Scenic back road tours

View of Mississippi River from Elmer's Toy Museum

Mississippi River locks

The 2010 Pierce-Arrow Society Annual Meet will be held in Rochester, Minnesota, July 13th through July 18th, 2010. The headquarters hotel will be the world renown Kahler Hotel, located in downtown Rochester. This city is known worldwide by the presence of the Mayo Clinic. This facility was built through efforts of the pioneering Mayo Brothers. The Kahler Hotel is just across the street from this facility. Our room rates of $87.50 standard and $97.50 deluxe are good for three days prior and three days after the meet. If you were interested in having a physical or other procedure, this would be an opportune time. The Mayo can accommodate up to 2000 patients per day.

Our Tuesday bus tours will give you the option of going to the Mall of America and shop their 540 stores and play awhile inside it's amusement park or have a tour of Elmer's Toy Museum with over 8 million dollars worth of toys. Also there are a number of full sized automobiles on display. This location is the highest point on the Mississippi River.

Wednesday we will be visiting the Mayo brothers home. We will be able to see some of the early surgical instruments on display. We will also spend some time at the Olmstead County Museum before leaving for Mantorville, a community that has missed the 20th and 21st century. There are many turn of the century buildings to see while visiting there. We will also have lunch at the Hubble House, which has been serving home cooked meals since 1854. Many prominent figures have enjoyed their bill of fare at this historic restaurant.

On Thursday we will travel to the river town of Winona where we will be treated to lunch on a Mississippi River Cruise. This one and a half hour journey will give you a look as what was like when Mark Twain piloted a paddle wheeler on these same waters. Also we will visit Minnesota Marine Art Museum, which is a must for visitors stopping in this area. One of many interesting places to see is the Winona County Museum. As you travel through this community, you will notice many of the buildings were built at the turn of the century and are fortunately still standing.

We will tour through the hills and valleys on Friday to visit the world famous Niagara Cave. This is one of the ten best caves in the country. After our visit we will drive to Lanesboro where we will have lunch (on your own) and then board buses for a tour of some Amish farms. We will get to see how they live and what makes them so popular as a tourist attraction.

Our return trip to Rochester is most interesting as the roads seem to turn in every direction and there is hardly a straight stretch for more than a few hundred feet till we reach the tops of the bluffs. Our Swap meet is scheduled for this evening and automobile preparation for Saturday's Car Show will be underway.

Saturday's car show and judging meet is always a highlight of this event. An Awards Banquet will signal the end of the 53rd Annual Pierce-Arrow Society meet.