Exploration around St. Paul

The Samsung had a great big adventure today. Breakfast with Luchie and his new car. We then headed to Lowertown St. Paul, to view the sun rise from the Smith High bridge. The morning started out very humid and hazy, as I introduced Luchi to the big green chair. He seemed to sense how much I enjoy bringing people to visit the chair.....

Despite the fresh and slippery coating of dew,
I insisted that he climb up and pose for a photo.

We drove slowly through the abandoned U.S. Bureau of Mines site and

Camp Coldwater, also known as "The birthplace of Minnesota".

Military use of the spring began in 1820 when soldiers camped there

during the construction of Fort Snelling.

For more information go to;   www.friendsofcoldwater.org

Very creepy site....
One would expect to see Zombies here
 

Toxic Zombies.....

If you are curious about exploring the abandoned Bureau of Mines Buildings, you can go to the following site and read about some interesting exploration attempts;  http://www.tcur.org/index3/BoM.html



Now on to some fresh air.......

Our next stop was Minnehaha Falls, where the recent rain surplus provided a spectacular view of the swollen falls. Looking toward the warm morning sunshine, I noticed a fine mist in the air coming from the loud rushing waterfalls. It felt refreshing on my face and arms, the day was heating up rapidly.

We cruised up and down the Mississippi parkway in Luchi's fine new car.

The sky was such a deep vivid blue, and the clouds were extra large and puffy.

As you can see below, this water tower was constructed in 1928

We cut through Highland Park and headed towards home. As I reached way up to hug my son goodbye, it felt like he had grown taller. I kissed him on his cheek and thanked him for a very special morning.

I asked if he had grown, but he said he didn't think he had. Maybe he just seemed taller because I hadn't seen him in a couple months.  As he drove away, I waived goodbye and felt so much pride and love. It was then that I decided that even if he hadn't grown taller, I was proud of how much he is growing up.


My day continues.....

We enjoyed a picnic at one of my most favorite locations in St. Paul. "Hidden Falls Park". Located on the east bank of the Mississippi River, just down from the Ford plant, and across from Fort Snelling. 

 Bed and Breakfast Boat

This is a great area to spot eagles

 We passed by the Governor's mansion on Summit Avenue, on our way to the St. Paul Cathedral.

Tim lives here......for now...

I thoroughly enjoyed a couple hours taking photos of patron saints, prayer candles, ornate carvings, paintings and stained glass windows.
To my surprise Michelangelo's "The Pietà" was on temporary display.
I stood there in excitement feeling so fortunate to be examining this breathtaking sculpture. I was amazed at the detail. Even though I found out later that the statue was a replica, I still felt the powerful emotion that  the sculpter had intended.

Michelangelo's "The Pietà" (replica)

Michelangelo's "The Pietà", (pea ay TAH) was created by Michelangelo in 1498, when he was 23 years old. The statue is a life size solid white marble sculpture depicting the Virgin Mary holding the body of her son Jesus Christ after his death.

The Pieta has been created in many different forms by various painters and sculptors. Of all the great paintings and sculptures on the Pieta, however, the one by Michelangelo stands out from all the rest.

Prior to sculpting the Pietà, Michelangelo was relatively unknown to the world as an artist. He was only in his early twenties when he was commissioned in 1498 to do a life-size sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding her son in her arms. It would be the first of four that he would create and the only one he completely finished. It was to be unveiled in St. Peter's Basilica for the Jubilee of 1500. In less than two years Michelangelo carved from a single slab of marble, one of the most magnificent sculptures ever created. His interpretation of the Pieta was far different than ones previously created by other artists. Michelangelo decided to create a youthful, serene and celestial Virgin Mary instead of a broken hearted and somewhat older woman.

When it was unveiled a proud Michelangelo stood by and watched as people admired the beautiful Pietà. However, what was pride quickly turned into anger as he overheard a group of people attributing the work to other artists of his time. That anger caused Michelangelo to add one last thing to his sculpture. Going down the sash on the Virgin Mary, Michelangelo carved his name. He later regretted that his emotions got the best of him and vowed to never sign another one of his works again.

When we finished our visit at the cathedral, we headed to Dayton's Bluff  for a tasty chocolate malt at the vintage 1951 drive-in named  "The Dairy-ette". 

So now I am back home, sifting through a couple hundred photos, reflecting and documenting this most perfect day. I went online to read about "The Pietà" and found the following information below.

Replica of Michelangelo's Pietà to remain at the Cathedral permanently

The replica of Michelangelo's Pietà will remain at the Cathedral of Saint Paul, National Shrine of the Apostle Paul permanently, thanks to a generous donor who wishes to remain anonymous.


For more information on Michelangelo’s art and the casting of his Pietà, go to http://www.lapieta.com/.
 


 I hope you enjoyed reading about my experiences. Please sign in and leave me your questions or comments.

Day trip up the river

  We took Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang out for a ride on the Vermillion river today.

This little guy tagged along......

Took a spin past "Eddy Street"

 The storefronts look like a toy model of a quaint little town.

Picked out some new duds.........New hat.....New boots...............

Stopped in at "Fast Eddie's"

We didn't stop in at the "Busted Nut" this trip.
However, the next time we are in Hastings
we just might stop on in for some cold beer
and a big basket of fresh, salted-in-the-shell peanuts.

Checked out this odd little beauty, (for a friend).

Checked out this abandoned World War II munitions factory

Gopher Munitions Plant (a.k.a. "The U-Lands")

During World War II, the Federal Government acquired 13,000 acres of farmland in Rosemount, displacing 90 families in 1942. Construction of the Gopher Ordnance Works (a munitions plant) on said farmland began in May of 1942 by E.I. Dupont deNemours and Company.


Twenty thousand workers and 856 new buildings were part of the project at a cost of $123,855,448. Operations of the war munitions plant, which was never fully functioning, ceased in April of 1945 when the war ended.

At that time 8,000 acres of the land were obtained by the University of Minnesota and a number of the buildings were used during the 1947-48 polio outbreak. Currently, the University of Minnesota’s Agricultural Research Station and the Dakota County Technical College are located on part of the site.



(from the City of Rosemount's homepage)

Historic Hastings Courthouse built in 1870

Ornate Foyer

Beauty School

The Mississippi River at Hastings. Just before the river meets the St. Croix, in Prescott.

Shirts -vs- Skins

Ball Smashers '97

Yuri's: Club Andropov

Bolt of Love

73 is the new 53

I couldn't help but gasp, as I clicked on the photo of my 73 year old mother waiving from her rooftop.
I am now convinced that 73 is the new 53. What the hell was she doing on the roof, and more so, why?
And who in their right mind took the photo? Okay, it was Daddy, he emailed it to me, and he's always in his right mind.

Actually, in all honesty, I really wasn't all that surprised to see it. After all, my mom went para sailing in Jamaica, and has always been the type of Grandma that would take the grand kids to the park, climb up the tornado slide, slink down the vertical poles, and push the kids on the swings. I was the one who would tire, get hot, and go sit on the bench in the shade, waiting for Grama to tire my kids out. But the kids seemed to tire out long before Grama was finished playing. I remember one time coming to pick-up the kids at her house and to my horror, found my Mom down on all fours, with my youngest son riding on her back, like a pony. He had tied shoestrings and those lace-up puzzles were dangling from her back. When they noticed I was studying their strange game, I started to laugh in wonder and amazement. Even though her grand kids now are all grown and one has a child of his own, Mom still has cool toys in her garage, for when we all come to visit. She has a cool wooden train whistle, a red wagon, a pogo stick, and even some stilts. She used to have this really cool rubber band-shooting riffle, but it mysteriously disappeared after an "incident" when one of my boys nearly shot their eye out.
When we were little, she always saw to it my sisters and I had cool toys to play with.

One year she even went to work for a toy company, in order to earn extra cash for Christmas presents.

From the time she was a young girl, she loved to play ball with her brothers.  I can remember being old enough to be babysat by my older sisters, we would spend hours at the baseball fields. Mom was an avid first baseman, who would continuously turn double and triple plays. You could always count on her to get the person out on first, and do the splits and snag someone out, with her viciously accurate arm. We would put small rocks in empty soda cans we would find under the bleachers. Shaking our noisy cans, behind the fence, while cheering our Mom and her team on to victory. I remember how proud I was of her, when her team crushed her division, and went to the state championships. She had her very own aluminum bat, which she would use to regularly put the softball over the fence.

With her awesome power and love of the game, you would hear her chatting it up, "Come on girls, two down and the plays at home". In hindsight, I think she was making up for all the games she didn't get to play as a child, because they rarely had a ball to play with. I remember hearing her tell about the time her brothers asked if they could use her doll's head for a ball. I do know that she was more into playing ball, than playing with dolls, so who knows.....maybe she did give in and let them use it.

Among other things I remember Mom doing was to put her old 1950's roller skates on and skate up and down the bumpy sidewalk, in front of our suburban house. The excitement seemed to draw all the kids out of their houses, to check out the sight. I remember feeling so proud, watching her skating around.

Besides roller-skating, Mom was also a skilled water skier. So skilled that Dad could never dump her, no matter how hard he tried. When I was very young I remember Dad would take my sisters and I piggy-back skiing. That was fun for us, but Dad always had to keep reminding us that we were holding on so tight we were choking him.  (Sorry Dad!). I think Dad liked to drive the boat more than skiing himself. One of my most favorite water skiing memories was when I was a teen. Mom and I were being pulled around the lake while Dad  was on a mission to make huge circles with the boat until Mom and I wiped out. He was as determined to make us fall, as we were to not take a spill. As we hung on for dear life, the waves got larger and choppier, our arms and legs felt weaker by the moment. With each new wake crashing into the waves from the last circle we made. When the waves were coming at us from all directions, Mom motioned her arm for me to take the calmer lane directly behind the boat. She battled on, with the largest waves in the outside lane. It was either our adrenaline or our insatiable need to prove to Dad that we had the strength and courage to hold on and take what ever he could dish out. Proudly, somehow we both managed to hang on and never wipe out.

Mom was the very best slalom water skier I'd ever seen. For years, we would go on these fabulous summer vacations to our favorite lake. Wading out into the lake, until the water was just past her knees, Mom would slip on one ski, gather up the tow-rope, and yell, "Hit it!" to my Dad. You would hear the exciting sound of the boat's engine going full throttle. The very second the slack ran out of the rope, and jerked, she would magically step up on to the surface of the water, and viola....she was skiing. She would wear her sunglasses and this blue two piece swim suit and a belted life preserver. Once she was across the lake, she would remove her left foot from the binding, and grasp the handle with her foot. She would then lock her fingers together, behind her head and lean way back, making big rooster tails. Back and forth, across the wakes, back and forth, never falling. She was so athletic and strong.

She had all the grace and strength just like the members of "The Tommy Bartlett Water Ski Show". 

I can remember how patient Mom was when she taught me how to ski. She kept saying, "Relax, and bend your knees". Crunch yourself up into a ball, and when the boat starts pulling you, keep your legs together and stand up slowly". I was so afraid of the sting from getting water up my nose. So I would just let the boat drag me and my skis for a bit and then just give up and let go. As an adult now, looking back, I feel bad that I tried Dad's patience by being so timid about learning. I tried and tried, until one time, with Mom's encouragement, I hung on and stood up. It was exhilarating and once I overcame the fear, I couldn't get enough of the feeling of gliding across the water. I was never the skilled skier that my Mom once was, but none the less, I hung on and learned how to do it.

For a few short years in the 70's, our state had a professional soccer team. One hot summer day, we attended a match. My sisters and I seemed to be more interested in the large sodas at the snack bar and the trendy light blue and orange t-shirts and visors they were selling, than the game itself. At intermission, the announcer instructed everyone over the age of 18, to immediately look under their seat for a sheet of paper that would enter you in a goal kicking contest, if you so chose. I don't remember what the prize was, but that remains irrelevant to this day. As we checked under our seats and only found used chewing gum, we heard Mom yell, "Hey, I got it!". I remember feeling extra proud of Mom at that very moment. As Dad gave her the nod of approval, she excitedly headed down to the field to kick the goal. Watching Mom head down towards the field, I noticed she was wearing sandals and thought for a second that might be a problem, and yelled "Good luck Mom!" But no, she wouldn't let a little thing like sandals hold her back from this once in a lifetime experience. Our seats were so far back that you had to squint to check out Mom's competition, as they started lining up on the field below. My sisters and I watched patiently until the official motioned that it was Mom's turn to kick the goal. Mom started running towards the ball and gave it a nice hard kick. The ball went up, but to our surprise, it fell short of the goal. We clapped and shouted in support. Even though Mom missed the goal, she was a winner in our hearts. I glanced over at Dad and he had one of the hugest grins on his face I've ever seen him wear.

So when I telephone my parents, and Dad answers the phone, I've got to be patient while waiting for Mom to come to the phone. Because you just never know what she could be "up to".