40 Years of Wedded Bliss?

This past weekend Lorna and I spent a couple of days at a B & B in Lanesboro, Minnesota, population 788. If you recall Cicely, Alaska on the program Northern Exposure, you are pretty much are familiar with it, except it is also the hub of about a hundred miles of paved bicycle trails running through the wooded bottomlands following the trout streams (insert smiley icon here).

The main street of Lanesboro, Minnesota looks pretty much as it did when this was taken, except the cars are newer and one of buildings on the right side is missing, a victim of good love gone bad. About five years ago the village's only policeman set it on fire in a misguided attempt to impress the lady living upstairs with a daring rescue. It didn't work out exactly as he planned. Eventually he was sent away for a couple years to think about the folly of his actions. I understand he has chosen another field of employment.

In addition to some wonderful restaurants, beautiful Victorian B & Bs, and a boatload of quirky people, the following, lifted from Wiki, are various reasons to go... to see and be seen:

• Lanesboro received the Great American Main Street Award in 1998. Author John Villani named the community one of the 100 Best Small Art Towns in America. It has also been rated one of the 50 Best Outdoor Sports Towns by Sports Afield magazine.
• - Jewelry artists Liz Bucheit and Kary Kilmer of Crown Trout Jewelers were finalist in the 2002 International Gold Virtuosi Jewelry Design Competition. One of four American jewelry studios that were given the distinction from 5200 total world entries.
• Most recently, Outside Magazine featured the community "as one of the 20 Best Dream Towns in America."
• Since 1989, Lanesboro has been home to the Commonweal Theatre Company, a professional ensemble dedicated to celebrating the human condition through actor-based story-telling. Each year, the Commonweal offers 4-6 plays ranging from Ibsen to family-friendly entertainment to holiday classics. During the summer months, 2 plays run in repertory, providing visitors an opportunity to see two different shows during their stay in the area. The Commonweal, in cooperation with area businesses and organizations, hosts an annual Ibsen Festival celebrating Norwegian art and culture through workshops, lectures, food and featuring Commonweal's production of an Ibsen play. A live, one hour radio show, "Over the Back Fence," is broadcast each Sunday evening from the theatre during the summer months with tickets sold at the door. On July 7, 2007, the Commonweal opened a brand new theater facility, aptly named The Commonweal. This new $3.5 million home seats 191 patrons in a thrust auditorium with an exterior designed to complement historic Lanesboro.
• In 2008, the Governor of Minnesota declared Lanesboro as the Rhubarb Capitol of Minnesota. The first weekend in June Lanesboro hosts a Rhubarb Festival. In 2007, Garrison Keillor broadcast his Prairie Home Companion radio show from the softball field in Lanesboro and featured many stories and songs about rhubarb.