Best of Historic Stillwater, MN

Stillwater, Minnesota isn’t called “historic” for nothing! Dubbed the “birthplace of Minnesota”, the entire town has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Just walking along Main Street you’ll find yourself strolling through the decades from the 1840s to today. Well known for its Bed and Breakfasts and antique shops, Stillwater has many hidden gems that, all too often, go virtually unexplored. What follows is a weekend full of the best of historic Stillwater, Minnesota. TGIF indeed!

Best Bed and Breakfast in Stillwater: The Ann Bean Mansion 319 West Pine Street www.annbeanmansion.com
The Ann Bean Mansion is the towering estate of lumber baron Jacob Bean who, along with wife Cynthia, built the house in 1878. The mansion offers five period rooms as well as a gorgeously appointed communal parlor and dining room. A visit during a chilly February weekend provided the perfect amount of R&R to go with a luxurious B&B experience. The large master suite, called Ann and Albert’s Room, was not only reasonably priced (between $179-199 per night, including breakfast) but included a large gas fireplace to warm the wood floors and oak bed and a private bathroom with a double whirlpool to bubble and soak in to your heart’s content. Innkeepers Jeremy and Erin Drews are wonderfully accommodating hosts and serve an amazing, several-course gourmet breakfast to their guests each morning. The authenticity and modern conveniences of this manse, as well as the delicious food and welcoming atmosphere, make this Stillwater B&B a can’t miss bargain.

Best Place to Eat in Stillwater: Savories Bistro 108 North Main Street www.savoriesbistro.com
A charming mix of formal and casual, attentive wait staff and can’t miss made-from-scratch food makes Savories Bistro the best little place in Stillwater to grab a bite. Whether its breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert you simply can’t go wrong with just about anything you try at Savories. If you still have room after your feast at the Ann Bean Mansion, the “Eye Opener” French Toast (with new ingredients each week) is amazing no matter what it’s stuffed or covered with. For lunch, any of the enormous gourmet sandwiches will fuel you up after a morning at the antique shops. And for dinner, especially during a cold Minnesota winter, the risotto (tastes change seasonally) is aromatic and creamy. No matter what meal you’re there for, you cannot leave without dessert. No particular recommendation is necessary because every homemade, seasonal sweet is perfection.

Best Antique Shop in Stillwater: Mill Antiques 410 North Main Street
By the 1880s, Stillwater had become one of the largest producers of lumber in the world and lumber baron Isaac Staples’ mill stands in tribute to that bygone era. Today it is filled with floor after floor after floor of every kind of antique imaginable. Whether or not you’re in the market for furniture, art, collectibles, clothing or anything, for that matter, you can spend hours winding through the corridors and halls crowded with a hundred years of goods. From armor to z-door hutches, you will find it all and more and you will not leave empty handed.

Best Snack in Stillwater: The tiny ice cream shop in the Mill Antiques building 410 North Main Street
The proprietor of this tiny shop is always happy to scoop a creamy cone or root beer float for you after long hours in the maze of the attached Mill Antiques. It’s unknown whether it’s something magic about the ice cream or the atmosphere or both, but there is never an unhappy face outside of this ice cream shop.

Best Boat Ride on the St. Croix: Gondola on St. Croix www.gondolastcroix.com
Gondolier “Giovanni” (aka John Kerschbaum) imported his authentic gondola straight from Venice where he learned the ancient art of gondolier rowing. Stillwater visitors can enjoy everything from a brief, scenic gondola tour of the banks of the St. Croix River to a one-hour luxury cruise including dinner at a fine Stillwater restaurant and a costumed gondolier. The paddle wheeler river boats are hyped all over Stillwater, but the authentic gondola experience is not to be missed.

Best Way to Enjoy Stillwater: Feet and Wheels
To truly take in all of Stillwater, start by strolling along Main Street and window shopping the antique stores, boutiques and rare book sellers. Wander over to the Warden’s House Museum perched high on a hill overlooking the river and Main Street. Take in blocks and blocks of turn of the century houses and meander along miles of the St. Croix River. When your feet get tired, take to the road via car or motorcycle to experience the pine forests, river, lakes and marshes that surround Stillwater in both Minnesota and over the border in Wisconsin.

Over hyped Stillwater Experience to Miss: Minnesota Zephyr Dinner Train
By all means take a look around the historic train depot, but you can miss the train. A weirdly suffocating experience, passengers pack into tiny dining cars for a very long journey (three and a half hours) covering a very short distance. To be sure, the five-course meal is delicious and the scenery is beautiful. However, the exceedingly close quarters, costumed quartet singing songs from the 1940s practically in your lap and the miniscule bathrooms lurching along with the train make the entire experience uncomfortable and one to miss.