End of Summer

You know summer is coming to an end when the state fair begins. In fact we are already half way through it. I haven't been in a few years and I don't plan to go this year...maybe next year. I'm just not feeling the pull of the chocolate dipped jalapeno peppers or deep fried apple pie. Most of the summer long music events in downtown like Tuesday's 9 Nights of Music, Thursday nights at the Ordway or Music at Mears have come to an end and well, I feel pretty stuffed with all the summer fun. The weather has changed into far more moderate temperatures and I'm trying to get out in nature as much as possible before winter arrives. On the river downtown, besides the usual working barges, pleasure boats continue to cruise the river and will do so well into the fall. Even if you don't have a boat it's a good time to be out near the river and you don't have to go very far upstream to feel the wilderness of the river and see wildlife. Crosby Farm & Hidden Falls Regional Parks and Snelling State Park all are excellent quick escapes from the urban thing. I've been at Snelling twice in the last two weeks and both times have spotted bald eagles on the river banks. I shouldn't be surprised. Bald eagles can sometimes be spotted drifting on the air currents around the highrises in downtown. We are fortunate to have one of the larger populations of eagles in this part of the U.S. Try the three mile hike around Pike Island at Snelling. The bench where the Mississippi and the Minnesota Rivers converge is a beautiful spot to sit and look downstream, watch the few folks fishing there and perhaps see some of the wildlife that lives on the river.

View from Harriett Island

A week ago Sunday I walked across the Wabasha Bridge to the Irish Fair at Harriett Island. The backdrop of the city along the river on a blue sky day is a spectacular setting for any event. There was the usual assortment of food and drink vendors, arts and crafts displays, Irish dancers with curly haired wigs, and musicians at multiple stages singing Irish tunes. One tent had a dog exhibition going on that included terriers, water spaniels (looks like a poodle, don't call it that to the owner) and of course the Irish wolfhound ....the big big dog that hunted the wolf to extinction in Ireland so many years ago. My building has a 30 lb dog limit and it might be hard to sneak it in without neighbors noticing. Even though in terms of population the German and Scandinavian ancestry wins out, St Paul feels like it has a large Irish community especially with in your face landmarks like the Cathedral....and of course the pubs. The newest pub in downtown won't be Irish however. The Amsterdam Bar and Hall is due to open this September in the old Pop/Fhima restaurant spot. Can they break the curse of that location? I think so if they just give people what they want which is basically interesting beer choices. A week ago the Mayor's office gave an open to the public speech at the Amsterdam location about the coming year's budget. I stopped by to mainly see the construction progress of the space. I was greeted with a copy of the menu and a coupon for a free Broodje (little Dutch sandwich). I didn't stay for the Mayor's speech (too many folks in suits and the construction odor was unpleasant), but I will be back when they open in September to collect my Broodje. When I think about Dutch food I think herring and Belgian style fries. Those are on the menu, but Loempia, the little Indonesian spring roll is on the menu too. Now I'm excited. I remember "Lumpia" from my time living in San Francisco when a Filipino coworker brought them to potlucks. I dreamed about those for years but can't remember now why they are different from any other crispy fried spring roll. Guess I will find out in September.

Tracks Arrive in Downtown

At the August Downtown Council's monthly happy hour someone asked if I owned a car. Some years ago after moving to downtown from the suburbs I gave up my car in an attempt to go car-less. I gave my aging Toyota away to an organization on Como Avenue that teaches auto skills to youth. I thought that sounded like a good idea. After my donation I took the bus back to downtown. At first I did all my errands in downtown, but eventually I expanded my walking range up to Grand Avenue walking all the way to the Grandview for an occasional movie and Mississippi Market for groceries. I occasionally rented a car when I really needed one. During that time I lost 10 lbs from all the walking I did. Taking the bus to the Mall of America, downtown Minneapolis and the airport.....all easy, but getting around to other places in and outside of the Twin Cities can be difficult. My experiment without a car lasted less than a year before I bought another one. While I like having access to my car, I use it less and walking is still a huge part of my lifestyle of living in an urban environment. About a month ago on an evening walk, I spotted the light rail crew bringing in one of the first rails to be placed on 4th street. It seemed like a low-tech operation. The rail was slowly dragged on rollers set up in the street. I was surprised how the block long piece of metal curved to make the bend around Kellogg Avenue. Now when you walk down 4th Street, tracks are in various stages of being embedded into the newly prepared street. Closer to downtown the space left after the demolition of the buildings at Cedar and 5th Street, you can see the metal posts that have been driven into the ground showing the curving path that the train will take from Cedar Avenue to 4th Street. The work to reconnect the skyway at Cedar and 5th is in progress too. That link is scheduled to be back in place by November.....an important section to getting to the library before the winter weather gets serious. I don't know how I will use the light rail system in the future. Next year downtown should have a green bike station courtesy of Nice Ride MN....maybe I will bike to the U of M and return via the light rail. All these new options make going car-less ever more possible in the future.