 |
| Tonya, Ian and Anise, friends who used to live in Boulder, let us stay in their beautiful home in St. Paul for five nights. We had great fun reconnecting with them after six years. Although they are of an adolescent age, Ian and Anise did not act the part. We enjoyed many "adult" conversations with them and they seemed to enjoy having us around as well. Their dog, Nova, liked having us around, too. |
Sunday we wandered around the Minneapolis Scultpture Garden outside the Walker Art Center.
Tonya also took us to the Amtrak station where we booked tickets for the train to Montana. We were a little limited as to where we could get off because not every stop has a luggage service and we had to get our bikes off the train. We settled on East Glacier. We were able to get the cheapest sleeper and both bikes on the train leaving Thursday night for $679, including three meals, much cheaper than renting a car and much safer than hitchhiking. And we'd get to Glacier and the West Coast before winter.
That left us with four days to explore the Twin Cities on our own and take care of a few errands. Using our bikes for transportation worked out great as Minneapolis and St. Paul are very bike friendly, with many bike trails and bike lanes, letting cars know that, yes, bikes belong on the roads.
 |
| This bike trail took us from St. Paul to Minneapolis. |
Tonya, Anise, Ian, and Nova didn't join us after Sunday as they had their own schedules.
 |
| Monday we visited the conservatory in St. Paul's Como Park. |
Tuesday we biked to Minneapolis and wandered around the Mill Ruins Park where Gold Medal Flour had its mill. We also walked through the skyways that link all the buildings to one another. Tonya told us that it sometimes gets so cold that schools close and everyone stays inside. So the skyways work to keep people safe but I can't imagine they are good for street level shops and restaurants.
 |
| We also explored the Guthrie Theatre where we enjoyed views of the Mississippi River from the Endless Bridge, seen in this photo. |
 |
| The Stone Arch Bridge across the Mississippi, was built for the railroad and is now a pedestrian and bicycle bridge. It overlooks St. Anthony Falls which I didn't think was any big deal. But then, we'd just seen Niagara Falls, so anything pales in comparison. |
Wednesday we toured downtown St. Paul.
 |
| We visited the Landmark Center, completed in 1902, which originally served as the United States Post Office, Courthouse, and Custom House for the state of Minnesota. That's it in the background. And those sculptures in front? Peanuts creator Charles Schulz was born in Minneapolis and grew up in St. Paul. |
 |
| Inside the Landmark Center we viewed several of the original courtrooms. But I was especially intrigued with the Gallery of Wood Art containing many beautiful and unique creations made of wood.
When he was in middle school, our son, Tim, made a baseball bat rack just like this and screwed it into his bedroom wall. But his bats looked nothing like these.
After leaving the Landmark Center, we had fun finding the rest of the Peanuts characters.
   |
Then it was time to get something for dinner. We found a restaurant that served "shared" plates. Fortunately we had no trouble coming to a decision on what we wanted to share. The dishes came out as works of art. They tasted as good as they looked.
It was a pleasant change from our usual campground dinner.
Three days of sightseeing was plenty for both of us. Our train didn't leave until late Thursday night. Ian and Anise were with their dad, so we had a quiet day hanging out and packing up. I worked on my blog and we went out for a Mexican dinner with Tonya. Rob and I thought we'd ride our bikes to the Amtak station before it got dark but Tonya offered to drive us. It was a good thing. After eating dinner outside it began to rain. By the time we drove to the station it was pouring.
 |
| I am not a dog person, but I really enjoyed Nova. Whenever she wants you to play with her she takes something and brings it outside. You have to be careful with what you leave lying around. Tonya says she never chews on anything she takes but I proved her wrong. Nova took my pen and chewed the end so that it no longer worked. |
No comments:
Post a Comment