Sussex and Kent, long known as the “Garden of England,” are landscapes shaped by fertile soil, rolling valleys, and a life lived close to the water. Across the Atlantic, the Mississippi River Country shares that same deep bond with the land and its river, the farms, orchards, and communities nourished by its endless flow.
The Muddy, the Mighty, call it what you will, the Mississippi has always carried more than just water. It has carried culture, too. From the birth of the blues along its banks to the timeless folk songs that echo through English pubs and villages, music has been the common language of river people on both sides of the ocean. The Mississippi river is immortalised by many a song, film and book, from Gone with the Wind and Mississippi Burning to Tina Turner’s Proud Mary and Johnny Cash’s Big River to the inspired literary works of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “Adventures of Tom Sawyer”. Itremains the great artery of America—ten states bound together by its winding course from Minnesota, flowing south to the Gulf of Mexico. It attracts tourism on steamboats and barges, a landscape of tumbling waterfalls, neck-creaking bluffs towering over winding rivers through valley and prairies.
The Great River Road is a National Scenic Byway which showcases scenic, historical, natural and cultural elements along the Mississippi River County. Each state has its own segment with Illinois having the longest at 550 miles. I traced the route through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois.
Minnesota tops the score for the highest number of miles of the Mississippi River. The state also boasts more than 10,000 lakes, islands, bays, beaches and rapids many of which are named after the Chippewa or Dakota Indian tribes of the area. Minnehaha Park is one of the oldest parks in an urban setting with a wilderness waterfall overlooking the Mississippi River. The state capital, St. Paul, and neighbouring Minneapolis make up the Twin Cities which are divided by the Mississippi River. Minneapolis is home to the cultural landmarks of the Walker Art Center, a contemporary art museum, and the Sculpture Garden, famed for Claes Oldenburg’s “Spoonbridge and Cherry” sculpture.
Just south of the city in Bloomington is The Mall of America, the US’s largest shopping and entertainment hub, close to the airport. It’s home to over 500 stores, 60 restaurants, seven acres of theme park with 30 rides and an aquarium over four levels and is free to enter. The “Flyover America” experience is impressive as is the zero tax on clothing and shoes. Attention has been invested into sustainability with skylights to regulate temperature and 30,000 living plants for purifying the air. Minneapolis was the home of Prince and is remembered in murals decorating downtown and his studio. A musical of Purple Rain will head to Broadway in 2026. Music row also features the Andrews Sisters and Bob Dylan.
Minnesota’s Bluff County is where the mighty river carved its widest and sharpest turn to house Red Wing, a town named after Chief Red Wing. In 1957, it became a corridor for commerce and today a quaint town with character as the trolley tours provide a narrated guide of the town. The 1877 pottery museum displays stoneware through the years made by the indigenous people. Wabasha is the oldest town in the state, home to the National Eagle Centre and the film location of Grumpy Old Men. When passing through Winona, the neighbourhood Bloedow Bakery found fame when it managed to chase out a major competitor to become the top bakery in the US. Why not stop by for an American-style donut?
The drive passed through scenic areas in Driftless Wisconsin, a region of rugged landscapes where glaciers avoided the area, allowing streams and rivers, small towns, and Amish farms to flourish. America’s famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, made his home for 50 years here in Taliesin Estate in Spring Green, where his living architectural masterpiece is now a national historic landmark and UNESCO heritage site of 800 acres. It is here where he designed the Guggenheim Museum in NYC, his famous work, and Falling Water in Pennsylvania. Madison the capital and a University City, sits on an isthmus between two lakes.
The historic State Capitol Building features one of the largest granite domes in the world. The building is a replica of Washington with a statue on the top facing in its direction. It is open to the public with regular guided tours. Opposite is an authentic cheese deli promoting local cheese makers over the last 17 years. Fromaination, a popular deli offers cheese tastings. Ewed be Amazed and Pleasant Ridge Reserve are award-winning cheeses make in Wisconsin. Relax on the sunflower chairs by the riverfront on Lake Mendota on Memorial Union Terrace, a popular lakefront destination with its energetic vibe and regular event scene.
The state is renowned for the windy city of Chicago and the historic Route 66. Galena is nestled in the hills of northwest Illinois and is celebrated as the third most visited place in the state after Chicago and Springfield. A guided classic red trolley tour through the historic streets will highlight that a large percent of the town is on the National Register of Historic Places; the 1855 DeSoto house, the oldest operating hotel in the state, Grants Park and Home, named after the 18th president, Ulysses S. Grant, who lived here. The Belvedere Mansion & Gardens, owned by a river boat captain, and where the green drapes from “Gone with the Wind” are displayed is the most visited Italianate mansion in town. Galena became a bustling town in the early 1800s with the discovery of lead. Mining became its first industry.
Situated on the Galena River, just a short distance from the Mississippi River, Galena was the largest port between St. Louis, Missouri and St. Paul, Minnesota by the mid-1880s. The town is also the start of Illinois’ Great River Road along the Mississippi River. Moline is the only place where the river flows east to west and a location to step aboard the 750 passenger riverboat, the Celebration Belle, for a sightseeing or themed cruise, a fitting finale to my journey following the Mississippi, the mighty, the ole’man river with many a story, attraction and place to visit along the roads that follow its journey.
So, from the orchards and cliffs of Kent and Sussex to the river bluffs and bayous of the Mississippi, these places may sit oceans apart, but both are landscapes that have shaped stories, songs, and identities far beyond their borders. One nurtured Dickens, Kipling, and Woolf; the other gave rise to Twain, the blues, and the riverboat ballads. Each carries a sense of place so strong it travels—through books, films, and music—reminding us that rivers, downs, or coastlines can become more than geography. They become heritage.
Places to eat along the way:
Borough a Minneapolis neighbourhood restaurant with classic menu and small plates
Signatures Restaurant, a gourmet restaurant in Winona
Graze, opened by an award winning chef, Tory Miller, with views of the state Capitol in Madison. Fusion menu of Korean heritage.
Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse, Italian gourmet food and seafood in Moline
Crust Brewing Company in Rosemount
