Hello all, We hope you are having a wonderful summer as you mark off places you want to travel. We love to travel, explore and embrace the saying “all who wander are not lost” Our goal is to make Castle La Crosse as comfortable, inviting and that you use our home as yours when you need it. I read last week, “you know who is dealing with a lot right now, virtually everyone, so be nice” At first that was funny, then seriously true. COVID left a lot in its wake, many things have changed and we live in the new normal on a daily basis. Take time, be good to yourselves, rest when you need to and enjoy a break when it’s time for that, too. The Castle has always been a home, still is, we feel it evolving around us on a daily basis. Rooms become what they were meant to be, sometimes in spite of me trying to make them into something else. Color and pattern are important, I’m doing my best to live in our home and see what our guests see. Then, making changes as needed.

Speaking of changes, we see a lot of them around our city of La Crosse. Not just the massive project that will be the Viking Cruise ship dock, but road repair and infrastructure that has been needed. Thank you City of La Crosse! This past weekend was the Art Fair on the Green, which is a great art show in a local park that really surprised me. We have been here for just over five years now and have never made it the art fair because, like many things, it falls on a busy Saturday and we are probably greeting a full house of guests. This year, as it turned out, all of our guests were staying a few nights and I was able to slip away. I had to fight not to buy all the pottery in one tent. Pottery being a huge weakness of mine! Very nice art, stained glass, photography from our friend Jason Ray Photography (https://www.facebook.com/jasonrayphotography)
And of course, like any Fair,the unexpected. I saw more people walking out with animals made from farm equipment and bits of twisted metal. Those animals always seem to find a good home! You can easily find Art Fair on the Green online, plan to come next year! La Crosse is becoming a food city, too. The farms surrounding us keep our restaurants well stocked with great ingredients.

As we continue to built and refine the grounds around the Castle, we are learning so much! Finding your passion is important. Live a full life, chase your dreams and find your passion. We have a dear friend that is very passionate about Opera. I’m not a huge opera fan, I’ve been to a few. He has traveled the world to see huge performances as well as the tiny, out of the way opera company that is performing something he would love to see. It’s been a great adventure and for us, a great way to hear about all of these places. Another friend is very passionate about art, another about finding food from as many different places as possible. Several guests are planning trips to see every National Park, that’s a fun one. Finding and chasing your passion is time well spent! It can help you see more of the World. It can keep travel and exploring a little more part of your plans. I think that is a good thing! We have many passions, but overshadowing most of them is our love of travel, plus our new-found love of gardening. I’ve always been one to dig in the dirt and get filthy, which is a little of a surprise. Now we are pouring through our growing collection of garden books, planning trips that include a garden tour on some grand estate or just a walk through a local arboretum. Whatever your passion, see how it changes your travel plans, let it take over a bit, see where the road takes you! We recently had some very nice guests that loved to play Bridge. We had a card game going in the house for a few days, which was different and really nice! They plan their trips around their favorite card game, making sure wherever they stay has a place for them to play. So see, it can be most anything. Find yours, then let us know, we would love to hear what you have discovered! Safe Travels, see you soon.