Pictures of Winona

In an attempt to keep people coming back before all the construction starts, and since a lot of you reading this have never been to Winona - or even heard of it before us - I thought I would give some insight to our fair city. These photos were taken from a place called Garvin Heights - a nice park on top of the bluffs with this amazing overlook. Of course if you were up there now, all this would be buried under a bit of snow! The lake in the foreground is man-made and the water barely visible in the back is the Mississippi. Yes, it does freeze in the winter - this shocked and amazed Jon. Even after months of winter he is still amazed at the northern sport of "ice fishing."

In the top photo you can see Highway 61 running just under the bluff - for the Dylan fans out there. Although it's difficult in these photos to see much of the city, our pub will be located closer to the Mississippi (2 blocks away) and off to the right in the bottom photo. It's a city with a lot of history and its fair share of oddities. Apparently Winona is considered to be the "stained glass capital of the US." I never knew ....

This area was originally called "Wapasha's Prairie" after the Dakota Sioux Chief Wapasha. The city was founded in 1851 by a riverboat captain who named the settlement Montezuma. Later the name was changed to Winona, which is derived from the Dakota Indian word We-No-Nah (eldest daughter). Legend says that We-No-Nah jumped to her death from the bluffs above Winona when she was told she could not marry the brave she loved.

What you can't tell from these photos is the beauty of the bluffs we're standing on when we took these pictures. Bluffs are akin to the foothills in East Tennessee, but carved by the Mississippi River and create the river valley Winona sits in. Heading north on Highway 61 is one of the most beautiful drives I've seen. It's also not unusual to see eagles flying near the river - they are beautiful to see in the wild.

Here are some websites to check out if you want more info:
http://www.rhometown.com/about/about.cfm?city_id=CI00001276
Visitors and Convention Bureau: www.visitwinona.com