Minnesota Journey July
We left for Minnesota early Sunday morning, picking up Jim at Mary and Roger’s house. To no one’s surprise Mary greeted us at 6:00 in the morning. We trekked to Madison WI for breakfast at the Old Fashioned restaurant which is right next to the State Capitol building. It was a typical Wisconsin breakfast, complete with fresh donuts and chocolate milk. We then toured the state capital building and the University of Wisconsin campus, adding to our Big Ten school visit total of 8. Madison is a beautiful campus, especially Lake Mendota.
We drove to Mille Lacs Lake, which is about 90 minutes northwest of Minneapolis/St. Paul. We stopped at Billie’s, the only grocery store around and bought some pizza for dinner. We settled into the condo at Izatzys’ and explored the area before calling it a night.
On the way to Kathio State Park Monday morning, “eagle-eyed” Brigid spotted a bald eagle in a tree. We tried to photograph, but the bird flew away before we could. At the state park, we climbed a 100 foot tower and got a good overview of the area. We then rented 3 canoes and paddled for about 3 hours on a river within the park. The canoeing teams were Pat and Linda, Jim and Bill, and Brigid and Joe for the most part, but we did interchange halfway through. We met some fishermen by a dam and talked with them. They were also staying at Izatzy’s and jokingly offered to have us stop by their unit for breakfast the next morning (only $3 per person). They also told us some good restaurants to consider.
After a quick dinner at a hamburger joint, we purchased Minnesota fishing licenses and went fishing from Eddy’s on Mille Lacs (second largest lake in Minnesota—I think 4 miles across). Leeches were the bait used (but supposedly not blood sucking kind) and one had to reach into a bucketful before grabbing one to put on the hook. The Illinois side of the boat was more successful than the locals. Any fish caught had to be between 18 and 20 inches long (called slot fishing) or it was tossed back in. The captain of the ship was named Tom and he kept us entertained. Everyone but Bill caught fish, a total of 10. There were only 3 “keepers”. Tom cleaned them when we returned to shore. The Minnesota game warden was there to be sure we all had licenses and didn’t have any fish that were over limit. Mille Lacs is adjacent to an American Indian reservation. Any Indian from the Milles Lacs band (part of the Ojibwe tribe) can keep any fish they catch.
Tuesday morning we drove around a bit and bought Panko bread crumbs and eggs so that we could fry our catch from the night before. Lunch was fried fish, rice and fresh strawberries. Everyone helped prepare and cook. Never has fish tasted so fresh! We ate all the fish except for 3 pieces which was breakfast the next morning.
There is a casino on the Indian reservation. We went there on Tuesday night to play bingo. We bought our bingo cards (we each had 6 cards per game) and started playing marking the called numbers with pens from the desk , except for Brigid who was given an “official dabber”. During the third game, a worker came up with another dabber and said that we had to use the dabbers otherwise any wins would not count. So, it was a hilarious sight, seeing 3 people on each side of the table quickly passing the dabber between them marking the numbers for a game or two. Then, the casino personnel took pity on us and gave us each our own stamper. Brigid won $60 and gave a $2 tip to the caller.
We all registered to be Grand Casino members and received $5 to play in the slot machines. Jim was able to parlay his $5 into $80. We then quickly left the casino, winners for the night.
On Wednesday morning, we drove to Saint John’s University to see an Illuminated Bible that Jim had heard about at Theology on Tap. The university is renowned for its work with saving, preserving and restoring ancient documents. The 2’ x 2’ Bible was written on vellum by hand by 6 calligraphers and took 15 years to complete. There is also beautiful artwork on the pages depicting Biblical verses and stories. Total cost was $13 million. There was some discussion if it was money well spent or if the money would have been better spent to help the poor.
Then onward to St. Paul where we stayed at Embassy Suites. We walked around downtown St. Paul a bit before driving to Minneapolis to see the Twins play the Kansas City Royals. We had to park a few blocks from the stadium because our cartop carrier limited the parking options. The stadium is nice, but it is downtown right next to Target Center where the Timberwolves play, so everything seemed a bit cramped.
After a filling made-to-order breakfast at the hotel, we bicycled around the Minneapolis area. Minneapolis has more miles of bike trails than highway miles. The bike trip took us past 2 gorgeous lakes, a waterfall (Minnihaha), the University of Minnesota (9 on Big Ten total), the old wheat grinding mills (Pillsbury, Gold Medal), the site of the highway bridge collapse 6 years previous, and Sculpture Garden. We walked around the Sculpture Garden where our bikes got a good washing from the sprinkler system.
On the last mile or two, Linda had a minor fall, injuring her foot (more on this later). But we continued on and had fish tacos from the Tin Fish restaurant located right on one of the lakes, before returning our bikes. Probably a 20 mile loop that day. On the entire trip, we did not see any “bad” parts of the city and decided Minneapolis would be a great place to retire to from May to October.
Back at the hotel, Linda took off her shoe and discovered that her left big toe was “dislocated” and in an awkward position. Fortified with a glass of wine, she allowed the family physical therapist to “relocate” the toe and put it back in proper alignment. We then went to Mall of America and Linda was able to walk with limited problems. Mall of America is a gigantic place with an amusement park in the middle and large Lego store and displays.
Friday morning, before heading back to Illinois, we stopped at St. Paul’s Cathedral. It is beautiful with many statues and stained windows. John F. Kennedy visited here and there is a marker on the pew where he sat. It was more massive than the one we visited in KY last year but the KY one had much more beautiful carved wood.
Jim had a wedding to go to on Friday night, so we returned back to Northbrook by about 4:30. We stopped by Mail Sort with a cake for Mary’s birthday and to fill her and Roger in on trip details.
All in all, a great trip!
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