St. Paul Minnesota -Week Twenty Eight

Yes, you get two blogs for the price of one this week. Just imagine how long this thing would be if I had told you all about the dentist as well as the rest of my week.

Consider it a continuation of the last entry.

I got out of the dentist at 4pm and decided that I was going to see my friend Anne. I had promised her that I would and there was no way I was going to cancel out. I am so glad that I did. Driving the 2 1/2 hours to Winona was some of the most beautiful driving I have done in awhile. When you are on road trips the highway gets so boring, yet the speed at which you can drive kinda makes it worth while. The route I took to Anne was all county highways, so you could see the beauty of the countryside AND drive like a bat of out hell. I gotta tell ya, I could so live here. You all know how much I love the sticks. I grew up in a very small town of only 500 people and later, went to the opposite extreme of living in a city of 8 million. The older I get the more I can feel myself gravitating back toward living in a rural enviornment.
The Twin Cities are cool. No doubt about that. They have architecture, culture, and nightlife. However, if you drive only a half hour south on route 52, you are in farmland. This seems optimum to me. I could live in the outback, but have civilization just a jaunt away. There are very few places I have seen in all my travels, where you don't have to go through miles and miles of the burbs before you hit the farmland. I like it. I am going to have to seriously consider that when I finally decide where I want to sit when my wanderlust dies down. Southern Vermont has a rivial. Hmmm. let's remember I haven't been to Denver yet and that is coming up....
So the drive was just gorgeous. There is something about driving on a county road, with my classic rock blaring that makes me so happy. It is my favorite alone time I think. Just looking at everything and singing along with the radio. Such a simple thing, but I was smiling the whole way.
When I got to Winona, I was really awestruck by the bluffs that surround the town. Talk about stunning, even if it is hours and hours from a major urban center. Man, lush greens rolling over and over each other in a breath taking view, that I had to just pull over and take it in. I know why Anne came back here and why she is the happiest I have ever seen her.
My visit with her was so brief. We had big plans before my teeth crapped out. All of that was scrapped for a simple and tasty dinner with her mom and then a drive about the town late in the evening. I don't know if any of you happened to see the moon last Monday, but it was HUGE!!! This picture does nothing to capture it, but that is the moon over Lake Winona.
Over on the right is Sugar Loaf. It looks ike some wacky rock formation but Anne told me that it is actually the result of the quarry that used to be there. There is a statue in the center of town of a native American Princess whose daddy wanted to make her marry some guy she didn't love, so she threw herself off of it. Seems extreme.
All too quickly my evening with Anne was over and the next morning I had to head back to the Twin Cities. I took a little detour to stop at the Spam Museum.
I had to.
I mean, I just HAD to.
The Spam Museum is scary in it's hilarity. You might think there wouldn't be much to say about a food product with questionable artery clogging ingredients, but you would be wrong. Apparently, there is a lot to that can of gelatinous muck. For instance, The name SPAM actually came 9 years after it hit the shelves. It was originally called Hormel Spiced Meat. The name change was wise. When it became SPAM in 1937, they called it "The Miracle Meat". That was the same time it was believed that Dr. Pepper was a cure all, and smoking was good for you.
In 1945 Nakita Kruschev credits Spam with the survival of the Russian Army during WWII. That very well could be true. It isn't refrigerated, and it's fully cooked already, so those boys could just dig right in.
Lastly, to this day, Hawaii eats the most most SPAM of anywhere in the world. Each person eats approx. 4 cans a year. (hurl.)

The thing that was so crazy about the museum is that they made no bones about the fact that in the late 60s - early 70s they figured out away to "move more hogs". How to fatten them up faster and better, and then slaughter them. So you know damn well these are not some free range piggies roaming the hills of Minnesota. They are basically admitting they are the inventor of the caged up factory method, and what of it. Wow.
So as I wandered around this strange museum, I did enjoy the old advertising posters and slogans. There was also this very unhappy lady walking about with free samples. It was a quarter inch square of the stuff poked in the center with a pretzel. I ate one. It's not for me. Never was.
The biggest thing about the place was the gift shop. I have never seen so much swag. You could buy just about anything with the logo on it. They even had a Monty Python area, with our show's blue t-tshirt. I bought bumper stickers for the company and headed out. That was a really weird place. I am glad it was free.

Wednesday, Roy and I headed out to Darwin, MN. It is about an hour and half west of the Twin Cities and is home to the World's Largest Ball of Twine. Normally, I wouldn't travel so far for one of my crazy Americana outings, however, this is THE roadside attraction. When I poke fun at them, I always mention the World's Largest Ball of Twine, so OF COURSE I was compelled to go see it. It's all about the journey really. Once I got there, I just sort of stared at it and 5 minutes later I was done. It is pretty big, but all I could think of is the entire ecosystem of bugs and creepy crawlies that were probably in that thing. It made me not a little nauseated. Like I said though, it is about the journey. Roy and I yukked it up and got to know each other a little better. He laughs at my dumb jokes, so he must be alright. We had a hankerin' for some nourishment and stumbled across Red's. I never want to eat at any kind of a restaurant chain when I am out on one of my excursions. The rule is to find some local fare. Red's was a prime find. It was your standard diner, but I saw a liquor license on the wall and there was all kinds of gambling - not slot machines but a billion different styles of scratch offs. Sure enough there was an old leathery local scratching away, surrounded by scads of the little grey glittery particles from the cards. I am fairly certain he didn't win anything. I liked this place because it was obvious it was a local hangout. A bunch of guys came in, covered in filth, coming from what had to have been a construction site, butt cracks in full view, their skin all dark and leathery like the scratch off guy. They knew the waitresses names and they knew all of theirs. They probably go there for lunch almost everyday. A comfortable, familiar meal.
It was a good day.

The rest of the week was spent at the theater. I did get to have some lunch with Robin on Friday and then she, and her man Jim, took me to breakfast at a very cool joint called Key's on Sunday. Key's is THE place to have brunch. The place was packed with families as well as the hungover bleary eyed folks. There were also a bunch of people from the Spam Fam. My time with Robin has been so wonderful. You know, I haven't seen her in over a decade. We have barely kept in contact, but it is a testament to the solid base of a good friendship to be able to have all that time go by and have it be so easy. I mean I was a kid the last time she saw me. I have really really good taste in people.

It was a good week in St. Paul. I haven't made it to that cathedral yet. I am going this week. I must. It calls to me everyday as I walk to work. Hopefully it won't be hotter than the sun and I will have a nice walk up. We shall see.

Hmmm. Kind of a boring entry. Well, they can't all be my trip to the dentist.
:)
Love to all.
F.


The Extra Pics


I passed this beauty on my drive down to see Anne. I should send it to Roadside America.com.




Anne and her sweet sweet momma.





This is the statue of that princess who killed herself cuz her dad was an asshole.
Winona is so gorgeous at night.





Winona has a really wonderful war memorial park. In it are monuments to every major war since the Civil War. Even in the dark, we were able to find the brick with her dad's name on it. That one is for you Annie.





This a a St. Paul mainstay. Mickey's is this greasy spoon right around the corner from my theater. On the menu is a picture of the place as it looked in 1939. It looks EXACTLY the same inside and out. That means there are crumbs under the counter older than me.





The inside of Red's Restaurant outside Darwin MN. I wish I had gotten a picture of the guy working all the scratch offs.




Here are a few from the Spam Museum

This lady was playing the SPAM trivis game. She was doing really well. The questions is...should she be proud of her knowledge of all things SPAM?





The Monty Python exhibit





My favorite old time poster




Read the sign over the toilet.
C'MON THAT IS FUNNY!!!!!
I think the noun toilet, or even bowl would have been a better choice.
I laughed about that for at least 5 minutes.