On cold mornings like today I wished I lived directly on the skyway so I could skip the jacket, the hat, and the gloves. But I don't so I bundled up and walked to my nearest skyway entrance in the direction of the Union Depot. Saturday, Dec 8th was the grand opening of the "Waiting Room". If you haven't been there yet that's the long, skinny building behind the Union Depot that had been closed up since the 70's when Amtrak train service was moved out to the Midway area. Some local bus service has already started and the Jefferson Line will begin service this January. Train service starts sometime in 2013. I was at the Waiting Room on the 8th and unlike this morning it was packed with thousands of lookers. This morning there were about 6 of us including some workers. It's been called "St. Paul's Living Room" so I wanted to find out if it really is or if the security guard would suggest I move along cause there's no loitering here. The chairs are cushy just like in a real living room. My husband brought his coffee and a good book. The view of the river is better than in our living room. I brought along a sketch pad and my new set of pencils. Sketching is not an easy thing I found out this morning. But it was my first try at it. There were many activities for the crowd on the day of the grand opening but the one I enjoyed the most was talking to the guy at the table inviting folks to sketch something in the Union Depot. I was amazed by his own sketch book chronically the union depot workers and years of construction work in the building. You can see some of the sketches from the 8th at
urbansketchers-twincities.blogspot.com.
Local sketchers can join groups like Urban Sketchers and MetroSketchers and share their work. What I like about the idea of sketching is that you have to linger in a location longer than it takes to snap a photo and St. Paul's new living room seems like a nice place to linger.
Weeks ago an odd looking contraption was built along side the St. Paul Cathedral. Eventually it took form into a long elevated downhill racetrack made of ice that would be the site for Crashed Ice 2012. Last night after elimination rounds on Thursday and Friday the final 64 skaters (and the audience) put on a great spectacle. Starting at the Cathedral each heat pitted 4 skaters racing downhill over curves and bumps and going speeds of cars on nearby 35 South and ending somewhere within easy access of United Hospital. Who would not want to watch that! I bet event sponsors Red Bull were a little worried when temperatures earlier in the week got up to a record 52 degrees, but temperatures finally dropped to normal January lows. The snowfall on Saturday afternoon will certainly give the rest of the country a better winter wonderland image of St Paul when the event is televised on NBC later in the month. Last night the city predicted record crowds would swarm into downtown to watch that event and they did...maybe just not the 100k that some predicted.
