Minnesota and Iowa
Day One---Saturday, July 12, 2014
This vacation, much more than any in the past years was needed instead of wanted. Work has been unusually stressful, and will probably continue to be for the next couple of months, as we sort things out. This year has also been a rough one, financially. I have spent over $4000 rebuilding the engine and transmission in my Stratus. At $250 per month, which I figure would be the cost of a car payment and addtional insurance, that mean my car now has to last me until about this time next year. And the medicals bills have killed us this year. Margo has had a wisdom tooth removed, a bout with e. coli, and carpal tunnell surgery. Pair that with a high deductible insurance plan and that is $2600 out of pocket for her, and well over a thousand for me, for my meds and check up.
With the financial issues I seriously considered canceling the trip, but the closer it go to July the more I wanted to go. So I made the decision, which may come back to haunt me, that we would be going. I bought our tickets that same May evening.
We flew out Saturday, today, morning at 11:30 and landed in Minneapolis at 2:15 or so, their time. The flight was uneventful, which is just the way you want them. We landed got our luggage and found our way to the shuttle to take us to our rental car company. We got there and the lady in front of us had damaged the car she was returning. She had purchased insurance, but it was through a 3rd party company. She was nearly in tears trying to explain that she had bought it through the rental car companies website, so how could it be a 3rd party. That question was never really answered, and the delay actually worked to my benefit, as I did not have to listen to a speech about insurance. He was happy to get me moving, after I declined coverage. Brave of me, huh?
It was raining in Minneapolis when we landed, more off than on, but it was obvious that they have gotten a ton of rain. Not exactly what we were hoping for, but for the next two hours all we were doing was driving so we were hopeful.
We headed south and the drive to Mason City was grey, but reasonably dry. We ran into some rain, but it looked mostly like we had just missed it. But, 15 miles before we reached the Buddy Holly crash site, it started to rain. I was thinking, “This ain’t good.” The place where we were going is in the middle of a famer’s field, and we all know what rain does to that.
We got to within 2 miles, and I took the exit and stopped. I wanted to gauge how much it was raining, as it seems worse at 70 miles an hour. This woke Margo up, who is still trying to find her routine after surgery. She is OK, only taking Naproxen, but definitely not in a routine, so she can find mental rest. I asked her opinion of the rain, and she said “We’re here and I packed an umbrella” So, we did.
By the time we got there the rain had stopped and we even found some blue sky. But, that did have a down side. As soon as we stepped out to the car we were attacked by the infamous Iowa mosquitoes. They were not large, but evidently Iowans are not nearly as tasty as Margo and I, so we were swatting and sweeping for the next half hour.
There was another car parked along this dirt road, when we got there. I had hoped that would be the case, because I wanted someone to take our picture. The memorial and crash site are about a 3/8 mile hike, down a path, that was covered in some sort of green clover. The Iowa dirt is dark and rich. Most of the fields we saw are in corn, and this one was no exception. I had expected dark, rich, sloppy, mud. But between thousands of visitors and the Iowa sun, the path was hard packed and not too bad.
The memorial might be down the path, but the path is marked by a large pair of Buddy Holly glasses, and that is where we waited for the owner of the car we found. They returned in ten minutes and we took each other’s pictures with the oversized spectacles.
We walked down the path and found the site of the crash from 1959. I’ve seen pictures of the crash and the plan ended up against a wire fence. So the path we were on paralleled the same fence. It is about eight feet wide, with a barbed wire fence to the right and Iowa corn to the left. The aforementioned mosquitoes walked us down.
The memorial itself a stamped metal guitar with the names of the famous singers; Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and JP “The Big Bopper” Richardson on the face of the guitar, and metal replicas of three 45 records, each one having the biggest hit from each artist. The right of that was a large pair of aviator wings to memorialize the pilot who died with them; Roger Peterson. We took a few pictures and went back to the car. The skies were threatening to pour and the mosquitoes were threatening to bleed us dry.
With the financial issues I seriously considered canceling the trip, but the closer it go to July the more I wanted to go. So I made the decision, which may come back to haunt me, that we would be going. I bought our tickets that same May evening.
We flew out Saturday, today, morning at 11:30 and landed in Minneapolis at 2:15 or so, their time. The flight was uneventful, which is just the way you want them. We landed got our luggage and found our way to the shuttle to take us to our rental car company. We got there and the lady in front of us had damaged the car she was returning. She had purchased insurance, but it was through a 3rd party company. She was nearly in tears trying to explain that she had bought it through the rental car companies website, so how could it be a 3rd party. That question was never really answered, and the delay actually worked to my benefit, as I did not have to listen to a speech about insurance. He was happy to get me moving, after I declined coverage. Brave of me, huh?
It was raining in Minneapolis when we landed, more off than on, but it was obvious that they have gotten a ton of rain. Not exactly what we were hoping for, but for the next two hours all we were doing was driving so we were hopeful.
We headed south and the drive to Mason City was grey, but reasonably dry. We ran into some rain, but it looked mostly like we had just missed it. But, 15 miles before we reached the Buddy Holly crash site, it started to rain. I was thinking, “This ain’t good.” The place where we were going is in the middle of a famer’s field, and we all know what rain does to that.
We got to within 2 miles, and I took the exit and stopped. I wanted to gauge how much it was raining, as it seems worse at 70 miles an hour. This woke Margo up, who is still trying to find her routine after surgery. She is OK, only taking Naproxen, but definitely not in a routine, so she can find mental rest. I asked her opinion of the rain, and she said “We’re here and I packed an umbrella” So, we did.
By the time we got there the rain had stopped and we even found some blue sky. But, that did have a down side. As soon as we stepped out to the car we were attacked by the infamous Iowa mosquitoes. They were not large, but evidently Iowans are not nearly as tasty as Margo and I, so we were swatting and sweeping for the next half hour.
There was another car parked along this dirt road, when we got there. I had hoped that would be the case, because I wanted someone to take our picture. The memorial and crash site are about a 3/8 mile hike, down a path, that was covered in some sort of green clover. The Iowa dirt is dark and rich. Most of the fields we saw are in corn, and this one was no exception. I had expected dark, rich, sloppy, mud. But between thousands of visitors and the Iowa sun, the path was hard packed and not too bad.
The memorial might be down the path, but the path is marked by a large pair of Buddy Holly glasses, and that is where we waited for the owner of the car we found. They returned in ten minutes and we took each other’s pictures with the oversized spectacles.
We walked down the path and found the site of the crash from 1959. I’ve seen pictures of the crash and the plan ended up against a wire fence. So the path we were on paralleled the same fence. It is about eight feet wide, with a barbed wire fence to the right and Iowa corn to the left. The aforementioned mosquitoes walked us down.
The memorial itself a stamped metal guitar with the names of the famous singers; Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and JP “The Big Bopper” Richardson on the face of the guitar, and metal replicas of three 45 records, each one having the biggest hit from each artist. The right of that was a large pair of aviator wings to memorialize the pilot who died with them; Roger Peterson. We took a few pictures and went back to the car. The skies were threatening to pour and the mosquitoes were threatening to bleed us dry.
The Northwest Steakhouse
Day Two---Sunday, July 13, 2014
We woke up in Dyersville, the same place we went to bed in. Factoring in how tired we were the night before, I do not consider that trivial. Why was it so important drive into the night to be in Dyersville this morning? Dyersville is home to the “Field of Dreams”. That is the baseball field they build in a corn field for the movie of the same name. It stared Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones. It is one of my favorite baseball movies. I was able to go there back when I was in Iowa for business, but I really wanted to take Margo to see it too.
I expected the Field of Dreams to be pretty busy, so I wanted to be there when it opened at 9AM. And we also wanted to do the sites in Winterset. The only way all of that was going to happen was to be in town in the morning, and getting an early start.
Our hotel was the Super 8. There were not a lot of choices, as Dyersville is a pretty small town. But that bed was nice. Margo found a rock hard pillow on her side and gave it to me. I slept like a baby. Hotel pillows are usually like sleeping in a pile of cotton. I need support. We were up at about 7 AM and after a fast food breakfast were on our way.
We easily arrived before 9 AM, but there was a slight delay as we got to with in a mile of the field. We came across a bald eagle feeding on some carrion in the middle of the road. Now, we expected to see many things in Iowa, a bald eagle in the middle of road, eating a piece of rabbit was not one of them. As we got close he flew off to the trees near by. Margo stopped and dug out her camera, but we lost track of where the bird was at. Oh well.
We pulled in and it looked much more like the movie than when I was there last time. That was because, last time was in April. There was no corn in April. In July, there is corn and they planted it early, so it was over our heads.
Margo had packed the baseball equipment that I bought the last time I went to Iowa. I had used those when I went to Field of Dreams in 2012, and I had no trouble finding them right in the closet where I had unpacked them two years ago. They were going to get some use today, but not by Margo. Here hand was not up to operating any piece of equipment more strenuous than her camera. That was OK; because I don’t think I was up to doing much more than posing for the camera. I’m too old, too fat, and too afraid of medical bills to do too much.
Margo and I ended up spending an hour soaking in the atmosphere, taking pictures, playing a little (I hit a few balls as far as I could, which was not nearly what I hoped), walking the bases, offering my bat, gloves and baseballs to the other people who showed up, and spending way too much money at the little gift shop. We left at 10 AM. We also left the baseball equipment at the Field of Dreams. I hope it ends up staying there and getting used by many kids.
We pointed the car west (and then south) and began our drive to Winterset, IA. Winterset is the home to the actual bridges of Madison County, from book and movie fame. It also where John Wayne was born and lived until age 4. Winterset is also 3 ½ hrs away. I am not a fan of the road trip. Even when the scenery is nice, being in a car for more than an hour feels like a waste of time. But, I am getting mellower as I get older.
Margo started out driving, but that last for about an hour. Her hand still aches and that means she drives one handed. It’s both tiring and unsafe. So she finally just gave in and let me take the wheel. She might have more patients and thus better able to handle the annoyances of a drive in the big city, but I am much better on the highways than she is.
Besides it gave us the opportunity to do crossword puzzles together. Margo would read the clues and give the spaces available and any letters already there. Then we would take our best guess. Margo would often have the answer and announce it, and then move to the next one. This actually worked well for passing the time. I won’t go as far as to say it melted the time away quickly, but it did make it bearable.
I had picked out several places to see that appeared in “The Bridges of Madison County” movie. The most northern (the direction from which we approached) was Francesca’s House. This was the actual house they used for filming. But, there was nothing much to see. The house is well off the road, and fenced in on private property. It is partially blocked by trees, so it was kind of wasted effort. But, at least it was only a short detour.
We next stopped at the first of four (there are six total) of the bridges we would see today. All of these bridges are covered bridges. Bridges like these are covered, because the area in which they are built experience snowy winters and wet springs. The water hastens the rotting of the wood. The thick heavy timbers which make up the floor of the bridge are very expensive. The thought is that if you build a cover over these timbers, using cheap wood, you greatly extend the live of the bridge. The added benefit is that they look interesting, too.
We stopped at the Cedar Bridge about 30 minutes later. It did not appear in the movie, but is on the over of the book. When we got there we found it invaded by a church group from Utah, which consisted of about 30, 12-15 year old girls. It was like we had stumbled into a slumber party. Apparently graffiti is not discouraged, so the majority of these young ladies were in the middle of professing their undying love, expressing their wit, or telling the world of their presence. We noticed many examples stating that “Canyon is Awesome”. We knew Canyon was not a geographic reference as one of the leaders had to encourage this particular example of Christian virtue to hurry up.
They had been there for awhile and soon left. Margo and I had snapped a few pictures while they were there, doing our best to avoid getting them in the shot, and then we had the bridge to ourselves.
I was anxious for the twenty of them to leave because Cedar Bridge is the only one of the covered bridges that you can still drive through. I wanted to do that. The last covered bridges Margo and I encountered were in New England and she did the driving. My prayers were answered just a few minutes later when the leader announced something about the last one to the care blah blah blah. Whatever blah blah blah was, did the trick, as almost all of the girls did a sprint to the two vans parked down the dirt road. The remaining three followed by the time we got to our car. I set the GPS for John Wayne’s birthplace and drove through the bridge.
John Wayne was born in Winterset (13 pounds!) in 1907. He only lived there for about four years, but the house he was born in still there and has been transformed into a small museum. The John Wayne Birthplace Society has acquired the whole block he lived on, and turned the house next door into a gift shop, and are building a real museum.
Margo and I got there and immediately bough tickets to tour the house. You were not allowed to take pictures. The house itself had pieces from the time John Wayne was born, but none of it is from his family. It was still nice to see things like a pie safe and a hand pump inside for water.
The room where Duke was born has been turned into a little shrine, with numerous pictures and pieces of memorabilia, most of which was donated by Wayne admirers. It was nice with a lot of things to see, like pictures of all three of his wives, his children, and his yacht, the “Wild Goose”.
Our trip would not have been complete without a pass through the gift shop. I expected to do more damage to my wallet than just $59, but that was all we ended up spending. We walked out and took pictures of the house and found someone to take our picture in front of the John Wayne statue, which was donated by the Wayne family. Then it was on to our next stop.
There were two must see places today; The John Wayne Birthplace House (check) and the Roseman Bridge. The Roseman Bridge was prominently featured in the movie; it was the bridge where Francesca takes Robert when they first meet, and the place where their ashes were scattered. It is also the only one with a gift shop.
We made the 15-20 minutes, parked and took a few quick pictures. There were several people there, so it was hard to get good pictures. But, there was the gift shop. That would chew up some time. It did. It also chewed up over $100 in trinkets and stuff. We did get a bottle of wine out of the deal. Not all of the stuff we bought was for us. We almost always bring the kids back something from our trip, and Margo found things she thought the girls would like. By the time we went back out almost everyone had cleared out, so we were able to take our requisite pictures and move on.
We had four bridges to see. So that was two down and two to go. None of the bridges are in their original sites. They have all been moved to places out of the way. Most are not able to support the weight of car traffic, and none could accommodate large vehicles, so they have really outlived their practical use. But, they do bring in the tourists. The Cutler-Donahoe Bridge has been moved to Winterset City Park. It sits over some sort of dry canal, very close to the Stone Bridge, also featured in the movie.
We had this bridge all to ourselves. We quickly took those pictures and walked over the Stone Bridge. We took pictures there and rested a bit, in the shade the trees provided. The weather today was typical Iowa summer; hot and humid. That, plus all of the time we had spent in the car was sapping our strength. Margo was ready to check into the hotel and call it a day at the 4 PM hour we had reached. But, the short rest and my reminded that this next bridge was the last bridge, was in the movie, and only about 10 minutes away, convinced her.
We drove down latest of our Iowa dirt roads, found the bridge, and took our fourth set of pictures. We were tired and hungry. We drove back to town, making a plan to ask the man at the desk about where to go to eat. We did not know what time restaurants would close on Sunday in out of the way, Winterset. It turned out they had a very good Mexican place called “Mi Pueblita”. The food was pretty good. I had a couple of beers to wash it down.
Then it was back to the hotel and time to unwind and decompress. Margo was in bed by 9 PM. I spend a bit longer than that trying to get a head start on this letter. I also got onto Facebook to see if there was anything going on at home. Unfortunately there was. A guy Margo and I both went to school with was killed in a motorcycle accident the day before. The funeral was going to be Thursday. I was in bed before 11 PM. Tomorrow was going to be another long day of sites to see.
I expected the Field of Dreams to be pretty busy, so I wanted to be there when it opened at 9AM. And we also wanted to do the sites in Winterset. The only way all of that was going to happen was to be in town in the morning, and getting an early start.
Our hotel was the Super 8. There were not a lot of choices, as Dyersville is a pretty small town. But that bed was nice. Margo found a rock hard pillow on her side and gave it to me. I slept like a baby. Hotel pillows are usually like sleeping in a pile of cotton. I need support. We were up at about 7 AM and after a fast food breakfast were on our way.
We easily arrived before 9 AM, but there was a slight delay as we got to with in a mile of the field. We came across a bald eagle feeding on some carrion in the middle of the road. Now, we expected to see many things in Iowa, a bald eagle in the middle of road, eating a piece of rabbit was not one of them. As we got close he flew off to the trees near by. Margo stopped and dug out her camera, but we lost track of where the bird was at. Oh well.
We pulled in and it looked much more like the movie than when I was there last time. That was because, last time was in April. There was no corn in April. In July, there is corn and they planted it early, so it was over our heads.
Margo had packed the baseball equipment that I bought the last time I went to Iowa. I had used those when I went to Field of Dreams in 2012, and I had no trouble finding them right in the closet where I had unpacked them two years ago. They were going to get some use today, but not by Margo. Here hand was not up to operating any piece of equipment more strenuous than her camera. That was OK; because I don’t think I was up to doing much more than posing for the camera. I’m too old, too fat, and too afraid of medical bills to do too much.
Margo and I ended up spending an hour soaking in the atmosphere, taking pictures, playing a little (I hit a few balls as far as I could, which was not nearly what I hoped), walking the bases, offering my bat, gloves and baseballs to the other people who showed up, and spending way too much money at the little gift shop. We left at 10 AM. We also left the baseball equipment at the Field of Dreams. I hope it ends up staying there and getting used by many kids.
We pointed the car west (and then south) and began our drive to Winterset, IA. Winterset is the home to the actual bridges of Madison County, from book and movie fame. It also where John Wayne was born and lived until age 4. Winterset is also 3 ½ hrs away. I am not a fan of the road trip. Even when the scenery is nice, being in a car for more than an hour feels like a waste of time. But, I am getting mellower as I get older.
Margo started out driving, but that last for about an hour. Her hand still aches and that means she drives one handed. It’s both tiring and unsafe. So she finally just gave in and let me take the wheel. She might have more patients and thus better able to handle the annoyances of a drive in the big city, but I am much better on the highways than she is.
Besides it gave us the opportunity to do crossword puzzles together. Margo would read the clues and give the spaces available and any letters already there. Then we would take our best guess. Margo would often have the answer and announce it, and then move to the next one. This actually worked well for passing the time. I won’t go as far as to say it melted the time away quickly, but it did make it bearable.
I had picked out several places to see that appeared in “The Bridges of Madison County” movie. The most northern (the direction from which we approached) was Francesca’s House. This was the actual house they used for filming. But, there was nothing much to see. The house is well off the road, and fenced in on private property. It is partially blocked by trees, so it was kind of wasted effort. But, at least it was only a short detour.
We next stopped at the first of four (there are six total) of the bridges we would see today. All of these bridges are covered bridges. Bridges like these are covered, because the area in which they are built experience snowy winters and wet springs. The water hastens the rotting of the wood. The thick heavy timbers which make up the floor of the bridge are very expensive. The thought is that if you build a cover over these timbers, using cheap wood, you greatly extend the live of the bridge. The added benefit is that they look interesting, too.
We stopped at the Cedar Bridge about 30 minutes later. It did not appear in the movie, but is on the over of the book. When we got there we found it invaded by a church group from Utah, which consisted of about 30, 12-15 year old girls. It was like we had stumbled into a slumber party. Apparently graffiti is not discouraged, so the majority of these young ladies were in the middle of professing their undying love, expressing their wit, or telling the world of their presence. We noticed many examples stating that “Canyon is Awesome”. We knew Canyon was not a geographic reference as one of the leaders had to encourage this particular example of Christian virtue to hurry up.
They had been there for awhile and soon left. Margo and I had snapped a few pictures while they were there, doing our best to avoid getting them in the shot, and then we had the bridge to ourselves.
I was anxious for the twenty of them to leave because Cedar Bridge is the only one of the covered bridges that you can still drive through. I wanted to do that. The last covered bridges Margo and I encountered were in New England and she did the driving. My prayers were answered just a few minutes later when the leader announced something about the last one to the care blah blah blah. Whatever blah blah blah was, did the trick, as almost all of the girls did a sprint to the two vans parked down the dirt road. The remaining three followed by the time we got to our car. I set the GPS for John Wayne’s birthplace and drove through the bridge.
John Wayne was born in Winterset (13 pounds!) in 1907. He only lived there for about four years, but the house he was born in still there and has been transformed into a small museum. The John Wayne Birthplace Society has acquired the whole block he lived on, and turned the house next door into a gift shop, and are building a real museum.
Margo and I got there and immediately bough tickets to tour the house. You were not allowed to take pictures. The house itself had pieces from the time John Wayne was born, but none of it is from his family. It was still nice to see things like a pie safe and a hand pump inside for water.
The room where Duke was born has been turned into a little shrine, with numerous pictures and pieces of memorabilia, most of which was donated by Wayne admirers. It was nice with a lot of things to see, like pictures of all three of his wives, his children, and his yacht, the “Wild Goose”.
Our trip would not have been complete without a pass through the gift shop. I expected to do more damage to my wallet than just $59, but that was all we ended up spending. We walked out and took pictures of the house and found someone to take our picture in front of the John Wayne statue, which was donated by the Wayne family. Then it was on to our next stop.
There were two must see places today; The John Wayne Birthplace House (check) and the Roseman Bridge. The Roseman Bridge was prominently featured in the movie; it was the bridge where Francesca takes Robert when they first meet, and the place where their ashes were scattered. It is also the only one with a gift shop.
We made the 15-20 minutes, parked and took a few quick pictures. There were several people there, so it was hard to get good pictures. But, there was the gift shop. That would chew up some time. It did. It also chewed up over $100 in trinkets and stuff. We did get a bottle of wine out of the deal. Not all of the stuff we bought was for us. We almost always bring the kids back something from our trip, and Margo found things she thought the girls would like. By the time we went back out almost everyone had cleared out, so we were able to take our requisite pictures and move on.
We had four bridges to see. So that was two down and two to go. None of the bridges are in their original sites. They have all been moved to places out of the way. Most are not able to support the weight of car traffic, and none could accommodate large vehicles, so they have really outlived their practical use. But, they do bring in the tourists. The Cutler-Donahoe Bridge has been moved to Winterset City Park. It sits over some sort of dry canal, very close to the Stone Bridge, also featured in the movie.
We had this bridge all to ourselves. We quickly took those pictures and walked over the Stone Bridge. We took pictures there and rested a bit, in the shade the trees provided. The weather today was typical Iowa summer; hot and humid. That, plus all of the time we had spent in the car was sapping our strength. Margo was ready to check into the hotel and call it a day at the 4 PM hour we had reached. But, the short rest and my reminded that this next bridge was the last bridge, was in the movie, and only about 10 minutes away, convinced her.
We drove down latest of our Iowa dirt roads, found the bridge, and took our fourth set of pictures. We were tired and hungry. We drove back to town, making a plan to ask the man at the desk about where to go to eat. We did not know what time restaurants would close on Sunday in out of the way, Winterset. It turned out they had a very good Mexican place called “Mi Pueblita”. The food was pretty good. I had a couple of beers to wash it down.
Then it was back to the hotel and time to unwind and decompress. Margo was in bed by 9 PM. I spend a bit longer than that trying to get a head start on this letter. I also got onto Facebook to see if there was anything going on at home. Unfortunately there was. A guy Margo and I both went to school with was killed in a motorcycle accident the day before. The funeral was going to be Thursday. I was in bed before 11 PM. Tomorrow was going to be another long day of sites to see.
Day Three---Monday, July 14, 2014
We planned to drive 2 1/2 hours or so to Clear Lake, IA, spend an hour of so at the Surf Ballroom, eat, drive another 1 ½ hours or so to Northfield, MN, spend a short amount of time there, drive to Lakeville, MN (40 minutes), check into our hotel, and then drive about 25 minutes to the Mall of America. Have I mentioned I am not a fan of road trips? Sometime, like this trip, spending five hours in a car is just what is needed. That doesn’t make it less tiring or less unproductive. But, whining about it wasn’t going to get us on the road.
We were on the road by 7:30 AM. Factoring showering, final packing, and loading up, that meant we were up a 6 AM, and skipped breakfast. For some reason, when Margo and I go on vacation we eat the morning meal. Normally I don’t eat of even snack until noon. I was still driving, and Margo resumed the crossword puzzles. That did make the miles pass and we pulled into Clear Lake a little ahead of our ambitious schedule.
Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper played their last concert at the Surf Ballroom in February 1959 (2nd?). Then they boarded a small play, flew into a storm and a farmer’s field. Movies were made, songs were written, and pop culture had another place to be visited by those of us looking for a way to touch history and to spend our money in the process.
We pulled into the parking lot of the Surf Ballroom just before 10 AM. We had snacked on the way up, so our hunger was at bay. We walked into a mostly empty Surf Ballroom. Only a group of pre-schoolers, who were pounding on five-gallon buckets in a program the lady who helped up called Rock for Tots, occupied the dance floor.
We donated the asked for $10 to the two us, and went about a self guided tour of the building. It was built in the 40s and looked like it. It was well kept, but also well worn in spots. What impressed me the most was that you had pretty much free run of the building. We went to the Green Room (ready room), where all of the acts from the past waited to go on stage. The walls are literally covered in their signatures. I think this practice started after the plane crash, but we recognized many of the bands and performers. We each got pictures sitting on one of the chairs there, and then on the stage itself. It was kind of odd gazing out onto the hardwood dance floor, and then the booths in back, knowing the history of the place, and with a dozen 4 year olds having a good time.
The kids packed up and left after about ten minutes. We saw the two bar areas, the coat check area, the phone where Buddy Holly and Richie Valens made their last phone calls, and most other nooks and crannies. When we were done, and dropped another nice chunk of change in the gift shop, it was about 11 AM. We had lunch at a little sandwich/coffee shop (Caribou Coffee) and enjoyed the sunny, but a little windy day, here in northern Iowa.
But the road beckoned. Well, it didn’t really. The road did not care, but my schedule sure as hell did. I hated that I had to cram so much into these five days, but adding an extra day added several hundred more in costs, with food, rental car, and hotel. So, in order to get everything in, we had to try to stay close to schedule and to adapt where we could. Right now, there was no adapting and no reason to. We had seen everything we wanted to at the Surf, had not rushed through lunch, and now were making our way to Northfield, MN.
Northfield, MN was made famous in Sept of 1876 when the James-Younger gang tried to rob the First National Bank there on Divisions St. They weren’t recognized as the famous bandits of Missouri, but they were recognized as highwaymen trying to rob the bank. The townsfolk, once alerted, did not take kindly. They, and the posse afterwards, shot the gang to pieces, killing a pair, injuring most of the rest, and allowing only the two James to escape. It was the end of the Youngers as outlaws, and the James were hounded until Jesse was assassinated by one of his own, and Frank turned himself in to avoid a similar fate.
We pulled in about 1 PM. We parked and made our way to the Northfield Historical Society, which managed the site of the attempted robbery. Now unless you are really into the history and mechanics of this sort of thing, there is not a lot to see. They have a couple of guns taken from the robbers, maps, and of course the actual bank itself, but you can see it all in fifteen minutes. To help make it worth the $7 admission, they have volunteers give you a blow by blow account of the robbery. We had a high school age young lady, dressed in a period dress. She had her speech well memorized, but that is what it sounded like, instead of a knowledgeable account of what happened. Still, it was factually accurate (from what I remember reading) and she was aided by both the maps and a short video.
Margo would have preferred to skip it, but she did not say a word, and indulged me while I reminded behind to take a few extra pictures, including some of the town, to note where the direction and path the gang took to get to the bank. I bought a book at the gift shop and we found the car. Our next stops would be more to Margo’s liking.
When I added Northfield as a place we were to visit, I was surprised that it was so close to Minneapolis. I know it’s got to be close to something, but it doesn’t usually work out that these last minute things can be added so easily. We drove about 40 minutes to Lakeville, a southern suburb of the Twin Cities, and checked in. The guy at Quality Inn desk said my Discover card had been rejected. That could not be right. I had just used it an hour ago, and I had alerted Discover we would be traveling, so their Fraud Protection division would not shut down my card. So, I was pretty annoyed when I got to the room.
I called Discover and found out that the clerk had miskeyed the security code on the back of the card, and that was why it was declined. Nothing wrong with the card and it gave me no more trouble the rest of the trip.
We dropped our bags in the room and went back to the car. It was about a half hour drive to the Mall of America. The Mall of America is on my bucket list. I don’t know exactly why. I guess it would have to be the size. It’s the largest mall in America, fittingly, and it has its own amusement park and aquarium, all indoors. But, even if it wasn’t on my list, we needed to go to finish filling the self imposed list of gifts to buy for the people back home. We are really going to have to rethink that.
Anyway, I was expecting madness. Today was the day before the MLB All-Star game, which meant the very popular Home Run Derby. I figured traffic would be bad, as we were heading that general direction, during rush hour. Then I thought the mall itself would be busy, just because it is famous. The traffic was bad, but it was less of nightmare than normal Denver rush hour. Once we took the exit off of I-35, it was nothing. I even had no trouble changing lanes.
The first order of business was the CSI: Experience. We had done this in Las Vegas back in January. Both Margo and I enjoyed it, so when I saw that they had opened on in MOA, we put that on the must do list. In the CSI: Experience, they have a crime scene (actually three, but you only do one) created in diorama format. It is life size, and you are given a notebook (sheet of paper) and a pencil to record your observations and the evidence you want to check at the lab. Then you check the DNA, fingerprints, tire or shoe impressions, and whatever else back at once of seven (?) stations at the “lab”. After than you go to a computer terminal answer five or so questions about your observations and results, and you solve the case.
It is a little forced, in that they are giving you answers on your note sheet, and really telling you what evidence you should have gathered. The questions at the end are not tough, and if you mess up, start over and you still solve the case. But, it was still fun. You got to compare fingerprints and pretend to be crime scene investigators. We had fun.
We were also hungry. Coincidently, or since we are dealing with the Mall of America, home to every store on earth, maybe not, there is a Hooters. So that was our next stop. We had a nice meal, and saw that the Home Run Derby pregame show was on TV. They looked really wet, as it was raining. We later found out that the derby was delayed by an hour and went late into the night. I was kind of glad we did not get tickets. Neither of the two Rockies in the competition did well, and Margo would not have liked the cold and wet.
We spent the next hour or so bouncing from store to store looking for something for everyone else on your shopping list. It felt like Christmas instead of a vacation. The amusement park in the center of the four-level mall is Nickelodeon (the TV channel) themed. One of their vendors was air brushing designs on caps and others items of clothing. So Margo and I commissioned a couple for our two grandkids. They are definitely of today’s generation, edgy and hard, so they should love them.
While that did not complete our shopping; we went on for another hour, doing more looking than buying, we definitely got to see the mall. While it is not a place I would go to hang out, if it can’t be found there, it is going to be hard to find. They really did have every retail shop that I could think of. It was worth visiting, but I think I would avoid it around the holidays, at least on the weekends.
That wrapped up, no pun intended, our third day of vacation. That left just one real day of vacation left. While the last three days had been mostly things I really like, with Margo being tossed a few bones, today would the highlight for her. We were going to take a Segway tour of the Minneapolis riverfront.
We were on the road by 7:30 AM. Factoring showering, final packing, and loading up, that meant we were up a 6 AM, and skipped breakfast. For some reason, when Margo and I go on vacation we eat the morning meal. Normally I don’t eat of even snack until noon. I was still driving, and Margo resumed the crossword puzzles. That did make the miles pass and we pulled into Clear Lake a little ahead of our ambitious schedule.
Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper played their last concert at the Surf Ballroom in February 1959 (2nd?). Then they boarded a small play, flew into a storm and a farmer’s field. Movies were made, songs were written, and pop culture had another place to be visited by those of us looking for a way to touch history and to spend our money in the process.
We pulled into the parking lot of the Surf Ballroom just before 10 AM. We had snacked on the way up, so our hunger was at bay. We walked into a mostly empty Surf Ballroom. Only a group of pre-schoolers, who were pounding on five-gallon buckets in a program the lady who helped up called Rock for Tots, occupied the dance floor.
We donated the asked for $10 to the two us, and went about a self guided tour of the building. It was built in the 40s and looked like it. It was well kept, but also well worn in spots. What impressed me the most was that you had pretty much free run of the building. We went to the Green Room (ready room), where all of the acts from the past waited to go on stage. The walls are literally covered in their signatures. I think this practice started after the plane crash, but we recognized many of the bands and performers. We each got pictures sitting on one of the chairs there, and then on the stage itself. It was kind of odd gazing out onto the hardwood dance floor, and then the booths in back, knowing the history of the place, and with a dozen 4 year olds having a good time.
The kids packed up and left after about ten minutes. We saw the two bar areas, the coat check area, the phone where Buddy Holly and Richie Valens made their last phone calls, and most other nooks and crannies. When we were done, and dropped another nice chunk of change in the gift shop, it was about 11 AM. We had lunch at a little sandwich/coffee shop (Caribou Coffee) and enjoyed the sunny, but a little windy day, here in northern Iowa.
But the road beckoned. Well, it didn’t really. The road did not care, but my schedule sure as hell did. I hated that I had to cram so much into these five days, but adding an extra day added several hundred more in costs, with food, rental car, and hotel. So, in order to get everything in, we had to try to stay close to schedule and to adapt where we could. Right now, there was no adapting and no reason to. We had seen everything we wanted to at the Surf, had not rushed through lunch, and now were making our way to Northfield, MN.
Northfield, MN was made famous in Sept of 1876 when the James-Younger gang tried to rob the First National Bank there on Divisions St. They weren’t recognized as the famous bandits of Missouri, but they were recognized as highwaymen trying to rob the bank. The townsfolk, once alerted, did not take kindly. They, and the posse afterwards, shot the gang to pieces, killing a pair, injuring most of the rest, and allowing only the two James to escape. It was the end of the Youngers as outlaws, and the James were hounded until Jesse was assassinated by one of his own, and Frank turned himself in to avoid a similar fate.
We pulled in about 1 PM. We parked and made our way to the Northfield Historical Society, which managed the site of the attempted robbery. Now unless you are really into the history and mechanics of this sort of thing, there is not a lot to see. They have a couple of guns taken from the robbers, maps, and of course the actual bank itself, but you can see it all in fifteen minutes. To help make it worth the $7 admission, they have volunteers give you a blow by blow account of the robbery. We had a high school age young lady, dressed in a period dress. She had her speech well memorized, but that is what it sounded like, instead of a knowledgeable account of what happened. Still, it was factually accurate (from what I remember reading) and she was aided by both the maps and a short video.
Margo would have preferred to skip it, but she did not say a word, and indulged me while I reminded behind to take a few extra pictures, including some of the town, to note where the direction and path the gang took to get to the bank. I bought a book at the gift shop and we found the car. Our next stops would be more to Margo’s liking.
When I added Northfield as a place we were to visit, I was surprised that it was so close to Minneapolis. I know it’s got to be close to something, but it doesn’t usually work out that these last minute things can be added so easily. We drove about 40 minutes to Lakeville, a southern suburb of the Twin Cities, and checked in. The guy at Quality Inn desk said my Discover card had been rejected. That could not be right. I had just used it an hour ago, and I had alerted Discover we would be traveling, so their Fraud Protection division would not shut down my card. So, I was pretty annoyed when I got to the room.
I called Discover and found out that the clerk had miskeyed the security code on the back of the card, and that was why it was declined. Nothing wrong with the card and it gave me no more trouble the rest of the trip.
We dropped our bags in the room and went back to the car. It was about a half hour drive to the Mall of America. The Mall of America is on my bucket list. I don’t know exactly why. I guess it would have to be the size. It’s the largest mall in America, fittingly, and it has its own amusement park and aquarium, all indoors. But, even if it wasn’t on my list, we needed to go to finish filling the self imposed list of gifts to buy for the people back home. We are really going to have to rethink that.
Anyway, I was expecting madness. Today was the day before the MLB All-Star game, which meant the very popular Home Run Derby. I figured traffic would be bad, as we were heading that general direction, during rush hour. Then I thought the mall itself would be busy, just because it is famous. The traffic was bad, but it was less of nightmare than normal Denver rush hour. Once we took the exit off of I-35, it was nothing. I even had no trouble changing lanes.
The first order of business was the CSI: Experience. We had done this in Las Vegas back in January. Both Margo and I enjoyed it, so when I saw that they had opened on in MOA, we put that on the must do list. In the CSI: Experience, they have a crime scene (actually three, but you only do one) created in diorama format. It is life size, and you are given a notebook (sheet of paper) and a pencil to record your observations and the evidence you want to check at the lab. Then you check the DNA, fingerprints, tire or shoe impressions, and whatever else back at once of seven (?) stations at the “lab”. After than you go to a computer terminal answer five or so questions about your observations and results, and you solve the case.
It is a little forced, in that they are giving you answers on your note sheet, and really telling you what evidence you should have gathered. The questions at the end are not tough, and if you mess up, start over and you still solve the case. But, it was still fun. You got to compare fingerprints and pretend to be crime scene investigators. We had fun.
We were also hungry. Coincidently, or since we are dealing with the Mall of America, home to every store on earth, maybe not, there is a Hooters. So that was our next stop. We had a nice meal, and saw that the Home Run Derby pregame show was on TV. They looked really wet, as it was raining. We later found out that the derby was delayed by an hour and went late into the night. I was kind of glad we did not get tickets. Neither of the two Rockies in the competition did well, and Margo would not have liked the cold and wet.
We spent the next hour or so bouncing from store to store looking for something for everyone else on your shopping list. It felt like Christmas instead of a vacation. The amusement park in the center of the four-level mall is Nickelodeon (the TV channel) themed. One of their vendors was air brushing designs on caps and others items of clothing. So Margo and I commissioned a couple for our two grandkids. They are definitely of today’s generation, edgy and hard, so they should love them.
While that did not complete our shopping; we went on for another hour, doing more looking than buying, we definitely got to see the mall. While it is not a place I would go to hang out, if it can’t be found there, it is going to be hard to find. They really did have every retail shop that I could think of. It was worth visiting, but I think I would avoid it around the holidays, at least on the weekends.
That wrapped up, no pun intended, our third day of vacation. That left just one real day of vacation left. While the last three days had been mostly things I really like, with Margo being tossed a few bones, today would the highlight for her. We were going to take a Segway tour of the Minneapolis riverfront.
Day Four---Tuesday, July 15, 2014
The tour started at 9:30 and as we were staying in Lakeville, we were about 25 minutes away, factoring out any rush hour traffic. The website for the place putting on the tour did not tell you when to be there, so I was figuring about 9 AM. We ate breakfast, which the hotel provided for free. You don’t find many hotels that offer a hot breakfast, and this one was half decent. Even the sausage (Jones brand) did not upset my stomach, which is unusual.
We got there even earlier than I thought, as Minneapolis traffic is not really that bad. There were slow spots, but you kept moving almost the whole time. We checked in and soon inferred that the reason they don’t tell you to arrive early is that 9:30 in early. We didn’t get going until 10 AM. They showed us a safety video and helped us get on and off, but as we were veterans of these tours, Margo and I did not get much attention. We were soon on our way.
The tour took along the Mississippi waterfront on both sides of the river. We crossed on an old stone bridge that used to carry railroad traffic. But, now it is strictly a pedestrian bridge. Our guy was named Gary and he was both very knowledgeable of the area and an excellent promoter of the area. He told us of numerous places to see and do. Afterwards, I wished I had another day to try to work some of them in.
We stopped at a place called The Mill City Museum, where we could go to the restroom, and stretch our legs. Riding a Segway means you are essentially just standing in one place for the duration. So it makes sense to break it up. This was actually our second rest break, with the first one being right in the middle of the Stone Bridge. There both Margo and I got a couple of good pictures of the river and the falls.
Minneapolis is the home of the only major waterfall on the Mississippi River. It is about a 70 foot drop. This river is narrower at this point in its course, but it is still very impressive. It is because of this falls that Minneapolis was born. The natural seventy foot drop made it the perfect spot to set up a turbine system. It was that water power and the organizational power of the three big millers of the 19th century that had Minneapolis producing 10% of the nation’s flour.
The tour lasted about 2 ½ hours with the breaks we took. I had intended to visit the Cathedral at St Paul and take the 1 PM tour. But, it was 12:30 and I was unsure if that was even still possible, so I asked Gary. He seemed to know all things about the area, and he said “Yes, it’s only about 15-20 minutes from here and I highly recommend the tour.”
So we made a beeline to the car and away we went. We were there in about 15-20 minutes, found out where to meet and were completely stunned by the expansive size inside the building. It was literally a Wow moment. I can’t recall being awed like that since the Grand Canyon. From the outside it looks big, but it’s not until you walk in and see the huge expanse the dome creates, that just bowls you over.
The outside is made of grey granite and the inside from travertine. The stain glass windows are the prettiest I have ever scene. What is a little odd, or maybe I am just ignorant on this, is that it took over 50 years to get the church to a finished state. Construction began in 1905 and took until 1915. But that only took care of the walls, floors, and pews. They ran out of money and relied on private benefactors to continue finishing the inside.
We got there even earlier than I thought, as Minneapolis traffic is not really that bad. There were slow spots, but you kept moving almost the whole time. We checked in and soon inferred that the reason they don’t tell you to arrive early is that 9:30 in early. We didn’t get going until 10 AM. They showed us a safety video and helped us get on and off, but as we were veterans of these tours, Margo and I did not get much attention. We were soon on our way.
The tour took along the Mississippi waterfront on both sides of the river. We crossed on an old stone bridge that used to carry railroad traffic. But, now it is strictly a pedestrian bridge. Our guy was named Gary and he was both very knowledgeable of the area and an excellent promoter of the area. He told us of numerous places to see and do. Afterwards, I wished I had another day to try to work some of them in.
We stopped at a place called The Mill City Museum, where we could go to the restroom, and stretch our legs. Riding a Segway means you are essentially just standing in one place for the duration. So it makes sense to break it up. This was actually our second rest break, with the first one being right in the middle of the Stone Bridge. There both Margo and I got a couple of good pictures of the river and the falls.
Minneapolis is the home of the only major waterfall on the Mississippi River. It is about a 70 foot drop. This river is narrower at this point in its course, but it is still very impressive. It is because of this falls that Minneapolis was born. The natural seventy foot drop made it the perfect spot to set up a turbine system. It was that water power and the organizational power of the three big millers of the 19th century that had Minneapolis producing 10% of the nation’s flour.
The tour lasted about 2 ½ hours with the breaks we took. I had intended to visit the Cathedral at St Paul and take the 1 PM tour. But, it was 12:30 and I was unsure if that was even still possible, so I asked Gary. He seemed to know all things about the area, and he said “Yes, it’s only about 15-20 minutes from here and I highly recommend the tour.”
So we made a beeline to the car and away we went. We were there in about 15-20 minutes, found out where to meet and were completely stunned by the expansive size inside the building. It was literally a Wow moment. I can’t recall being awed like that since the Grand Canyon. From the outside it looks big, but it’s not until you walk in and see the huge expanse the dome creates, that just bowls you over.
The outside is made of grey granite and the inside from travertine. The stain glass windows are the prettiest I have ever scene. What is a little odd, or maybe I am just ignorant on this, is that it took over 50 years to get the church to a finished state. Construction began in 1905 and took until 1915. But that only took care of the walls, floors, and pews. They ran out of money and relied on private benefactors to continue finishing the inside.
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The tour took an hour and a half, making it 2:30, and we had not eaten since this morning. We were pretty hungry, but we had two more museums to see. The first was the Mill City Museum. On of the perks of the Segway tour was a free mass to the Mill City Museum. I had wanted to visit anyway, so this worked out well. On problem was that the museum closes at 5 PM. There were several must see exhibits, so we did not have time to stop for lunch.
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We saw how the water turbines work, using the St Anthony Falls. They bore a hole on the top side of the river, and channel the water down through a chute that drops on the turbine, spinning its blades. The longer the drop, the more power that can be generated. Then the water is redirected to the river at the bottom of the falls.
There was an exhibit on the history of Minneapolis that took 19 minutes. In the middle of the museum is Baking Lab. This one was very popular with Margo and me, as they were giving out free samples of brownies. They were very good and definitely needed. There was no one else in the lab and the docent encouraged us to sample freely. We did.
The most well done part of the museum was called the Flour Tower. They had converted the freight elevator to seat about 20 people on bleachers. The elevator would then take the people up or town, the doors would open and a scene from the days when the mill was in operation (Closed in 1960) would be there. Most were basic dioramas, with something motorized to add effect. But the real draw was that actual people who had worked there would tell you about what it was like to work in that area.
The final thing we did was take a different elevator to the ninth floor of the museum, where they had an observatory. The view of the waterfront was beautiful. I took several pictures, including a panoramic picture that turned out great. My panoramic pictures never turn out, but this one did.
By now it is getting to be about 4:30 and Margo still wants to visit the gift shop. She had seen a charm, when he taken the Segway tour, so we went back there. We got that and some other trinkets and were on our way. Off to an early dinner? Nope, off to the Minnesota History Center, our final museum. Eating would have to wait.
Tuesday’s after 5 PM is free day at the Minnesota History Center. I usually avoid Free Days like the plague. They are crowded and the people that go on Free Day usually are less well behaved than the paying crowd. I think that is in large part due to the amount of children that are brought on those days. But, they are closed on Mondays, so we had no choice if we wanted to see it.
There were three exhibits that I wanted to see. The first was right in front of us as we walked in to the museum. It was an exhibit of Toys from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Margo and I spent most of our time in this area, as it brought back so many memories of toys we had and toys we had coveted in our youth.
But, after this we were getting tired and a little irritable. While it was not as crowded as I expected, the manners of the children and a few selected adults did leave something to be desired. So, we saw the other two exhibits that I thought Margo would enjoy, “Weather Permitting” and “The Greatest Generation”
The “Weather Permitting” had a traditional museum exhibit where you wandered about and learned about weather related Minnesota history; the flood of 1997 and a questionable claim to the largest hail stone to name two. But the draw to this section was a production to show what it was like to endure the tornado that stuck Fridley, MN in 1965.
They take you into a recreated basement of a small home. In this basement you face a television and above that the small basement window commonly found in the Midwest. This window lets in light, and allows escape in case of a fire, but because it is at ground level gives you no view. They used it to give a sense of changes going on outside.
The show began with actual news reports of the approaching storm. Things like “severe storm likely” and advice on what do to if a tornado hits. The 15 or so of us are sitting on bleachers. Underneath these are woofer speakers, which are designed to product low frequency sounds. Those are the ones that will vibrate windows and walls.
They used this to great effect, coupled with the window, and the low light of the basement flickering and going out. The TV broadcasts continued until power was lost. It is well done, and they advice parents not to bring in young kids, because they will get scared. One lady did not heed that warning and her 3 year old definitely thought he was in the middle of a bad storm. His questions of what was happening added to the realism. She was able to calm to the point of no cries or screams, but he was shaken.
Lastly was “The Greatest Generation”, and focused on World War II. This exhibit also had two parts, the second being a recreation of a C-47 transport being shot down, with you inside. They used the same woofer technique and lighting coming through a recreated door where you, as a paratrooper, were going to jump. Again, very well done, and scary to small children. They focused on the life of one Minnesotan, who died after being shot down on this type of mission.
The exhibit had other things, like a soda fountain that you could get behind, or you could be on the assembly line producing artillery shells. These were well done as well, but by now we were way to tired and hungry to deal with all the kids running around. If we ever get back, we will come back. Even if they don’t have these same exhibits, they will have others as well done.
There was an exhibit on the history of Minneapolis that took 19 minutes. In the middle of the museum is Baking Lab. This one was very popular with Margo and me, as they were giving out free samples of brownies. They were very good and definitely needed. There was no one else in the lab and the docent encouraged us to sample freely. We did.
The most well done part of the museum was called the Flour Tower. They had converted the freight elevator to seat about 20 people on bleachers. The elevator would then take the people up or town, the doors would open and a scene from the days when the mill was in operation (Closed in 1960) would be there. Most were basic dioramas, with something motorized to add effect. But the real draw was that actual people who had worked there would tell you about what it was like to work in that area.
The final thing we did was take a different elevator to the ninth floor of the museum, where they had an observatory. The view of the waterfront was beautiful. I took several pictures, including a panoramic picture that turned out great. My panoramic pictures never turn out, but this one did.
By now it is getting to be about 4:30 and Margo still wants to visit the gift shop. She had seen a charm, when he taken the Segway tour, so we went back there. We got that and some other trinkets and were on our way. Off to an early dinner? Nope, off to the Minnesota History Center, our final museum. Eating would have to wait.
Tuesday’s after 5 PM is free day at the Minnesota History Center. I usually avoid Free Days like the plague. They are crowded and the people that go on Free Day usually are less well behaved than the paying crowd. I think that is in large part due to the amount of children that are brought on those days. But, they are closed on Mondays, so we had no choice if we wanted to see it.
There were three exhibits that I wanted to see. The first was right in front of us as we walked in to the museum. It was an exhibit of Toys from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Margo and I spent most of our time in this area, as it brought back so many memories of toys we had and toys we had coveted in our youth.
But, after this we were getting tired and a little irritable. While it was not as crowded as I expected, the manners of the children and a few selected adults did leave something to be desired. So, we saw the other two exhibits that I thought Margo would enjoy, “Weather Permitting” and “The Greatest Generation”
The “Weather Permitting” had a traditional museum exhibit where you wandered about and learned about weather related Minnesota history; the flood of 1997 and a questionable claim to the largest hail stone to name two. But the draw to this section was a production to show what it was like to endure the tornado that stuck Fridley, MN in 1965.
They take you into a recreated basement of a small home. In this basement you face a television and above that the small basement window commonly found in the Midwest. This window lets in light, and allows escape in case of a fire, but because it is at ground level gives you no view. They used it to give a sense of changes going on outside.
The show began with actual news reports of the approaching storm. Things like “severe storm likely” and advice on what do to if a tornado hits. The 15 or so of us are sitting on bleachers. Underneath these are woofer speakers, which are designed to product low frequency sounds. Those are the ones that will vibrate windows and walls.
They used this to great effect, coupled with the window, and the low light of the basement flickering and going out. The TV broadcasts continued until power was lost. It is well done, and they advice parents not to bring in young kids, because they will get scared. One lady did not heed that warning and her 3 year old definitely thought he was in the middle of a bad storm. His questions of what was happening added to the realism. She was able to calm to the point of no cries or screams, but he was shaken.
Lastly was “The Greatest Generation”, and focused on World War II. This exhibit also had two parts, the second being a recreation of a C-47 transport being shot down, with you inside. They used the same woofer technique and lighting coming through a recreated door where you, as a paratrooper, were going to jump. Again, very well done, and scary to small children. They focused on the life of one Minnesotan, who died after being shot down on this type of mission.
The exhibit had other things, like a soda fountain that you could get behind, or you could be on the assembly line producing artillery shells. These were well done as well, but by now we were way to tired and hungry to deal with all the kids running around. If we ever get back, we will come back. Even if they don’t have these same exhibits, they will have others as well done.
By now it is getting to be about 4:30 and Margo still wants to visit the gift shop. She had seen a charm, when he taken the Segway tour, so we went back there. We got that and some other trinkets and were on our way. Off to an early dinner? Nope, off to the Minnesota History Center, our final museum. Eating would have to wait.
Tuesday’s after 5 PM is free day at the Minnesota History Center. I usually avoid Free Days like the plague. They are crowded and the people that go on Free Day usually are less well behaved than the paying crowd. I think that is in large part due to the amount of children that are brought on those days. But, they are closed on Mondays, so we had no choice if we wanted to see it.
There were three exhibits that I wanted to see. The first was right in front of us as we walked in to the museum. It was an exhibit of Toys from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Margo and I spent most of our time in this area, as it brought back so many memories of toys we had and toys we had coveted in our youth.
But, after this we were getting tired and a little irritable. While it was not as crowded as I expected, the manners of the children and a few selected adults did leave something to be desired. So, we saw the other two exhibits that I thought Margo would enjoy, “Weather Permitting” and “The Greatest Generation”
Tuesday’s after 5 PM is free day at the Minnesota History Center. I usually avoid Free Days like the plague. They are crowded and the people that go on Free Day usually are less well behaved than the paying crowd. I think that is in large part due to the amount of children that are brought on those days. But, they are closed on Mondays, so we had no choice if we wanted to see it.
There were three exhibits that I wanted to see. The first was right in front of us as we walked in to the museum. It was an exhibit of Toys from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Margo and I spent most of our time in this area, as it brought back so many memories of toys we had and toys we had coveted in our youth.
But, after this we were getting tired and a little irritable. While it was not as crowded as I expected, the manners of the children and a few selected adults did leave something to be desired. So, we saw the other two exhibits that I thought Margo would enjoy, “Weather Permitting” and “The Greatest Generation”
The “Weather Permitting” had a traditional museum exhibit where you wandered about and learned about weather related Minnesota history; the flood of 1997 and a questionable claim to the largest hail stone to name two. But the draw to this section was a production to show what it was like to endure the tornado that stuck Fridley, MN in 1965.
They take you into a recreated basement of a small home. In this basement you face a television and above that the small basement window commonly found in the Midwest. This window lets in light, and allows escape in case of a fire, but because it is at ground level gives you no view. They used it to give a sense of changes going on outside.
The show began with actual news reports of the approaching storm. Things like “severe storm likely” and advice on what do to if a tornado hits. The 15 or so of us are sitting on bleachers. Underneath these are woofer speakers, which are designed to product low frequency sounds. Those are the ones that will vibrate windows and walls.
They used this to great effect, coupled with the window, and the low light of the basement flickering and going out. The TV broadcasts continued until power was lost. It is well done, and they advice parents not to bring in young kids, because they will get scared. One lady did not heed that warning and her 3 year old definitely thought he was in the middle of a bad storm. His questions of what was happening added to the realism. She was able to calm to the point of no cries or screams, but he was shaken.
Lastly was “The Greatest Generation”, and focused on World War II. This exhibit also had two parts, the second being a recreation of a C-47 transport being shot down, with you inside. They used the same woofer technique and lighting coming through a recreated door where you, as a paratrooper, were going to jump. Again, very well done, and scary to small children. They focused on the life of one Minnesotan, who died after being shot down on this type of mission.
The exhibit had other things, like a soda fountain that you could get behind, or you could be on the assembly line producing artillery shells. These were well done as well, but by now we were way to tired and hungry to deal with all the kids running around. If we ever get back, we will come back. Even if they don’t have these same exhibits, they will have others as well done.
Now it is about 7:30 and we are hungry. Mickey’s Diner, featured in numerous films, including “The Mighty Ducks’, is a St Paul institution since 1939. This is where we would have dinner. Mickey’s is designed to look like a 1930s railroad dining car, so it is small. It is also always open. The MLB All-Star game was about to start, about 7 miles away in Minneapolis, so I was hoping it would not be busy. It wasn’t, and we got seats at the counter.
They were out of liver and onions, so Margo had to settle for a Cheeseburger. I got their traditional breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast. It is quite a site to watch a good short order cook work. The guy manning the grill here was good, a little sloppy, but good. He cracked eggs one handed, while dumping mounds of preshredded potatoes on the grill, and flipping pancakes while using a press on the frying bacon.
Margo and I spent our time watching him and taking in the ambiance of the place. I think we got mostly tourists like ourselves, but there was at least one local, who had not been there in awhile. The guy who was waiting the restaurant (not just the few tables) had been there for a decade and was good at chatting people up while keeping the food flowing.
The food was done reasonably quickly and was good. It was not spectacular, but it was good comfort food, and the fact that we were starved made it taste even better. I ended up buying a souvenir menu and Margo got a root beer float (IBC Root Beer) in a souvenir glass.
After this we were done. The guy at the counter told us about Candyland, another St Paul institution, which had been in business longer than Mickey’s. It was only about two blocks away, so we decided to walk over. It was a nice candy story, but we both were now very full and nothing appealed to us. We found our car and drove back to the hotel.
That was it. There was no more vacation left in Minneapolis/St Paul. We had packing to do and the flight back home, but the fun was over. We got back to the hotel and Margo noticed she had a text. It was from a family friend and co-worker. The message was about Margo’s step-father, and he was not doing well. He has had leukemia for about a decade. The last year or two it has begun to really go after him, and now Margo’s step-sister had put him in hospice that day. I guess not only was our vacation over, but reality was going to meet us at the airport.
They were out of liver and onions, so Margo had to settle for a Cheeseburger. I got their traditional breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast. It is quite a site to watch a good short order cook work. The guy manning the grill here was good, a little sloppy, but good. He cracked eggs one handed, while dumping mounds of preshredded potatoes on the grill, and flipping pancakes while using a press on the frying bacon.
Margo and I spent our time watching him and taking in the ambiance of the place. I think we got mostly tourists like ourselves, but there was at least one local, who had not been there in awhile. The guy who was waiting the restaurant (not just the few tables) had been there for a decade and was good at chatting people up while keeping the food flowing.
The food was done reasonably quickly and was good. It was not spectacular, but it was good comfort food, and the fact that we were starved made it taste even better. I ended up buying a souvenir menu and Margo got a root beer float (IBC Root Beer) in a souvenir glass.
After this we were done. The guy at the counter told us about Candyland, another St Paul institution, which had been in business longer than Mickey’s. It was only about two blocks away, so we decided to walk over. It was a nice candy story, but we both were now very full and nothing appealed to us. We found our car and drove back to the hotel.
That was it. There was no more vacation left in Minneapolis/St Paul. We had packing to do and the flight back home, but the fun was over. We got back to the hotel and Margo noticed she had a text. It was from a family friend and co-worker. The message was about Margo’s step-father, and he was not doing well. He has had leukemia for about a decade. The last year or two it has begun to really go after him, and now Margo’s step-sister had put him in hospice that day. I guess not only was our vacation over, but reality was going to meet us at the airport.