Midwinter Mineral Point Getaway
Mineral Point Hotel
Brewery Pottery Barn
Mineral Point Hotel
Mineral Point Midwinter Getaway
Go ahead and pack an overnight bag. Mineral Point, Wisconsin, is a nearby destination with plenty to do. Or come along with us!
For starters, we suggest scheduling your room at the Mineral Point Hotel. There are five guest rooms, all with great beds; a few rooms have claw-foot tubs for a long soak, and my favorite room has a reading nook.
The two-story hotel, built in 1857, has a stone foundation and was once a steam flour mill. Upon entering the hotel, you’ll be impressed with its upkeep and attention to 19th-century style. We love that it’s conveniently located in town. Once we check in, we park the car and enjoy walking.
We usually stay in Mineral Point when we discover a band we’d like to see at the Mineral Point Opera House. Recently, we had tickets to see the People’s Brothers Band, an energetic 8-piece soul, funk, and R&B group. We enjoy sitting in the box seats where we have a bird’s-eye view of the stage.
In addition to the Opera House, we also like to visit a few other places when we first arrive in town. Brewery Pottery is our anticipated first stop. The store is located in an old 1850s limestone brewery. Tom and Diane Johnston, with their daughter Claire, live upstairs and make all the pottery you’ll see.
On our most recent visit, on a below-zero winter Saturday, Diane, who’s working with clay downstairs, tells us how their furnace went out the night before. Luckily, they found someone who came right over to fix it. Once you see how enormous their place is and hear them tell you about all their wood stoves, you’ll get a better idea of what they were up against.
Every time we pull up to Brewery Pottery, one of us comments on the building. It seems so gigantic, and we’d love to get a tour of all the nooks and crannies someday. Be prepared to spend an hour or two as you mosey through the store looking at one-of-a-kind art, jewelry, and paintings, as well as their lovely pottery!
Because we like walking and art, we like to visit the Board Shoppe, Longbranch Gallery, and the Little Elk Art Gallery. On our most recent visit, we talked to Longbranch’s owner, Sandy Scott, about an artist’s work that we’re familiar with from the Driftless Art Fair, Jamie Heiden. Although we’re tempted, we don’t end up walking out with one of her new prints this time.
Before heading back to the motel, we walk up hill to Republic of Letters and spend an hour looking through their new and used books.
Back at the hotel, we climb the stairs to our room, hop up on the king-sized bed, sink in, and try to nap. It’s already been a full day, and we’re both bushed. But when we can’t settle (having just learned of Alex Pretti’s death in Minneapolis), we decide to get out our blue velvet pouch of Rummikub and play our traditional two-out-of-three matches.
The room’s windows overlook the town, and the room has darkened, signaling it’s time to get cleaned up and head over to Popolo for dinner. Once bundled up, we hop across the street and get seated immediately. Although Popolo is known for its wood-fired pizzas, we have yet to try one. Dane enjoys their classic lasagna, while I like the cheese tortellini. We both get salads that are generous enough to split!
The band will start at 7 p.m., so we slip back into our winter jackets and hike up High Street to the theater. Once inside, we head up the stairs to our box seats and get comfortable for the show.
A highlight of these quick midwinter getaway trips is walking back to the hotel after the show. There’s the hustle and bustle of people spilling out of the warm Opera House, excited after a show, the lights and otherwise quaint charm of Mineral Point’s historic downtown, and it’s all downhill to the hotel.
Dane punches in the door code, and we’re quickly enveloped by the warmth of the hotel. We wander over to the “breakfast” nook, where a coffee maker and a good assortment of tea are always ready, along with boxes of delicious croissants and Danishes to choose from.
In the morning, we take one more short walk back up the hill on High Street to our favorite breakfast spot, Café 43, housed in a large brownstone building. Both of us order the Miner’s Breakfast—Dane’s with eggs scrambled, mine over easy—and we grab a table next to the fireplace. We love the ripe, fresh berries and fruit that accompany our meal.
To finish off our weekend, we pack up and head over to Arcadia in Spring Green. Any weekend is better with a trip to this well-stocked independent bookstore.
Safe travels!