there is a quilt show, live entertainment, and vendors will be setup at Viking Park plus Spring Grove stores will be open. Town residents will open their garage doors for the city-wide garage sale on Friday and Saturday plus there are special exhibits at the Giants of the Earth Heritage Center.

Visitors will not leave hungry. Enjoy tradition Norwegian delicacies, brats, pork burgers, and waffles.

Walk the Norwegian Ridge Trail located in the wooded hills on the outskirts of Spring Grove during your visit.

Visit sgsyttendemai.com/schedule for the complete schedule of fun activities.

Upcoming Bluff County events

•SEMBA Spring Bluegrass Festival, Houston, Minn., May 19-21

•Preston Trout Days, Preston, Minn., May 19-21

•Root River Triathlon, Houston, Minn., May 20

•Spring Valley 100 Bike Race, Spring Valley, Minn., May 20

•State Veterans Cemetery Memorial Day Ceremony, Preston, Minn., May 28

The Visit Bluff Country Magazine is delivered to more than 1,000 locations in 35 counties in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. This magazine has a mission of promoting tourism in the Historic Bluff Country (Driftless) region.

For information on upcoming town festivals and events in Historic Bluff Country, vacation ideas for lodging, recreation, dining, and shopping, check out the magazine in print or online at www.visitbluffcountry.com.

Trout Fishing – An activity for all ages and skill levels

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By Charlene Corson Selbee

Do memories of fishing as a child swirl in your head? Have you wanted to learn to fish and did not know where to begin?
You may not be familiar with Bluff Country.

The scenic Bluff Country region of southeast Minnesota and northeast Iowa offers hundreds of miles of streams of quality trout fishing. In addition, the natural cold streams make for a healthy habitat where trout can thrive.

People come to this region to fish for brown, brook, and rainbow trout. Most fish caught in this area are rainbow trout. Experienced fishers come to this region angling for brook trout, which are native to Minnesota and Iowa.

“Stop into Root River Rod Co. to talk with us. We can answer your questions. We also carry the DNR map and regulation books. We sell all flies and lures for the non-fly fisher,” shared Lance Prado, owner of Root River Rod Co. “Fillmore County boasts the best trout fishing in southeast Minnesota. In the Root River, you can fish for trout, smallmouth bass, pike, and walleye. We do not sell licenses here, but they are easy to purchase online or at the BP gas station in town.”

Owner and fishing guide, Lance Prado, Root River Rod Co., Lanesboro, fly fishing the trout rich Root River.
Photo courtesy of Lanesboro Chamber of Commerce

Don’t forget your fishing license

Minnesota DNR reminds residents and visitors to only buy fishing licenses either through the Minnesota DNR website, calling (888) 665-4236, or from a state-approved vendor. DNR has a list of approved vendors by county available on its website. There are 12 locations in Fillmore County and nine in Houston County.

The Iowa DNR website also lists the state’s approved vendors. For example, there are 13 vendors in Winneshiek County.

Minnesota DNR
Iowa DNR
Wisconsin DNR

Include a stop at Driftless Fly Fishing Co. in Preston and talk with owner Mel Hayner for information, tips, and directions. Hayner proudly boasts, “We can help you catch trout in SE Minnesota!” If visitors are wondering what the current conditions are, Hayner offers a fishing hotline, (507) 327-4276, every other Saturday during the fishing season, and he provides free fly-fishing classes. Driftless Fly Fishing Co. guides are Orvis endorsed guides.

Trout fishing for all ages, abilities and skill from Sylvan Park fishing dock in Lanesboro, Minn.
Photo courtesy of Lanesboro Chamber of Commerce.

Root River Rod Co., a full-service fly shop in Lanesboro, offers full and half day guided drift boat and guided wade trips.

Serious fishers recommend reading Trout Streams of Wisconsin and Minnesota by Jim Humphrey and Bill Shogren in addition to the Minnesota and Iowa DNR regulation books. The book contains everything you need to know, and it names specific creeks and streams, plus the book includes maps.

In memory of Steve Sobieniak

Steve Sobieniak, a nationally known maker of bamboo fly fishing rods and owner of Root River Rod Co., a full-service fly shop in Lanesboro, Minn., died September 22, 2022, after a year-long battle with cancer.   

Throughout his 67 years, he was recognized as an artisan carpenter in the Twin Cities which combined with his love of fly fishing that he learned from his father as a young boy, paved the road to becaming a master bamboo fly fishing rod craftsman.                

In 2017, after leaving the construction industry to make rods full time, he and his wife Vicki opened Root River Rod Co in historic Lanesboro. The store is now owned and operated by his daughter Alayna and son-in-law Lance Prado.     

His knowledge of the trout fishing in Southeast Minnesota as well as his deep knowledge of fly-fishing history is a loss felt throughout the area and the wider fly-fishing community. Steve often was the smiling face greeting anglers as they walked into the fly shop. He was known for his kindness, generosity, integrity, and support for trout stream conservation. From diagnosis to the very end, Steve traveled his path with complete strength, courage, and an amazingly positive attitude.               

Steve loved the Root River and being a part of the Lanesboro community. There will be a Root River cleanup this summer in Steve’s honor.

The Art of Visiting Bluff Country

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The Art of Visiting Bluff Country

By Charlene Corson Selbee

One-of-a-kind art studios and galleries call the pictur­esque landscape of Bluff Country home. Visitors will expe­rience not only first-class art galleries, but they will have the opportunity to meet talented artists and purchase their cre­ations. The range of artwork found in Bluff County ranges from jew­elry, clothing, oil and watercolor paintings, black and white draw­ings, wood fur­niture, fiber arts, sculptures, and glass to name a few.

Residents and visitors alike look forward to the Bluff Country Studio Art Tour held every year in April. The dates for this year’s tour are April 28-30.

The tour is an opportunity for art enthusiasts to visit the artist’s stu­dio and experience firsthand where they spend their time creating. In 2023, there are 20 stops to visit.

Download a mobile app from the tour’s website for ease in finding all the studios and suggested food, lodging, and refreshment stops along the trail.

To stop at each location, it will take at least two full days. Pottery, jewelry, wood furniture, oil paintings, bas­kets, watercolors, and fiber arts can all be found on the trail.

Lanesboro Arts Galleries proudly boasts not one but two galleries, Exhibi­tion Gallery and the Juried Sales Gallery!

The Exhibition Gallery features five exhibits annually. The Juried Sales Gallery features work from over 90 regional artists and is available for purchase. Every other year, Lanes­boro Arts sponsors an emerging artist exhibition.

ONE-OF-A-KIND

Art Studios & Galleries

Bluff Country’s newest art gallery, The Caledonia Gal­lery, is located in a recently renovated limestone building in downtown Caledonia. The 150-plus year old building was built by James J. Belden, after the Civil War ended in 1865, for his tinsmith business. Throughout the years the building has been home to a drug store, newspaper office, a real estate and insurance agency, insurance/financial service office, a jewelry store, and second-hand stores. The renovation itself is a work of ark. The gallery features the work of artists from La Crosse, Wis., to Caledonia with over half being women artists. Visitors will find an amazing collection of wildlife, landscape, flowers, and portrait paintings.

Children from around the world have entered artwork featuring owls in The International Owl Center in Houston sponsors an annual kids’ owl art com­petition. The coloring contest started around 2004 to engage local children in the Center’s Festival of Owls celebration. Over the years it has grown into a competitive international art competition. In 2023 there were 2,007 entries from 34 coun­tries and 20 U.S. states. Artwork from the competition is exhibited throughout the year in the center’s gallery. Artwork has also been used to decorate banners that can be seen hanging on light poles throughout town. The children’s artwork can also be found on merchandise which can be purchased in the center’s gift shop along with other owl themed mer­chandise.

Artwork by 18-year-old Yoonjeong (Gina) Yang of the USA hanging in the gallery at the International Owl Center in Houston, Minn.

Enjoy the drive though the picturesque farmlands, the majestic bluffs, along the flowing streams, and through quaint Midwestern towns that inspire the artists of Bluff Country.

Find out more about the Art Tour

Rubaiyat – Decorah’s Dining Destination

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By Jason Sethre

There are not many places where you feel like you’re in a fancy restaurant and an art gallery, all at the same time.

That’s the best way to describe Rubaiyat in downtown Decorah, Iowa.  This special place has been the vision of Andy and Kim Bonnet since 2007.

Andy and Kim met while working at a restaurant in Galena, Ill.  Andy gained experience in the food and beverage industry starting at the age of 14, working with retail wine sales along with grocery, and then as a chef and server.  Kim, who grew up in Dubuque, Iowa, graduated from Luther College in 2002, and worked in the financial world for six years.  But she has also been working in the food and beverage industry since age 14, as a server, bartender and caterer.

Building A Vision

The historic building located at 117 Water Street in downtown Decorah, has been home to many entrepreneurial experiences since the early 1890s.

“The original stores housed everything from a mail order dry goods store to a ladies ready-to-wear boutique.  In the early to mid 1900s, the buildings housed a jewelry store, a hardware store, and the original Donlon Drug.  The upstairs was also used as a speak-easy during prohibition.  In the early 1950s, Bill Brickley opened a five and dime store.  He sold out in 1960 to Ben Franklin Stores and the buildings were combined into what you see now as one storefront.  After the Ben Franklin closed in the early 1990s, the building housed an office supply store, antique store, and a dollar store,” according to the owners of Rubaiyat, Andy and Kim Bonnet, who have owned the building since 2007.

At first, they thought the building would be too big, but as they started planning, they knew it was the right one for them. When they purchased the building, it needed lots of work. The restaurant was renovated in 2007, and took about nine months. They worked on the building renovation with family and friends, and in July 2007 they turned it over to contractors. In 2016, they renovated the second floor (which had no plumbing or electrical) and moved there with their family that same year. That renovation took about seven months.

The name of the restaurant, Rubaiyat, was derived from a collection of poetry written over 1,000 years ago by a Persian gentleman named Omar Khayyam.  As it states on their restaurant website, “The poems are a testimony of living life to its fullest with the help of good food and great wine and together, the joy that they can bring to life. Andy and Kim welcome the chance to share their love of food and wine with you and invite you to experience that joy right here at our restaurant in downtown Decorah.”

The Bonnets

The Bonnets love everything Decorah has to offer. While raising their two sons, ages 13 and 10, they enjoy spending time as a family, traveling and camping whenever they have free time.

How did they pick Decorah?  What makes Decorah special?

“Decorah is a mythical place. There is something special about Decorah that exists in very few other locations,” said Kim.  With Kim’s Luther College experience, she always wanted to move back and raise a family here. “The sense of community is second to none,” she added.

Ambiance & Food

When you dine at a restaurant, authenticity is important.  What sets this place apart from others?

The right ambiance, food and service will always make you want to come back for more.  And, you’ll tell your friends about it.

That’s Rubaiyat.

While Kim leads the front-end of the restaurant, Andy creates masterpieces in the kitchen.

As indicated on their website, Chef Andy’s menu is inspired to reflect classic and diverse culinary influences.  He is consistently creating food that is distinctly contemporary.  Their seasonal American dishes combine four qualities that the Bonnets value most: integrity, style, restraint, and playfulness.

And, they always deliver as promised.

They spend a great amount of time focused on aesthetics.  “We both work on this together, and bring our ideas inspired by restaurants and spaces we have visited in California,” shared Kim.

They want their restaurant to be known for great food, great service, a place to gather and enjoy special occasions and celebrate the everyday. And, of course, friendship.

And, what they are doing is working quite well.  According to Kim, “On an average night, we draw from about a 60 to 70 mile radius, but we do have people here every week from further than that.  Major metros, Midwest cities, and both coasts.”

If you want to impress someone without breaking the bank, take them to Rubaiyat.

But, I’d suggest always making a reservation.  During the summer months, they have been known to get fully booked a week in advance.

Their website is https://www.rubaiyatrestaurant.com/ and their phone number is (563) 382-9463.

Winter blues, be gone!

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By Charlene Corson Selbee

Start your day with a freshly baked cookie and a cup of coffee at Cabin Fever Fest.
Photo by Charlene Corson Selbee

Chase away those winter blues in Lanesboro, March 10-12, at the town’s annual Cabin Fever Fest. Three days of memory making fun – solving a mystery puzzle, consuming delicious food, enjoying craft beverages, and listening to live music.

Where to start? First, book a room in the Bed and Breakfast Capital of Minnesota. Second, purchase your tickets to guaranteed-to sell out events.

If you like mysteries, you are certain to enjoy the interactive puzzle room style mysteries at the Scandinavian Inn. Plan on spending about 90 minutes solving a well-designed puzzle.

Check out a theatrical performance “A Murder Has Been Renounced” at the St. Mane Theatre. Take in “The Pillowman” at the Commonweal Theatre.

Need a breath of fresh air? Schedule a guided fishing trip with the Root River Rod Company. Catch and release winter fishing trips are available Thursday through Sunday.

Lanesboro comes alive! Listen to the acoustic sounds of Fukawe AC at Sylvan Brewing on Friday night. On Saturday evening, Ben Scruggs, a Mankato-based musician will perform at the High Court Pub.

Lanesboro is the art hub of southeast Minnesota, so make sure to include a visit to the Lanesboro Arts Gallery for the 2023 Emerging Artist Exhibition. Visitors will also find eight local artists demonstrating and selling their work on Saturday.

Did I mention food? Check out the St. Patty’s Day dinner prepared by guest chef Paul O’Little at Root River 102 or enjoy a traditional midwestern fish fry at the American Legion.

Settle in and enjoy a card game or a board game at the Burmeister game-a-thon at the Sons of Norway Lodge. Attendees are welcome to bring their own board game.

End your evening sitting around a firepit reminiscing while enjoying a hot beverage or snacks at High Court Pub, Root River Inn & Suites, Sylvan Brewing, or Stone Mill Hotel & Suites.

Upcoming Bluff County events

•MN Trout Fishing Opener, April 12-13, statewide

•Lipmasters Fishing Tournament, April 22, Rushford

•Bluff Country Studio Art Tour, April 28-30, Bluff Country area

The Visit Bluff Country Magazine is delivered to more than 1,000 locations in 35 counties in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. This magazine has a mission of promoting tourism in the Historic Bluff Country (Driftless) region.