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.