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.

The Final Countdown

Tomorrow, we go to Minneapolis. Pandi goes to Dr Lizardo's. I will miss her, and I understand why people bring their pets on vacation, but she needs some medical treatment as well. So off to
Beach Blvd Animal Hospital for her.

Anyway, back to what I wore last week:

This is a hunter green wool jacket from Tahari that my MIL gave me. It has matching slacks, but I wore it with ivory Ann taylor pants.

Underneath, a navy and hunter green paisley satin top with smocking at the empire waist and sleeves.

I wore a bunch of emerald jewelry, along with my CDC>

On Tuesday, my new Michael Kors knit top. I wore elastic waist old lady pants.

I felt like I was wearing pajamas all day - it was great.

Here's a close up of the top - it has grommets around the neck that the chain goes through. The aglets have the logo on them. It also has two little cold shoulder slits that you can't see. My chain belt is vintage.

On Thursday, a very old, but super flattering dress. It has ruching on the side.

I wore my tricolor Guess Maryjanes - they don't get much action.

My garnet blossom necklace made an appearance.

On my left arm, a white gold solitaire and a ruby/diamond band. Also, a triple strand garnet bracelet that was my mom's.

On my right arm, a fire opal/diamond ring, and a triple strand garnet/opal bracelet.

On Friday, I did a little pattern mixing. I wasn't sure about this combo, but I got quuite a few compliments, even from Doc.

The skirt is Ann Taylor. The top is from Goodwill.

Here's a better look at the patterns. They have the same colors.

And my black plastic waterfall necklace along with my Versace belt.

Today, I am wearing an outfit that I have had forever, but never wore for some reason. It's from Stein Mart.

Here's a look at the rick rack on the sweater and the embroidery on the skirt. Very matchy matchy.

For such a busy outfit, I wore a large amethyst necklace.

On my left arm, my yellow gold wedding set and two amethyst bracelets.

On my right arm, an amethyst ring from Doc, and two more bracelets.

 

Well, stay tuned for Minneapolis!!!

One Month Down

Two more to go before our department gets additional staffing. Everyone is having babies, which is nice. So the old bag works harder to help out. But I don't get much downtime. I only got to go on one walk last week. But here is what I wore:

On Tuesday, I wore a pair of Express slacks - they are navy pinstripe with a wide brocade waistband.
I wore them with a heathered blue T shirt. Over that, I wore a black satin puff sleeve swing jacket.

Here is a blurry close up of the brocade waistband. And ma belleh.

I wore two necklaces - the longer one is silver herringbone and the shorter one is costume smoke crystals

On Wednesday, I wore a very Palm Beachy outfit. It is a pair of black, hot pink and red floral pants. On top, my new cold shoulder top from Ann Taylor. This was very comfy.

I wore two necklaces - the longer one is a beaded lariat. The shorter one is costume Givenchy.

On my right arm, a garnet/diamond ring, a ruby bracelet, and an Italian gold bracelet.

On my right arm, a ruby/diamond ring and a garnet Claddagh bracelet.

Here is the completed wall of dogs. Pandi's new needlepoint is now displayed.

On Wednesday night, I got my hair cut. She did a great job. I got a long bob, slightly longer in front. My hair is curly anyway, so the messy beach look is natural for me. It goes in and out of style. My hair looks much better after being pruned by the talented Nancy at Supercuts in HB on Beach Blvd. I have finally realized that I am so old that I benefit from professional treatment.

I wore a great outfit - tweed flare slacks with a copper sequin waistband and an ivory T shirt with a gunmetal metallic front. On top, my rust satin Emanuel Ungaro blazer.

Another day, another lariat. This time, I wore the darker one as a choker, and a longer spaced stone costume piece.

On my left arm, a crystal and leather cuff, an X ring, and a black/white ring.

On my right arm, a costume ring from Banana Republic in Baltimore , like the bracelet. Also a costume cuff from INC.

On Friday, June 1, I wore a sheath dress from Weekend something or another. It was a local company based in Irvine, where I used to work long ago. I got a lot of cool casual stuff from their warehouse sales.

It is very slinky and swishy in real life, and has wooden buttons up the back. It looks dumpy here. It's not. I wore my trusty back plastic waterfall necklace.

On my left arm, a black leather cuff, and the X ring and black/white diamond ring.

On my right arm, my Hermes CDC and a citrine ring.

Well, tomorrow I start a five day week. Minneapolis the week after - keep in touch.