Minneapolis Community Education

Join us as we explore holiday ethnic treasures with Dave Bredemus!

We will tour the Mayowood Mansion in Rochester, Minnesota, with its English Style architecture and themed Christmas Tour. Historical stories from the Mayo holiday family traditions will be experienced. Stories and decorations from the 1900s through the mid century years at Mayowood will be presented by local guides. 

Decorah, Iowa, located in the Driftless Region and settled by Norwegian immigrants will be our homebase for this tour. The city will be decked out for the Christmas season for us to enjoy. We will stay at the Historic Hotel Winneshiek situated in the heart of Decorah, Iowa, and is located in a thriving downtown full of local shops, galleries and unique holiday attractions, which we will have time to visit. We will also have a private tour of the Vesterheim Norwegian Immigration Museum which will have some special holiday displays for us to enjoy along with the museum itself. 

An evening tour to Spillville, Iowa, is planned. This historic Czech town with his historic church called Saint Wenceslas will be a unique visit at night. We will learn about world famous composer Anton Dvořák’s visit to Spillville and the time he spent in 1893 at the church of Saint Wenceslas. We will tour Saint Wenceslas and hear local musicians play Christmas carols on the 1873 church organ, on which Dvořák played during his visit. We will end our evening in Spillville with kolache’s made from local Czech bakers.

On day two, we will tour the city of Decorah, seeing historic neighborhoods, homes and parks. The bus tour of Decorah will also take us to the winter waterfall and ice cave in Decorah and see Decorah’s bald eagles, plus other historic sites in town.  On the trip home, we will tour Preston, Minnesota, and have lunch at one of the favorite restaurants in Southern Minnesota, the Branding Iron. Time permitting, our last stop on our two-day tour will be in Chatfield, Minnesota, to tour the Prairie/Carnegie Library.

All adults 21+ are welcome to join the tour!

Price includes: Coach Bus Transportation, 1 Night Lodging at Historic Winneshiek Hotel, Breakfast, 1 Lunch, 1 Dinner, Vesterheim & Mayowood Tours, Organ Concert. Koloches and other scheduled admissions.

NOTE: Meals on your own - 1 lunch

First Pick-Up Location: Lake Harriet United Methodist Church - 4901 Chowen Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55410

- 7:15 am Board Coach Bus

- 7:30 am Bus Departs

Second Pick-Up Location: West 7th Community Center - 265 Oneida St, St Paul, MN 55102

- 8:00 am

@ Return:  5:00 West 7th Community Center and 5:30 pm Lake Harriet United Methodist Church

Deposit of $100 due with registration.

NOTE: Final payment due Oct 9th.

Final Payment Due: 60 Days Prior to Departure

Overnight Tour Cancelation Policy:

• - 60 Days Prior to Departure: 100% Refund of Trip Fee less $5 Processing Fee
• - 59-45 Days Prior to Departure: 90% Refund of Trip Fee OR $50 admin fee if we can fill your spot (or if you find someone to fill your spot)
• - 44-16 Days Prior to Departure: 50% of Trip Fee OR $100 admin fee if we can fill your spot (or if you find someone to fill your spot)
• - 14 Days or Less: We will work to get you a return for some recoverable costs. This will vary by tour and date of cancelation. No guarantees.

If tour is sold out, please enroll for the waitlist. We will contact you if a space becomes available.