Tour de Force

Historic St. Paul: The Summit of Elegance

St. Paul’s history has more to offer than gangsters. This tour offers a look at more refined aspects of the city’s past along Summit Avenue, which has been called the best- preserved Victorian boulevard in America.

The tour includes a look at a St. Paul home of F. Scott Fitzgerald, and continues on to the James J. Hill House, which the railroad baron built to accommodate his 10 children. “It’s considered the granddaddy of all the Victorian residences on Summit Avenue—it’s among the oldest and largest,” says Larry Shiller, owner and president of DayTours & CreativEvents in Shoreview, the company that operates the tour. Participants tour the house, which is run by the Minnesota Historical Society.

Visitors then move to another grand residence: the Alexander Ramsey House, in Irvine Park. Ramsey was the area’s first territorial governor, and his home is restored and furnished “with many original family pieces,” Shiller says, “so it appears as it did more than a century ago.” The house is also run by the Minnesota Historical Society, whose guides wear period costumes. Finally, Shiller says, tour participants walk across Irvine Park to have lunch at Forepaugh’s, a restaurant in a restored mansion.

The tour can incorporate other stops as well. “We can help arrange whatever people are looking for,” Shiller says. Tours require at least 15 people and cost between $20 and $65 per person, depending on the itinerary, whether the trip is specifically designed for the group, and the cost of food and admission fees.

DayTours & CreativEvents    651-481-1581

Stillwater

The charm of the area isn’t all concentrated in Minneapolis and St. Paul, which a trip to Stillwater and a little antique browsing will make clear.

MetroConnections, based in Minneapolis, organizes Stillwater tours customized to fit the interests of any group, says company president and CEO Sam Thompson. Trips cost $20 to $75 per person.