It was one of those days when we wanted to get out of town, but not go too far. Excelsior is a small town off of Lake Minnetonka. It has a decent park along side the mostly privately owned shores of the lake. We headed straight for the park to watch the sail boats, larger boats and paddle-boarders on the lake while enjoying a light lunch. Baby Willow and C headed straight for the playground and had some time exploring the equipment. I enjoyed looking at the water and the houses by the water.

Then we explored the downtown area of Excelsior. It is a cute town with boutique shops from antiques to clothing and gifts. There were some really nice looking restaurants too.

However, we saw that there was a path along a rail line. The rail line is a tourist trolley line now. We walked down the path and were able to see the refurbished trolley. There was a trolley/street car  inside a building near the end of the line. The gentleman said that it takes eight years to fully restore trolleys. The one inside was in service in the twin cities for forty years and retired in 1953. Trolleys and other light rail systems used to be much more common in the United States. Baby Willow loved seeing the operational trolley and clapped when it passed by us.

My advise should you drive to this lovely town is to discover the hidden public parking lots behind the main street/high street of the town called Water Street. Many of the streets in the residential areas are permit only and the parking by the lake is charged. I would also find the sign for the Port of Excelsior and get a walking tour map with history of local buildings. It was interesting, but time limited us to purely exploring on our own.

We went at the tail end of the tourist season for Excelsior, but it was still a pleasant place with friendly people.

Bye for now.