Meet Us

Welcome to MidwestWeekends! I'm Beth Gauper, and for 16 years, I've written about vacation travel in the Upper Midwest.

I'll tell you where to find the best places to stay and eat and the festivals you should be sure to catch. I'll tell you where to shop and where to take the kids. If you like to hike and bike and paddle, I know the best places to go.

You can read stories about your favorite destinations or skip to the Trip Tips, where I give you a choice of the best places to stay and things to do.

If you don't know where you want to go, visit the Plan a Trip page to get ideas. Our home page is where you'll find the most timely stories, including This Weekend, a round-up of the region's best festivals and events.

If you want to run out the door right now, take a look at the FastPlans, quick itineraries with links to longer stories.

We're adding and updating every day so you can have the best and most up-to-date information about travel in the Upper Midwest.

You should know that this is not an ordinary travel publication. We have no ties to any tourism bureau or business. When I point you toward a place, it's because I think you'll like it, not because someone gave me a free trip or is paying me to plug it. And I don't just rewrite information gleaned from brochures or the Internet: If I recommend a place, it's because I've been there and seen it myself.

Travel writing in magazines and newspapers today mostly is the work of free-lancers who are in the service of whoever will give them a free trip. Some free-lance writers actually are PR professionals who plug their clients in stories.

It doesn't work that way at MidwestWeekends.com. We have advertising, but it doesn't affect content. And we accept it only from businesses that we know or believe to be good ones.

It's not easy or cheap to take the high road in travel writing. I'm lucky because I got to know the Upper Midwest while writing weekly travel columns for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, a very fine newspaper that paid my salary and expenses for 13 years.

Now I'm exploring on my own, still providing unvarnished opinions and tips. I hope you'll find value in the work we're doing. If you like the places I recommend, please tell the owners that MidwestWeekends sent you.

It took another kind of travel expert to build this site. The man behind the screen is Torsten Müller, my husband and a fantastic programmer. He also contributes photos he takes on our trips. We live in Minneapolis.

The third member of our team is Ron Ramirez, who designs our beautiful ads. His Eagan, Minn., firm RBR Design specializes in logos and branding.

And in northern Minnesota lakes country, Mary and John Zesbaugh of Pine River are in charge of our golf coverage. I like golf, but Mary and John LOVE golf, and it shows in their enthusiastic stories.

Thanks for stopping by MidwestWeekends. Check back weekly, or sign up for our free newsletter and have the week's tips and stories delivered to you.

If you like what you see here, please tell a friend about us. And we're always happy to receive ideas and comments. Please use the contact form to write us.