I love visiting small towns and villages. Some seem to be sleepy and others brimming with life. I get the feeling this small suburb of the Twin Cities is a brimming with life town, but sleepy on Sundays. We only had a few hours and tried to visit a few places while here.

The first place was the Bailey School Forest Park. When Kid and Baby Willow are older I think the lesson plan on their site is perfect for exploration of the 80 acre park. Having a stroller limited us in where we could go as some bits were still icy and more bumpy than anticipated. I want to revisit this place and really dive into what it has to offer. We did like the views. Seeing the bald eagles even in the distance was a delight. Towards the end of our walk Kid Willow was out of ear shot, and I could finally hear the the small birds sing in the different evergreen trees.

We then explored the town for more historic sites. Two were next to each other, the Red Rock and the oldest Methodist Building in MN. We then found the building that drew us to this town, the old train switching tower. Unfortunately this was also not open to the public. But this sleepy on Sundays town was a major thoroughfare for two train lines years ago.

Finally a place for Kid Willow to blow off some steam, Pioneer Park, and one of the historic river overlooks, Riverwood Boulevard Overlook. Pioneer Park sits on some of the original town land. It is where residents signed up for the Union Army in the Civil War. This Park was formally established by the town in 1937. It now has a really nice playground made of recycled goods. Afterwards I was able to see one of the many infrastructure projects that was made by the W.P.A. This one was made in 1939.

While Kid Willow was playing, C had a chat with another parent and they suggested going across the river to another town to visit the Rock Island Swing Bridge. Unfortunately Baby Willow fell asleep so C and Kid Willow Explored this park area. It looks interesting and makes me just that more excited to give this area another visit.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much was in this area. It felt like we’d traveled farther than we had, but I realized we did not travel that far when I saw that we were just over the bridge from the airplane hanger from a few weeks back.

Bye for now.