On day 90 of “The Ultimate USA Road Trip” we drive in Minnesota from Minneapolis to Grand Rapids. We drive on beautiful provincial roads through green Minnesota. We drive on Scenic Byways with beautiful stops along the route.

In Minneapolis you can visit the Mill City Museum. The museum doesn't open until 10am, so you'll need to adjust your departure time and schedule for the rest of the day accordingly. It is a museum of the American Minnesota Historical Society that opened in 2003, built in the ruins of the Washburn "A" Mill next to Mill Ruins Park on the banks of the Mississippi River. The museum focuses on the founding and growth of Minneapolis, especially the flour milling and the other industries that used water power from Saint Anthony Falls. The mill complexes, dating to the 1870s, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The museum features exhibits on Minneapolis history, flour milling machinery, a water laboratory, and a baking laboratory. The centerpiece of the exhibition is the multi-story Flour Tower, where visitors sit in the cab of a freight elevator and are taken to different floors of the building, each designed to look like a floor in a working grist mill. Voices of people who worked at the Washburn A Mill can be heard throughout the show. Visitors go to the 8th floor, where existing equipment is interpreted by staff, and then are led to the 9th floor observation deck to view St. Anthony Falls.
The work of local artists can be seen throughout the building. Works by JoAnn Verburg, Tom Maakestad, Kim Lawler, Kathleen Richert, Paul Wrench and Becky Schurmann include murals, an art glass collage, a 4.6 m Bisquick box and sculpture.

Before we leave the city we stop briefly at the “St Anthony Falls and Stone Arch Bridge” Park. Here you have a beautiful view of the “St. Anthony Falls” and the “Stone Arch Bridge”. This is the only natural major waterfall on the Mississippi River. The “Stone Arch Bridge” is a former railroad bridge over the Mississippi River and the only stone arch bridge over the entire Mississippi River. It is the second oldest bridge over the river, next to the Eads Bridge. You can take beautiful photos here.

In Blaine we stop briefly to score a Poker Chip at Twin Cities Harley-Davidson, then drive north to Mora where we take a short break. We pass many lakes and at the town of Onamia we take the “Mille Lacs Scenic Byway”, a 68 mile (110 km) long road that runs around the Mille Lacs Lake, along the route you can enjoy the natural beauty and rich history of Ojibwe and Native American culture, such as at the “Mille Lacs Indian Museum and Trading Post”, where you can experience the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe through exhibitions, demonstrations and the “Four Seasons Room”, in which life-size dioramas depict the early portraying Ojibwe lifestyle. The adjacent 1930s trading post has been fully restored and offers locally made crafts and related merchandise. Along the Byway there are multiple recreational opportunities, charming towns and cities, an abundance of wildlife and plenty of northern hospitality. So you can optionally plan an extra day around the lake.

The next section of the route is another section of the “Great River Road,” a network of roads that follow the course of the Mississippi River through ten states, offering a plethora of river stories and experiences in a park-like setting. This section is part of Minnesota's Great River Road, which totals 565 miles (909km) and includes 43 communities, 20 counties, three tribes, and six unique zoning districts. It provides public access to and promotes exploration of America's Great River, benefiting residents, businesses and tourists alike.

Today we drive approximately 50 miles (80km) of “Great River Road”, which also passes through the “Savanna State Forest”. Covering more than 238,000 acres, this natural area is bisected by the Upper Mississippi River and contains Savanna Portage State Park, which maintains a historic trade route connecting the Mississippi River to the headwaters of the Saint Lawrence River basin. The forest is home to white-tailed deer, grouse, waterfowl, songbirds and many other species. The most popular fish species in Big Sandy Lake and other forest lakes are bass, panfish, walleye and northern pike.

The end of this day is in Grand Rapids, the birthplace of actress, dancer and singer Judy Garland. In the town you can visit the Judy Garland Museum and her parental home. Judy Garland became famous for her role as Dorothy Gale in the Wizard of Oz. She was one of the great stars of the American musical film era, with her first big hit being The Wizard of Oz. She performed as a singer and released a series of records, and she had a television show. When she became famous, her film company gave her drugs to maximize production, which resulted in lifelong problems and ultimately her untimely death. The museum features an eclectic Judy Garland and Wizard of Oz collection, Judy's restored 1920s birthplace, and the Children's Discovery Museum. The museum houses exhibits and artifacts, including the original carriage from "The Wizard of Oz," a Dorothy Gale dress worn by Judy Garland, and many personal Judy Garland items collected over the past 40 years. Discover the Grand Rapids area's restaurants, breweries, distilleries, cideries, coffeehouses and bars.