On our possibly second to last weekend before Trump again takes the reigns of America (oh good and merciful G-d, please do not let that be!), we took the train to Red Wing, MN.

Our interest in Red Wing begins with the majestic bluff viewed fleetingly from our countless train trips to and from St. Paul. It tightly hugs the Mississippi. Sometimes there is an eagle circling the summit. The town looks nice too although from the train it’s hard to get a grasp of what it offers.

So a friend from work dropped us off at the Glenview train depot (thanks Julie!) and in just six and a half hours we were stumbling about the deserted town with our backpacks heavy and our stomachs growling.

The first thing we learned about Red Wing is that the one kitchen in the town center closes before ten. So we trekked a bit to a not so great taqueria before making our way to our weekend home. Nice place, lousy bed and, from the Trump Vance sign out front, worse politics.

There ain’t no escaping the coming election. The west side of Red Wing has bigger homes with fresher paint. From the lawn signs it seems to be squarely on the side of democracy. The east side leading into the trail head is mostly MAGA world with just a few dashes of sanity thrown in between the giant blow up of a defiant mug shot and signs seemingly written for a kindergarten (“Trump Safety Kamala Crime”). And again, just like two weekends prior, the folks behind these signs, the ones who care about democracy and also the ones willing to watch it burn, are both equally nice.

It’s now a bit past noon and we are on the “commuter train” back to Chicago. It was another great weekend spent with my best friend in the whole wide world. Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Fozzie patiently waits for his train. Above the old and the new train stations.