WHERE EAGLES SOAR - WABASHA, MN

DAY 1
Empire Builder to Winona.
Our weekend celebrating the wonder migrating eagles begins with pickup at your home.  At Chicago Union Station, board Amtrak’s Empire Builder double-decker Superliner for a mid-afternoon departure.  Relax in a wide, reclining coach seat for the six-hour ride to Winona, MN.  Or walk car-to-car to the Sightseer Lounge with its picture window views of Milwaukee and the Wisconsin countryside.  Downstairs in the Lounge, the Café sell sandwiches, snacks and beverages.  Or, enjoy dinner in the diner, a rolling restaurant with and ever-changing views.  After the train’s mid-evening arrival at Winona, MN, board the waiting motorcoach for the ride to The Plaza Hotel.  With its crystal chandeliers, grand staircase and warm stone fireplace, The Plaza in Winona welcomes us for two nights. The indoor pool, sauna and whirlpool offer a place to unwind if you bring your bathing suit.

DAY 2

National Eagle Center Soar With The Eagles Celebration. 
Each spring, migrating bald and golden eagles converge along the wide stretches of the Mississippi River at Wabasha, MN.  After breakfast on your own at The Plaza, we board the motorcoach for the 25-mile ride to Wabasha.  Here at “America’s Eagle Education Destination,” the Soar With The Eagles Celebration is in progress.  Go “nose to beak” with eagles rescued from across North America.  See exhibits on eagle habits and habitats.  Talk with naturalists and eagle handlers.  Learn the importance of eagles to the environment and in Native American cultures.  Ask questions and pose for pictures with the Center’s resident bald eagles.  Look for soaring and feeding eagles from the Center’s observation decks.  Lunch is included today.  Afterwards, a naturalist joins us on the motorcoach for a narrated tour of eagle habitats.  Look for eagles flying and searching for food.  Back in Winona, we find food at Signatures Restaurant before returning to The Plaza Hotel.(L,D)

DAY 3
Homeward Bound.
After breakfast at The Plaza, we transfer to the Amtrak station for the late morning departure of the southbound Empire Builder. The scheduled six-hour ride is all daylight starting on the west bank then crossing the Mississippi River at La Crosse.  Relax and watch the receding winter snows on the Wisconsin bare forests, frozen fields and small towns.  After passing through Milwaukee and the north suburbs, we return to Union Station and awaiting transfers home.(B)

Amtrak's Empire Builder Superliner	Plaza Hotel - Winona	National Eagle Center