Minnesota Misadventures

We were in Minneapolis last week, so that I could attend my professional conference and get some Continuing Education Credits. We flew out on Tuesday, June 12th. We stayed at the City Center Marriott. Here is the view from our 14th story room:

Lots and lots of old brick buildings, which is definitely different than good old earthquake-ridden So Cal !!

We also saw many beautiful, dramatic sunsets. I would sit by the window and look out.

It was 6PM by the time we got there, due to the time difference. The first order of business was dinner. We went to Fire Lake Grill. I had an Old Fashioned cocktail - rye, vermouth and sour cherries.

Then we shared a goat cheese and heirloom beet salad.

Doc had a whole pan fried trout. It had spring veggies under the fish.

I had meatballs made of duck, pork and beef. They were delicious !!

After dinner, we went for a walk. It stayed light until almost 9 PM. We met some nice ladies from Minnesota as we were passing the famous Mary Tyler Moore statue.

On Wednesday, the conference began. The plenary speakers were great, especially Dr Peter Hotez, who addressed the very dangerous anti-vaccination movement.

To get to the conference, I had to walk about 15 minutes down Nicolett Mall, a mostly pedestrian thoroughfare. Every day I passed the Westminster Presbyterian Church.

It is a combination of a new, modern assembly hall, and an old, stately church.

Here I am, on the steps of the church.

Friday was Eid Mubarak. There are over 100,000 Somalians in Minnesota, and most of them are Muslim. We saw them in their finest robes, all heading to a big gathering in a neighboring hall.

This gives you an idea of how big the church is.

Here is the nave of the church.

Here is the gigantic organ.

Here is the rose window from the inside. There were two of them, one on each side of the nave.

Here is a look upwards at the cupola.

On Wednesday night, we went to a sponsored happy hour, so no pictures. On Thursday night, we went to an Irish pub. On the way back, we passed by the First Avenue nightclub.

This was Prince's home club for many years. It has seen many famous acts......

And the Godfather of Soul - Give It To Me !!!

Saturday was adventure day !!! I went on my favorite - the corny air conditioned luxury bus tour !! We went over the mighty Mississippi to St Paul, the other Twin City.

It rained that day, basically until about 2 or 3 PM, but I was in the bus for most of that.

The center square was being remodeled. I was told that there is a lot of remodeling going on in the summer, since it snows all winter. This is the Landmark Center, which is now a theater for the performing arts.

This is the St Paul Hotel, one of the 100 Historic Hotels in the country.

Mickey's Dining Car is adjacent to the Children's Museum. It was moved in it's entirety, and plopped there.

This is the Capitol Building.

The golden statues on the rotunda are life sized. There are horses and a chariot.

This is the Cathedral of St Paul, a Roman Catholic Cathedral. It is enormous.

It has the standard Rose Window.

This is the Federal Building.

Then we went along Summit Avenue, where the largest group of Victorian homes in the United States is located.

This is the governor's mansion. There wasn't one for many years, until some wealthy family donated this house.

This is the house where F Scott Fitzgerald lived (in an apartment) while he was writing the Great Gatsby.

Then when he got published, he married Zelda and they moved to NYC at her request.

This beautifully maintained Victorian is used by Disney for many exterior shots.

Then we went to Minnehaha Falls Regional Park. According to the guide, it is never flowing this rapidly. They had snow in Minnesota up until 3 weeks ago.

Here's the punch bowl.

There were a lot of footbridges, and a seafood restaurant, nice for when you get tired of hiking.

Here is the statue inspired by Longfellow's "The Story of Hiawatha". The statue depicts Hiawatha holding Minnehaha in his arms.

Minnehaha means " Flowing (haha) Water (minne)."

Then we went up to the viewing platform at the Guthrie Theater. This is the Endless Bridge. This arched design is very popular in Minneapolis.

The viewing platform gives a wonderful panorama that overlooks the Mississippi. The river divides Minneapolis from St Paul.

The Gold Medal Flour mill has been gutted and converted into a venue. There was a farmer's market going on that day. The Twin cities were also the home of Pillsbury.

Some more looks at the spectacular vista.

After my tour, Doc wanted to go to an antique bookstore that he found. We walked over to it, about 10 minutes from our hotel. It was located in an old Appliance Parts store.

Pretty innocent looking from the outside, right?

The street level floor also looked like a typical used bookstore.

Then, the adventure really began. Doc asked the owner if he had any antique medical books. He said that he had a huge collection in the basement. We excitedly followed him like stupid puppies.

The owner led us down three flights of stairs.

Then we went through the first of a few locked doors.

He told us that the elevator wasn't working, and that you needed a key to get in, but not out.

When we got down to this catacomb-like lair, I whispered to Doc. I was wondering if this was when he was going to kill us and eat us.

He had on pink pants and no shoes, because his gout was acting up. He was in his seventies. I figured that between the two of us, we could take him.

Finally, we went through the last set of doors, seen at the end of this hallway.

There were books galore down there !!

Doc was in his element.

There were also lots of wrapping supplies.

Two other people actually came down to look while we were there. That made it a little less spooky.

In addition, he had quite the inventory of vinyl LPs.

Doc found one treasure, and the man gave us a nice cash discount, after he showed us a picture of himself with Mick Jagger at the store.

Here is Doc's treasure - a reproduction of a book from the 1880s.

Diseases of Infancy and Childhood.

When we emerged, alive, we went to the Loon Cafe for lunch. The loon is the state bird of Minnesota. This mural was across the street.

Bob Dylan was a Minnesota native, just like Prince.

While we were eating, this went by.

It holds 16 people, and you pedal as you drink beer. I guess it cancels out the carbs and calories.

And that's it for our Minnesota adventure. Stay tuned for more shenanigans from our next trip.

Oh, by the way, we were there for the all-exciting raccoon gate.

 She made it to the 23rd floor, then kicked back overnight. Once animal control set out some stinky cat food for her, she climbed up the last five floors and was rescued. They released her to the woods.

Such an innocent face. Under that, the heart of a devil.