September 2019

So, you think that while we Traveling Socks were way up there in the north, we would only stay in the big city of Minneapolis? Think again, my friends! We drove across the St. Croix River to see what we could see, when lo and behold, we took the exit and turned into Hudson, Wisconsin.

Does anyone else remember fondly (and still wish for) the television series Northern Exposure? It was set in the tiny town of Cicely, Alaska, and Stacy Lyn has fashioned herself a Cicelian ever since that show first aired in the summer of 1990. It is where can one go to belong when one cannot find “home”; alas, ’tis but a fictional city, whereas Hudson, Wisconsin is real, my friends. Stacy Lyn could imagine it being her home.

During the whole of a dull, damp, and soundless day in the late summer of the year 2019, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, we had been passing with Stacy Lyn’s dog, on foot (or Socks), through a singularly dewy tract of Lakefront Park; and at length found ourselves, as the shades of the afternoon drew on, within view of the melancholy Lake St. Croix, which is actually a wide part of the river. Ok, we borrowed most of those words from the opening lines of “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Did you notice? If not, you should go back and read the masterpiece by Edgar Allen Poe. (We are unapologetic about the plug for great American literature.)

Anyway, as the aforementioned oppressively low clouds perforated and spewed us with thousands upon thousands of misty raindrops, we ducked into a café to enjoy a bone-warming latte and a spirit-lifting cookie. In this town of few people, there were two, yes, two cafés. We chose the Wired Robin because it was more reminiscent of a European espresso bar than the other. That other place served sandwiches and pizza, too, and we don’t like to mix smells. Do you?

The day was a pleasant one, and we didn’t mean to make you believe otherwise with our Poe-esque lexicon. That was just for fun. As was our day in Hudson, Wisconsin. Make it part of your road trip, if you dare. Don’t let our Poe-like words discourage you.