Port of La Crosse Under Water

It's been one of the wettest summers on record here in the Upper Mississippi River Valley and the Fall season is following the same path. Last week the Upper Mississippi River Valley experienced some strong thunderstorms that dropped rain amounts ranging from 3 inches to as much as 10 inches in some locations. The creeks and rivers are all overflowing their banks and flooding some small towns and creating devastation everywhere. All these smaller rivers empty out into the Mississippi River causing it now to exceed flood stages in our area from Red Wing,MN to Prairie Du Chein,WI. River stages are expected to range from 13ft. to 20ft.  In Port of La Crosse the flood stage is 12ft. and the Mississippi River is suppose to reach 13.5ft. by Wednesday and crest Thursday which means the Mississippi River levels should start to go down. The weather forecast is predicting dry weather for several days so that should help the lowering process and give residents a chance to start to clean up.
Here at Port of La Crosse Houseboating Excursions is unable to reach our houseboat. All boating residences had to be evacuated because  the Mississippi River levels are getting so high it flooded the access road to the marina and all the surrounding land. Check out our photos we took when we left and the Mississippi River is suppose to go 1.5ft. higher than these photos show.

Also in these photos you see how people are getting around to clear out and the Harbormaster and his crew cruise the area continually clearing the the marina of large floating debris to prevent damage to boats and docks, they are also checking to make sure everything is secure and safe. The Pettibone Campground is also under water and residents were forced to evacuate and move their campers to high ground and some have set up camp in nearby parking lots.  The Mississippi River is very dangerous to cruise at this time even the commercial barges are forced to stay at port because navigating is very difficult. The US Army Corps of Engineers is asking everyone to stay off the Mississippi River until levels fall below flood stage and if you must go cruise the Mississippi River a mandatory NO WAKE is in force until water levels fall below 10ft. With all the debris floating in the river right now you will be running the risk of hitting something you can't see just under the surface and possibly destroying your boat and motor. If you must venture out on The Mississippi River please do so safely and cautiously.
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Oktoberfest 2010

It's that time of the year again when the entire city if La Crosse,WI gets ready for its giant fall festival called Oktoberfest. Every year La Crosse has a huge fest which starts out on a Friday with a Festmaster's parade and the tapping of the Golden Keg at the Southside Fest Grounds. The fest runs for about 9 days and features a 3 hour parade known as The Maple Leaf Parade which is on Saturday and there are 2 fest grounds, one on the southside of La Crosse at the Southside Fest Grounds and one on the Northside of La Crosse at Copeland Park. The fest features rides and games for all to enjoy, beer tents at both grounds and special events like local bands and other talent, this year there is a special attraction to the Southside Fest Grounds featuring Bret Michaels from the 80s group Poison. His concert is sold out.
If you come to La Crosse,WI by houseboat for the fest we would recommend staying at the Pettibone Boat Club as it is the closest marina to the action. If you prepare yourself correctly you can walk from the marina to the parade route and to the Southside Fest Grounds but it is a long walk, about a mile, but, a cab ride to the area would only cost you about $5.00 to $10.00 and worth it. There are other marinas at Port of La Crosse to stay at: Municipal Boat Harbor, North Bay Marina, and South Bay Marina but you will need to cab ride from these marinas. If you plan to come to this festival plan months in advance because this Fest draws thousands of people from all over the area.
Check out the link we provided to Oktoberfest 2010 and you can see all the events and schedules to give you an idea of what the fest is all about so you can plan to attend in the future.
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Football Season at Houseboat

We are ready to kick off the 2010 NFL Green Bay Packers and the Wisconsin Badgers football season here at Houseboating Excursions. The boat is prepared with chairs, umbrellas to shade the sun, and our television. We start out the season on Saturday  with the Wisconsin Badgers. The weather here in Port of La Crosse is a cool day with the temperatures only in the 50s to low 60s but we have our furry blankets to keep us warm to watch the game. Today on Sunday the weather is nice and sunny but still cool but we are set up for friends to come to the boat and enjoy the game, even our houseboating neighbors are into the game they painted their boat Packer colors. The television might be small but the atmosphere is perfect for football and fun.
The weather people are predicting the weather will remain fall like being that fall starts Monday and it is one of the best times of the year to go out and cruise the Upper Mississippi River Valley as the river clears of all algae and weeds and the colors on the trees start to change. The fishing has been slow around the docks but should start to get better as fall is also one of the best times to catch fish here on the Mississippi River. You can still enjoy the sandbars and have a warm campfire and the experience is always one to remember.
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Growler Refill Trip

Gowler

After we enjoyed our time at Marquette,IA we cruised further south only a couple of miles to McGregor,IA to visit one of our favorite restaurants Old Man River Restaurant and Brewery. McGregor,IA has plenty of boat parking to offer and everything in town is only a short walk. As we blogged earlier we experienced some of the unique micro beers they have to offer so this time we decided to try a couple of other flavors. One flavor was named Pils which is a light golden lager with distinctive hops but to us it has a strong, heavy taste so it didn't qualify for a growler purchase. The other flavor we tried was the Marzen which is a German amber colored, malty flavored with a spicy finish and to us it was good, you could taste the bitterness to it along with a hint of spicy but again just didn't qualify this time for a growler purchase. So after we had dinner we refilled our original growlers with our favorites, Dunkel and Weizen,  but we will return again to try the Helles flavor and their own unique Old Man River Root Beer, these are very popular flavors because each time we have visited the brewery has been sold out. After dinner we walked the town and checked out some of their shops for some unique gifts and to see if we could find some antiques for our home.
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Eagles Landing Winery, Marquette,IA

We took a cruise down the Mississippi River to one of our favorite areas to visit and it landed us at Marquette,IA. Everyone knows that Marquette,IA is most famous for their pink elephant.

I know its really for the river boat casino Isle of Capri, but we like the elephant. The casino has a nice large dock to park at and it has electricity. We went there specifically to visit an Award Winning winery called the Eagles Landing Winery. It is only a short walk from the dock you park at to town where the winery is located. The winery is a family owned business that was started on the family farm in 1999. It has a 3 acre vineyard and grows ten varieties of red and white grapes and also gets honey locally from a place called the Yellow River Apiary and some quality fruits which allows the winery to make as many as 24 different wines from dry to dessert wines.

We were unfortunately too late to witness the harvest so we just visited their gift shop which also has a gazebo with tables for outdoor seating if you wish to purchase a bottle and want to enjoy it immediately and relax. The winery gift shop has a tasting room that seats up to 50 people and is free of charge. Each person gets a list of their wines and you can choose up to 5 different varieties to taste, being that there was 2 of us we got to try 10 different wines. We started with the dry and worked our way down to the dessert flavors and I will tell you one thing for sure we got a fast understanding as to why these are award winning wines, they are great. We are not fans of dry wines or very sweet wines so we mainly stayed in the semi-sweet area, and we chose 3 different types: Plumtastic(Beth's favorite), Mrs. Sippi(Troy's favorite), and Summer Crush.

The winery markets their wine under the label "Marquette Maid". The winery chose this name because it symbolizes Emma Big Bear who was the last Native American that was living an Indian life in the Marquette area and her home is preserved by Eagles Landing Winery and she is shown on every label as the face on the glass. There is also an Emma Big Bear Foundation that is a non-profit organization that promotes the memory of one of Marquette's most famous citizens. We provided a link to Emma Big Bear to learn about her life's history. We were also invited for a tour of their winery production area and it was a great experience.

We also learned that there is a wine trail called the Great River Road Wine Trail, it features 10 different wineries from the north you start at Cannon Falls,MN and work your way south to Marquette,IA. The only winery you can get to by boat is the Eagles Landing Winery but if you like wine and want to see all the different wineries here along the beautiful Upper Mississippi River Valley you can see a detailed map by clicking the link we provided and you can cruise by vehicle of your choosing and you will love the scenery as we do and get a full understanding as to why visiting the Upper Mississippi River Valley should be on everyone's vacation list. Be sure to check the open dates for all the wineries because not all wineries are open all year long. When you visit your first winery you get a brochure with all the wineries on it and each time you visit one you get a stamp on the brochure and when you collect all 10 you get a Great River Road Wine Trail glass. No purchase necessary.
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A Floating City of River Condos

We visited a a floating condominium parked here in Port of La Crosse. The name of the condos is River Cities Floating Condominiums. A developer from St. Paul,MN has come up with the idea of having a floating city of condominiums which are built on a barge style hull and would travel on the many different waterways here in the United States. The name of the first city is called the Marquette, it will contain approximately 180 condominiums from studios to 2 bedroom units ranging from 528 square feet to 924 square feet. They have many different types of ownership choices to choose from, 2 months to all year, with prices ranging from $55,000 to $1,800,000.
The waterways they travel are maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers so they have no worries of hitting obstructions in the rivers. The route is an annual cruise route of about 10,700 miles with 155 different overnight stops in 18 states.
The River Cities also offers restaurants, lounges, deli and grocery stores, spas, fitness gym, satellite, 18 hole golf course and some small pets are welcome.

Here are a few photos of an example condominium that we took on our visit but be sure to visit their web site for more information using our link to their site, it is a very interesting way to visit the Upper Mississippi River Valley and other river valleys too.
This could be your adventure of a lifetime you are looking for, make the river your home or vacation getaway as you follow the seasons to your next adventure and when you are back here in the Upper Mississippi River Valley you will be able to check our web site for adventures to do while in our area.
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Cooling Off at a Sandbar

It was a warm and humid day here in the Upper Mississippi River Valley giving the phrase "Dog Days of Summer" it's proper credit. We decided to take the boys to a large sandbar to cool off, with the Mississippi River starting to clear of its weeds and algae,  we just sat around and relaxed. The dogs, Koal and George, didn't have a problem figuring out how to do a great job staying cool. Here  Koal shows his way of doing it.  Of course George was not going to be out done by his brother so he too had to put on a demonstration of how to stay cool on these warm, humid days.  They were having so much fun that others stopped by and joined the fun.

  We also were able to enjoy views of other boats cruising up and down the Mississippi River along with a paddle wheel boat The La Crosse Queen. The Upper Mississippi River Valley has so many options of activities for all to do that it is almost impossible to ever get bored, everyday is a new adventure from just hanging out, to just going out and cruising around, and cruising to one of our favorite destinations.
Continue to follow Houseboating Excursions in the Mississippi River Valley as we cruise and explore more destinations and provide more information, adventures, and resources. Please Don't Move Firewood and Help Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers.