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All eyes on Wabasha

Eagles are drawn to this Mississippi River town, along with flocks of binocular-toting visitors.

Along the Mississippi River, the fortunes of Wabasha have risen right along with the once-endangered bald eagle.

Eagles reappeared slowly after DDT was banned in 1972, and one of the first places they could be seen was in this Minnesota town, just downriver from the mouth of the Chippewa River, which kept water open in winter so eagles could fish.

The city built a deck downtown and staffed it with spotting scopes and volunteers from November through March. Then it started a makeshift eagle center behind an empty storefront. In 2007, it opened the National Eagle Center in a handsome brick building on the river banks.

Bald eagles now can be seen up and down the river. But Wabasha still is one of the best places to see them.

My friend Becky and I drove there one December, pulling off U.S. 61 just north of Wabasha at Camp Lacupolis. Instant success: Four bald eagles sat on a sand bar in the Mississippi, scanning the water for fish. A juvenile eagle perched in an oak tree, its brown head and tail blending with the branches. Nearby, a tangle of sticks marked the beginning of a nest.

Wabasha also is famous as the setting of the 1993 film  "Grumpy Old Men,'' which was apparent when we went to eat at Slippery's, the riverside restaurant where the only Wabasha scene was filmed. It was a "Grumpy’’ shrine, with two video monitors, movie posters and news clippings about the real Slippery and the 40-pound catfish who lived briefly in his minnow tank.

At Eagles on the River B&B, we watched the comedy about two eccentric ice fishermen. "Grumpy,’’ said Phyllis Kennebeck, who was filling in as innkeeper and once lived up the block from the screenwriter’s mother, does capture the town’s flavor.

"You can’t really point to one particular town character, but it’s pure Wabasha,’’ she said.

The city is the only one north of Winona that's not separated from the river by a highway or rail line. Along Main Street, the brick storefronts have changed little over the decades.

In winter, with its quiet streets, old-fashioned lampposts and still-operating Gambles store, it looks like another movie setting: Bedford Falls of Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life.''

That December day was unseasonably warm, so we drove up the bluffs to the Kruger Trail in Dorer Memorial State Hardwood Forest. From a campground thick with red pines, we hiked a mile to an overlook with a spectacular view of the Zumbro River, winding into the horizon with so many oxbow loops it looked like a piece of ribbon candy.

Then we drove back to U.S. 61, on the way spotting eight deer gamboling on a Zumbro sandbar. We turned right onto LARK Lane, which leads to other wildlife — the fantastical figures of a hand-carved carousel, the centerpiece of a little complex of shops on the hill.

Donn Kreofsky — LARK stands for Lost Arts Revival by Kreofsky — designed all 26 of the carousel's basswood beasts.  There's  a pop-eyed goldfish and a giraffe with orangutans dangling from its neck. A river otter wears a string of freshwater-clam shells, representing the button industry that once flourished on Lake Pepin.

When former Gov. Jesse Ventura visited, he rode the carousel's Celestial Chariot and commented, "This is art, this real art.''

The same could be said of the old-fashioned wooden toys that Kreofsky began creating in 1983, in response to the plastic goods that fill most toy stores. LARK Toys sells wooden toys as well as books, gifts and the  reproductions of classic tin and wind-up toys — robots, speedboats, spaceships — that fill his popular Boomer Heaven shop.

Back in Wabasha, we found longtime eagle booster Mary Rivers at the deck with a spotting scope. Not only did we get to see the eagle on which her scope was trained, but we heard about her encounter with the late King Hussein of Jordan, his elegant wife Queen Noor and a convoy of Secret Service agents.

"Oh, it was so cool, oh, my God,’’ Rivers said. "We couldn’t find any eagles here; usually we can, and I was a nervous wreck. So they stuck me in a car and we went up past Reads Landing. Queen Noor was really nice. She said, 'I’m the honorary chairman of Bird Life International, but I don’t know much about birds.’ I said, 'Well, you’re starting with the right ones. They’re big, easy to see and you can work your way down to the little bitty ones.’ ’’

These days, anyone who can't find eagles roosting in nearby trees can see them close-up at the National Eagle Center, where three bald eagles and a golden eagle live.

Volunteers give programs every day and offer to pose the eagles with visitors. When I was there soon after its opening, Pat Daddario took  Columbia for one of the daily feeding programs. She wasn't hungry, though.

As he talked about eagle habits, Columbia flapped her wings and tried to break loose from his arm, and we instantly realized where the terms "spread eagle" and "feathers were flying" originated.

"Now, you see why I told you not to sit in the front row," Daddario said to his audience of nine. "This is about eight people too many for Columbia."

Again, she tried to break loose, emitting the high-pitched squawk that seems so incongruous for such an intimidating bird.

"It's like holding onto a 10-pound yo-yo," remarked one onlooker.

"With rockets on it," said another.

Columbia is the youngest bald eagle. All four eagles were injured and are unable to survive on their own.

The center's exhibits also include a multimedia object theater devoted to the Wapasha line of Dakota chiefs and a floor depiction of the Mississippi River flyway. The side facing the river is floor-to-ceiling glass, allowing visitors to watch for eagles inside on subzero days.

Tonier businesses have sprung up downtown; there's a kimono gallery, an espresso shop that sells gourmet chocolate and two sophisticated restaurants, The Old Ways and Vinifera, which sells fine wine in its adjoining market. On the riverfront, condos have replaced the Big Jo flour mill.

Eagles and tourists have come to Wabasha, but it’s still the sedate old town it’s always been.

"They didn’t mall it up,’’ says Phyllis Kennebeck. "It’s sort of a pokier community, but that’s the beauty of it.’’

Trip Tips: Wabasha

Getting there: It’s an hour north of La Crosse and two hours south of the Twin Cities.

Eagle-watching: From November through March, volunteers man spotting scopes on the EagleWatch observation deck outside the National Eagle Center 1-3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

The most reliable place to see eagles is between Camp Lacupolis and Wabasha; the DNR lists good sites. For general eagle-watching tips, see Where eagles land. Below the dam in Alma, Wis., across the river from Wabasha, also is a good place in winter; see Open sesame on the sloughs.

National Eagle Center: It's open daily. Admission is $6, $4 for children 4-17. Check for special programs and feeding schedule. Donald, the golden eagle, is newest; Harriet, Angel and Columbia are the bald eagles. 651-565-4989 or 877-332-4537.

Accommodations: Eagles on the River B&B,  on the river just south of downtown, has picture windows for eagle-spotting. The lower level is devoted to guests and includes a game room, fireplace and VCR with a movie library, including the "Grumpy Old Men" movies. Two rooms, one with a king bed and mirrored double whirlpool. 800-684-6813.

Eagles on the River also rents condos and the Lofts of Wabasha in renovated buildings downtown. The attractive Grumpy Old Men suites have kitchens, gas fireplaces and double  whirlpools. 800-482-8188.

Bridgewaters B&B, on Bridge Avenue just off Main Street, has six rooms. One has twin beds and adjoins a room with a double whirlpool. 651-565-4208.

River Nest B&B in Reads Landing has river views. Two two-room suites have gas fireplaces and whirlpools, 651-560-4077.

Dining: In the shadow of the bridge, Vinifera serves small plates of Mediterranean comfort food with bottles of wine guests can pick out themselves at the on-site shop.

Also on Main Street, Fresh Wok serves generous amounts of Chinese food, and Flour Mill Pizzeria has good pizza and a deck that overlooks the river.

Slippery's is right on the water at the far end of Main Street and has good burgers.

2009 events: Feb. 28, Grumpy Old Men Festival. March weekends, Soar With Eagles festival. July 24-25, Riverboat Days.

Shopping: On Main Street, Wind Whisper West sells kimonos that people display as art. In Kellogg, LARK Toys sells toys, gifts and rides on the carousel. It's six miles south of Wabasha on U.S. 61; watch for the sign that marks the turnoff. 

Kruger Trail: In the Mississippi River Valley bluffs of southeast Minnesota, R.J. Dorer Memorial Hardwood State Forest has two- and five-mile loops, each with overlooks of the oxbow loops of the Zumbro River. Head south of Wabasha to Minnesota 60, then drive four miles to County Road 81.

Information: Wabasha tourism, 800-565-4158. 

Last updated on July 9, 2009