Twin Cities

  Last stop, Minneapolis/St. Paul.  Spent some quality time there.  Sister cities, Minneapolis's population is approx. 100,000 more than St. Paul (400,000 vs 300,000); we stayed on the East side of St. Paul, great area for services/shops/biking.  Matter of fact, the whole area is very bike friendly; lots of outdoor activity, but then it is the Summer and their Winters are brutal.

 

Minneapolis was the home to many Scandanavians, St. Paul to Irish and Germans. St. Paul is the capital of the state.  Both cities are home to several Fortune 500 companies (General Mills, 3M, Target, Best Buy, US Bankcorp, United Health).   Both cities have famous streets with huge, grand homes from the wealthy days at the turn of the century; many have been kept up, some have become museums.  The area has the lowest unemployment rate of any major area in the country (just under 4%),  reflected by all the help wanted signs we saw everywhere.

 

Both cities have the Mississippi River snaking through them and the river (plus the railroad) was the stimulus for much of the growth and wealth of the cities.  In Minneapolis, Pillsbury harnassed the Saint Anthony Falls to develop the largest (for 40 years) flour processing mill in the world.  By 1900 14% of American grain was milled in Minneapolis.

 

 

View of the Mississippi from the west side of Minneapolis; you can see St. Anthony Falls in the left background.

 

St. Paul is home to the famous St. Paul Cathedral, a magnificent building initiated by the efforts of Archbishop Ireland in the early 1900's.  The building was completed in 1915 (although work to complete the interior went on for 25 years.  The massive building sits atop Summit Hill, overlooking the city and the Mississippi.  Granite exterior, 305' high, topped by a copper dome 120' wide, holds 3000 people; very impressive.

View of the altar; they really made it beautiful.

View of the organ.

Had a chance to play some tennis with HH buddy Keene McCammon on one of the few soft courts in Minnesota.  Also got to spend some time at dinner with Don Steele (on his way from Santa Monica, CA to Toronto) and Keene.

Stopped by the famous Mall of America and Nordstroms.  The inner area is basically an amusement park; if you blow up this picture you should be able to see some kind of whipping, whirling wild ride in the center of the picture; people seemed to love it.

Had a nice dinner with old friends Brian and Lizzy Nelson (from USAF Academy days); they are in the process of selling their beautiful home and moving to Colo; enjoyed the evening immensely.

Just to make you guys feel good; on the way home had some maintenance done.  These guys at HWH Industries put this 50,000 lb coach up on a lift like it was nothing.  A dirty little secret in the RV world; you are always fixing your rig.  Reminds me of Jaguars in the 60's; if you can't stomach the constant work, you really shouldn't have one of these.  Gives RV owners a lot to talk about over their campfires at night.

Mayo

Had a quick stop at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, since they are one of the few (if not the only) medical centers that dedicate research to polycythemia.  Can't tell you how impressed Marlene and I are with this place.  Clean, courteous, careful, patient oriented, quick, coordinated, organized, team oriented, very comfortable/pleasant to visit.  No one wants to go to a hospital, but, if you've got to go, this is one great place.  Our MD specialist was in no hurry with us, spent 45 min-1 hour with us, reviewed lifetime history, recent history with my Hilton Head GP and oncologist,  examined me, of course, and brought us up to date on the latest research on the disease.  All the lab work was, like everything else, professional, comfortable, clean and quick.  Since our current medical system is going through so much change we felt fortunate to be able to experience what excellent medical care could be.  Can't say enough about it.

 

 

 

Picture of the one of the lobbies in the Gonda building; one of the main buildings

Just outside the building, a little sitting area w/flowers, on a beautiful Summer morning.

Delightful Duluth

Spent a few days in delightful Duluth, MN.  It didn't hurt that the temps were 75-80 with low humidity.  Outstanding RV location at a marina right downtown; lots of shoreline paths for biking/jogging, could easily walk into town to restaurants/shops, got to enjoy the aerial lift bridge and visitor center/marine museum among other things.  Duluth, along with Superior, WI are active ports on the southwestern edge of Lake Superior (the first or second largest freshwater lake in the world).  With the opening of the Sault Ste. Marie locks (1855), ships could navigate through the entire St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes to bring cargo and passengers to Duluth.  Ships came in loaded and returned empty.  Then in 1870, the Pacific Railroad was started, opening up a gateway to the West, Duluth then became the only port with access to both the Atlantic and the Pacific.  At that point the ships came in loaded and left loaded with Midwest grain, timber, copper, among other things.

 

Duluth has been called the "San Francisco of the Midwest" because of it's topography; from the shoreline you have to climb some impressive elevation to go inland; they must have their hands full managing those roads in the Winter.

 

A view of part of Duluth from the elevated Skyline Parkway; what you see is mainland Duluth bordering the shore of  Superior Bay, the harbor that protects and services the freighters.  The green island is called Minnesota Point, arguably the longest freshwater sandbar/sandspit in the world, connecting Duluth to Superior.  Our RV park was right on the marina that you see in the picture, connected to Canal Park (restaurants/shops/hotels/museums) by the Aerial Lift Bridge.

 Another look further to the South from the Skyline Parkway; note the extensive railroad yards, so important in the development of Duluth; the bridge you see connects Duluth to Superior, WI

A view down Lake Street; don't know if you can tell how steep it is; it is pretty steep; I can see Steve McQueen racing his Mustang (?) down this street with similar effects from his movie "Bullet).

With the discovery of copper, the opening of the Soo Locks, the railroads to the West, Duluth became a major port of entry for mostly European immigrants; they poured in from 1880-1920; Duluth became an Ellis Island; they were hungry for freedom, for a better life.  Some of them stayed: Duluth had 38 different ethnic groups represented; the 1930 census showed that more than 50% of Duluth's population were foreign born.  Even today, Minnesota has much higher than norm immigrant parentage.  The above picture is from the famous Union Depot railroad waiting room in Duluth; they have a museum set up there and an area dedicated to the great immigration period; some great stories and pics there.

For all you Irishmen, blow this pic up and read about the Irish coming to America; my mother's parents and my brother in law's parents both Irish just off the boat.

  
Nice little ditty about Duluth 1892; double click it to read it better.

Where we stayed was on the Minnesota Point, a long freshwater sandbar that borders Superior Bay and protects ships from Lake Superior.  Originally there was only one opening, near Superior, WI and Duluth wasn't getting any business.  The story below tells of how Duluthians took matters into their own hands and carved out a canal so that the Duluth port could compete; interesting story.

After the canal/break in the sandbar was completed the peninsula became an island with a ferry crossing until a competition in 1862 resulted in an idea for a moveable lift span transfer car (like a large gondola) that would transfer people, carriages and carts across the opening. Unfortunately the design wasn't approved by the War Dept in Washington, but eventually something similar was built in the early 1900s.  An unusual Aerial Lift Bridge, where the center section raises up to allow freighters/ships to pass.  Still is use today; attracts quite a crowd when ships pass by; a lot of fun to see.

Typical 1000 foot freighter coming through the canal/under the aerial lift bridge on a nice Saturday afternoon.

Bridge going up; I am on my bike waiting to cross.

 You can get an idea  of how high this thing raises; here the big freighter  passes under when the lift is at max height.

Finally, couldn't resist this pic; the massive Duluth Central High School w/clock tower built in 1892; in use until 1972 when 8 tons of coal/day to heat the place in the winter just got to be too expensive.  Each clock face is 10 1/2 feet in diameter.  The place sits halfway up the hill and it is just massive.  Glad they kept it and renovated it.

Upper Peninsula III

Spent our last few days in Michigan on the western side of the Upper Peninsula.  Had a nice campsite fronting a lake, very peaceful; good base to explore what we had not seen.  The locals, called "Da Yoopers", were very friendly, seemed to be good, hard working folks.  Definitely beginning to feel like the heartland.

 

 

 Went up to the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula, on the western edge, bordering Lake Superior.  As you can see from the above, Lake Superior is the largest and deepest of the Great Lakes, all of which were formed after the last Ice Age, when a warming climate 10,000-20,000 years produced a receding glacier, which carved out the lakes.  Lake Superior is really cold, even in high season in the Summer; nevertheless, we saw a number of people wading/swimming in the waters on our way up to the point.  Also interesting, due to tectonic plate rifting, some of the oldest igneous rocks in Earth's existence (estimated to be approximately 1 billion years old) became exposed to the surface during the glacial retreat. 

 

 While the northwestern part of the peninsula is famous for its copper, further south was the discovery of  vast amounts of iron ore, among three main formations, that produced quite the mining rush starting in the 1840s.  We visited the Michigan Iron Industry Museum, learned about the booms and busts of the iron mining business.  Much labor turnover due to the terrible Winters and the flies/mosquitos in the Spring/Summer.  Many of those who hung in there to do the tough work, hungry immigrants, mostly from Scandinavia, looking for a better life.  America's greatness was built on the promise that draws immigrants from all over the world; I think we have forgotten that (no apologies to Trump)

 

Finally, we kept seeing signs like "Suzy's Pasties" and "We have the best pasties".  I thought they were talking about strip clubs.  Turns out that pasties are a food, kind of like a meat turnover, with potatoes and onions.  Introduced to the area by Cornish miners.  I had one; not bad.

Upper Peninsula II

At the Northeast corner of the UP is Sault Ste. Marie, "the Soo".  Gateway to Ontario, it's canal locks connect Lake Superior to the 21' foot lower Lake Huron.  It is a busy passageway, 1000' freighters are common; it is the world's busiest/largest canal, in terms of tonnage.

Took a tour of the "Soo" locks; above the lock closing at Lake Superior level;

then, 20 minutes later, 21' lower to Lake Huron level.

Visited the interesting shipwreck museum in Whitefish Point, Paradise; so many stories of ships sinking in the lakes.  Most famous, the Edmund Fitzgerald, once the largest freighter of it's kind, sank in November, 1975.  Matter of fact, many of the disasters came in Novembers.  Gordon Lightfoot made a great vocal on the Edmund Fitzgerald; there is a Youtube video with the music and words; I know all of you would remember it.  I would have included a shortcut here, but, once again, I couldn't figure out how to do it.

Saw this on one of the tours; a Gumbee Suit, designed to help crew members after the Fitzgerald sinking.

Upper Peninsula I

Upper Peninsula

Spending some time in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  We have wanted to come up here for some time, but with their winters so cold, the peninsula doesn't really warm up too quickly; middle of July was perfect.

The UP is surrounded by Lake Superior to the North, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron to the South and East, and Wisconsin to the West. First Europeans greeting the natives were Frenchman looking for a shortcut to the Far East.  Eventually, the French gave up rights to the UP after the French Indian War, then to the US in 1783. It wasn't always part of Michigan.  It was awarded to Michigan when Michigan agreed to give up their rights to the "Toledo Strip" to Ohio in 1836.  At the time, Ohio appeared to have the better deal.  However, when copper and iron ore mines were discovered on the UP, things changed.  The mines eventually produced more wealth than the gold rush in California.  The mines are closed now, but the area still produces timber logging and borders the freight traffic that navigates on the Great Lakes.

We stayed in the little town of St. Ignace (SE tip of the peninsula); must say the area is not very crowded for peak of the summer.   We did discover that Winter can be busy; they had ice 4 foot thick Lake Huron this past winter.  This was perfect for their famous Pond Hockey Tournament (215 teams), one of the largest in the country.

One exception to the rather modest number of tourists was the delightful Mackinac Island; reachable by ferry (no autos allowed).  The island has a colorful history, including Ft.Macinac, built by the British, taken over by America in 1783, then back to the British during the first battle of the War of 1812, then back to America in a later treaty.  The fort has been fully renovated, sits up on commanding hill, the preservation society gives many tours and soldier demonstrations in period costumes, great fun.  The place was packed with people, horse/carriages, bicycles and some nice places to eat; we had a great time.

 

 

View of the town on the way up the ramp to the Fort. 

 

 

 

Street scene next to the water; lots of people, beautiful day

 

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Picture of the famous Ft. Mackinac.; nice hike up there

Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids is the second largest city in Michigan, located about 30 miles east of Lake Michigan. Dubbed the "furniture city" in the late 19th century because of all the furniture manufacturers that were located here, it lost that honor to High Point, NC; Grand Rapids still has numerous office furniture companies here, including Steelcase.  In 1945 the city was the first in the nation to introduce fluoride into their drinking water.  

 

As manufacturers moved overseas, Grand Rapids lost many companies and jobs.  In 2011 Newsweek called Grand Rapids a dying city.  The city took umbrage and produced a music video in protest, called the Grand Rapids LipDub; which Roger Ebert called he greatest social music video ever, and, has since, entertained some 5.3 million viewers.  It is on you tube; I tried to copy a shortcut onto the blog, but I just can't figure out how to do it.  If you are interested in watching, just google it; it's easy to find.  5000 people participated in the production, a true community effort.

 

We found the city very nice.  As in many cities, benefactors contributed greatly to the public spaces/buildings.  That's what we need in Hilton Head, some generous benefactors.  Of note in Grand Rapids: Frederick Meijer, developed 190 Meijer hypermarkets (think super Walmarts).  He became a multi-billionaire and contributed greatly to the city including the world class Meijer botanical  and sculpture gardens.  Also, Jay Van Andel and Rich DeVos, two very entrepreneurial college dropouts who started Amway in their basement; they also became multi-billionaires and their philanthropy is evident all throughout the city.  

 

 Gerald Ford was from Grand Rapids; excelled in football in college, passed up a chance to play in the pros and instead went to Yale law school.  President for just a short time, nevertheless, his experience in defense related affairs helped complete the Salt II talks with Breznev, finalize our exit from VietNam and bring closure to the Nixon era with his controversial pardon.  Pilloried as a bumbling, naïve caretaker (especially on Saturday Night Live), he was widely regarded for his integrity and his ability to get things done; his most ardent supporter, Henry Kissinger.  Kissinger's comments  at Ford's funeral were eloquent and moving; he said Ford was one of the great men of his time.  I think Ford's reputation as a President has been getting better over time.

 Sculpture of a lineman at the museum

 Meijer's sculptures include ones by Henry More and Rodin; here a fun one called "Broken Nose Carrying a Bottle".  Zoom in on the picture; see if you can see the broken nose.

 This one is called "Listening to History" by Bill Woodrow.

 Marlene, obviously having a great time at dinner at Tabor Hill winery.

 Tennis with Wayne Brenneman, who visits HH each winter

Dinner with Wayne and Nancy Brenneman; what a wonderful day we had

Tennis

Got to hit the tennis ball occasionally.

On the way to Michigan, got to play some tennis with Hilton Head bud (moving back to South Bend) Jim Mansfield.  Won 1, lost 1, on newly surfaced Notre Dame hard courts.

Practice field for the Irish football team, right across the street from the tennis courts.  Haviland, this one's for you.

Chicago VI

Final days in Chicago; nice visit.

Did a Architectural Foundation cruise on the Chicago River.  Excellent docent; above another Chicago special, the "Aqua" building.  82 story designed by Jeanne Gang, built 2009; largest building design every awarded to firm headed by a woman.  Undulating appearance of irregular concrete slabs because she couldn't make up her mind; no, strike that, sorry.  It was to maximize solar benefits; building is very environmental (LEED certified).  Voted skyscraper of the year in 2009. First skyscraper in Chicago to combine hotel, condos and apartments.

Took in a Saturday performance of "Best of 2nd City TV"; freakin hilarious, followed by nice dinner at Adobo Grill downstairs, where they make fresh guacamole at your table.  Thanks, Tim.

Went to the Navy pier, nice time, although major construction.  Should be finished by 2016; we'll see.