June 17: Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

Today I toured St. Paul and Minneapolis with my college friend Lynette. Lynette made bagels for breakfast (wow!), then she and I went with her friend Tim to the Farmer's Market in St. Paul. I have to tell my friend Peter about one farm's sign "Blessed are the Cheesemakers" with pictures of its cows. (We watched "Life of Brian" the week before I left Philadelphia).

After the farmer's market we drove down Summit Avenue, a restored residential area, past St. Paul's Cathedral, and to a park along the Mississippi River. Lynette and I dropped of Tim at his house, then she and I went to the St. Paul side of the University of Minnesota to see the view of downtown from her building. Then we went downtown for lunch at an Eastern European deli (Karacyny's?) on Hennepin Street. From there we walked to St. Anthony's Main, a shopping and dining area. It also happened to be hosting an arts festival the weekend I was there.

From St. Anthony's Main we walked the 2-mile Heritage Trail to learn about the river, falls, bridges, and flour mills. The falls are nothing like they used to be because of erosion and Army Corps of Engineers redesign. Then we drove around a few lakes including Lake Harriet. The lakes were too big to walk and we had no bikes handy. The houses in the neighborhood near the lakes were very nice though.

After the lakes we went onto the Mall of America, which was not as big or impressive as I thought it would be. The children's roller coaster inside was the only indication that it was big. I got some information from the South Dakota tourism booth which was helpful. After the mall we went to Fort Snelling, a historic fort with reenactments. Saw a cannon go off. Also saw a mysterious Dred Scott memorial. Need to look into that to figure out the connection between Scott and Fort Snelling.

At the end of the day, we went to Grand Street for a light meal and rich dessert (Moo and Turtle Fudge cake) at Café Latté. No polka at the downtown bar like Lynette suggested; I was too tired for that.

Lynette and I talked about my impressions of the Twin Cities, and I said to be honest I really couldn't put my finger on the style or personality of the area. Lynette said the city really comes alive in the wintertime with skating and ice fishing, and that might make a difference. Totally opposite of my experiences in California and the East Coast.