Wrappin it up!

It’s time to wrap things up in Minnesota. While we hate to leave all our family and friends, road itch has set in and it’s time to get on the road again.

Nick and Val wanted to see Minnehaha Falls. Near the end of the 30 mile long Minnehaha Creek, the falls is one of those “must see” destinations when you are in the Twin Cities. A large number of things are named after the fictional character in Longfellow’s 1855 epic poem The Song of Hiawatha. Even the name of the biggest city in the state is – originally named St. Anthony after the falls named by Father Hennepin, the name was later changed to Minneapolis – “Minne” for Minnehaha, and “polis”, the Greek word for city.

We hiked the trails below the falls, which took us out to the creek’s junction with the Mississippi River. We found ourselves below the former site of the Twin Cities Ford factory. The factory has long been closed and removed, but the dam and hydroelectric plant are still there. When we visited the Mill City Museum, a historian told us that while the Ford hydroelectric plant is not in operation, he said that all the equipment was still in place and functional – all they would have to do is open the sluice gates and power would be flowing. However, the plant was only connected to the Ford plant in its day – it was not connected to the cities’ electric grid, and it is too small to justify the cost of connecting it now, so it sits!

Only in Minnesota! I have never seen this before, but die hard fishermen can bring their fish houses with them here. For those of you who don’t know, in the winter in Minnesota, you haul a shed with no floor out onto the frozen lake, cut a big hole in the ice, and sit in your shed fishing for Walleye. Well, American ingenuity to the forefront – you just pull your camper out onto the frozen lake, and then you raise the wheels so the camper frame rests on the ice. In the middle of the floor is a hatch you can then open to cut your fishing hole – heat, stove, fridge (for beer) and bathroom (for beer) – genius!

Nick was on a mission to find the best burger in town. In addition to the Nook, we visited B-52’s in Inver Grove Heights that claims to have the best burgers in town. We also visited Matt’s in south Minneapolis where they claim to have invented the Jucy Lucy – a twin burger patty with cheese inbetween, pinched around the end to try to keep the melted cheese in. We still have one famous haunt on our list for our next visit – the 5-8 Club – which disputes Matt’s claim. While we enjoyed all the burgers, my pick for both great burger and great atmosphere would be the Nook.

One last visit before we leave is the Big Wood Brewery in White Bear Lake. 3 years ago the owner was a hardwood flooring retailer, so when he decided to open a brewery, what else could he name it but Big Wood. We visited the Taproom and had a flight of all their brews. My favorite is their chocolate stout, which they came up with a “high five” marketing name for – Morning Wood. Who would ever turn down a little Morning Wood!

We managed to hit the Science Museum of Minnesota before we left, and to see the Bougie clan one last time before we all head to the hinterlands. The collection here is great, especially the prehistoric fossils. Our niece, Stella, is only 2 years old, and as we walked among the skeletons, she would point and shout “Pterodactyl” and “Stegosaurus” and such, and she would nail it precisely each time. I guess that’s what happens when you’re the kid of a couple of PHD’d professors!Well, allergies are back in the Colectiva household, just in time to hit the road again. I don’t know if the Canadian Thistle, which seem to be actually exploding in the meadows, are causing the rebirth of allergies, but I wouldn’t doubt it. We will be wondering south along the Great Mississippi River Road to see what we can find. We are pretty good at that.

Talk to you soon!