Sep 24, 2007 12:03 am US/Central
Finding Minnesota: Paddle Wheel Fall Color Tour
by Bill Hudson
Taylors Falls, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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The paddle wheeler Taylors Falls Princess continues to travel the St. Croix River and offer spectacular views of the fall colors.
CBS
It is, without a doubt, one of the prettiest parts of the Midwest.
A confluence of rock, water and woodlands where Minnesota and Wisconsin connect over a scenic river valley. Here, along the pristine St. Croix River -- about 50 miles northeast of the Twin Cities -- a Taylors Falls company has been helping tourists soak up the sights for 100 years. It all begins when they walk the gang plank and step aboard.
With a blast of its air horn, the paddle wheeler "Taylors Falls Princess" powers up its engine and steams down the river. Dozens of tourists are on board, drawn to the area for a fall-color tour like none other. As summer's green turns to autumn's gold, leaf watchers flock in, like June bugs to light.
Taylors Falls Scenic Boat Tours is operated by Wild Mountain Recreation. The local company is celebrating 100 years of continuous business. "What a better way to see the fall colors. Better than sitting in your car in traffic; you get out on the river," said boat captain Mike Kelly.
Kelly pilots one of the two paddle wheelers in the company's fleet, which began as Muller Boats back in 1906.
"My brother and I are the fourth generation who've run the boat company," said Amy Frischmon, whose great-grandfather, Carl Muller, started the business.
Back in those days, the tours were in an eight-passenger rowboat called the "Pinafore." As settlers and tourists poured in, the business grew. So did the boats, which these days have a capacity of up to 250 passengers.
"The St. Croix Valley -- there's nothing's prettier to rival its beauty," Frischmon said confidently. For many of her customers, this is their first trip to Taylors Falls and, no doubt, the first time they see it from this seaborne perspective.
But for others, the valley's fall beauty keeps bringing them back.
"It's fantastic, probably the best part of the river to navigate to the end," said Errol Theisen who, with his wife Janet Theisen, make the yearly trek to the St. Croix River Valley.
As it has been for decades, the area's scenery' remains timeless -- towering pines and sheer rock walls. The river actually took its name from one rock formation along the route -- the one that resembles a huge stone cross. In his narration of the tour, Mike Kelly tells passengers that St. Croix is French for "Holy Cross."
"And those same rock formations that our customers were seeing way back in 1906 ... we still pointed out today," Kelly said.
As paddle wheels churn, past nature's fall palette, you can't help feeling that you've been transported back in time to a magical spot of discovery, crafted of rock, water and woods.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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