HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Corndog’s and snow cones
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Sore feet after walking like 6km…..
WORD OF THE DAY: Summer has arrived for the Minnesotans
I woke at 8am. I set my alarm as Teegs and I wanted to get to have brunch and get to Grand Old Day for the afternoon. I think I could have slept all day today but there were things to see and do and Teegs had an action packed 4 days coming up, which I am thankful she has taken the time and got the enthusiasm to show me around her hood. I made a quick call to Zeme this morning and the rate is around 1USD per minute. I know all you Skypers and FaceTimers are tut tutting, but it really is hard for an internet connection in Ethiopia and this is truly the easiest way to keep in contact. The calls are brief but they are happening every 3-4 days at the moment and as I haven’t any other ‘vices’ (eg drinking) I am totally happy to spend some money to hear his voice. I am starting to have some concerns on the timing of Zeme now getting his visa and starting to prepare myself that he may just not make it to Australia in July. He still seems to think it will all be okay and he is going back to the consulate next week, so I really hope it all goes through but TIA (this is Africa) seems to also apply to Ethiopia and could be something I will need to get used to. We’ll see how the next few weeks go, but my backup plan will be a visit in December for Christmas either way and if he doesn’t make it in July then it is only 5 weeks till I am in Africa at the start of September, what is an extra five weeks but hopefully it won’t come to that. I miss him so much and love hearing his voice on the phone.
Now that summer has officially arrived, the street cafés are dusting off their patio furniture, potting flowers in pots, umbrellas are out and so is the whole population of Minneapolis. They seem to be foodies here with lots of restaurants, concept restaurants and bars and with simmer knocking they are all open and prepared for summer. A big thing that has taken off here are the rooftop patios and there are 2 of them that are popular with the locals. We decided to have brunch at one of them called the Cafeteria. It was a funky looking retro set up downstairs and then you catch the lift the 4 floors to the roof top where they have sleek tables, modular furniture and bench seating on the sides. The sun was full in the sky so we decided to sit at one of the high benches and proceeded to have a blueberry mojito to start with as we perused the menu. It was beautiful up here and Teegs was surprised there weren’t more people as it was 10am on a Sunday morning. So getting some colour in the sun, sipping my cocktail, eating a wonderful breakfast and great company the morning passed us by till 11.30am when we decided we better hit the road and check out Grand OId Day.
Grand Old Day is the largest one-day festival in the Midwest, drawing over 250,000 people each year from the greater Twin Cities metropolitan area, regionally and from neighboring states. The event is held along Grand Avenue, Saint Paul’s premier shopping, dining, and entertainment district. The parade is the 2nd largest in the area with over 180,000 in attendance. The Parade kicked-off at 10:00 am (we decided to pass on the parade). The Grand Old Day parade is held each year to entertain both children and adults alike. The parade is a wonderful opportunity for your business or organization to show support for communities like Grand Avenue and meet your audience face-to-face. A panel of judges will be looking for the best parade unit to be awarded the Grand Old Day Parade Best in Show trophy. Judging criteria will include appearance (style and presentation), originality, use of theme, participation and audience response. The 2012 Grand Old Day Parade Theme was A Grand Salute to St. Paul. This year the Grand Old Day Parade will salute all things St. Paul!! All participants (floats, walkers, bands, etc.) will incorporate the parade theme in their music, float design and/or costumes. This will be a great day to highlight Minnesota's Capitol City! The festival features 4 "districts," along Grand Avenue, stretching from Fairview Avenue to Dale Street. With the Family Fun Activities District, the Art District, the Sporting District, and the Entertainment District, it is one of the best Twin Cities events for people of all ages and tastes.
St. Paul's Grand Old Day has marked the start of the summer activities and events in Minnesota since 1973, and is produced by the Grand Avenue Business Association as its annual fundraiser. Monies collected at the event go towards bringing attention to the wonderful shops and restaurants on Grand Ave to support local business, annual events, business-to-business opportunities, as well as maintenance and upkeep to preserve the beauty of Grand Avenue in St. Paul MN - an important piece of our state's history. To gain admittance to the live music festival gardens, a wristband/ticket is required, and festival garden guests must be 21+. Wristbands are available for purchase on the day of the festival for $8 at Wristband Booths located near each festival garden. A valid ID must be presented at the wristband booth at the time of purchase - no exceptions.
We found a park a few blocks away and made our way to the 2nd last cross street of Grand Street, so we were nearly at one end of the festival, so we decided to walk the whole length and back again. There didn’t seem to be too many people here till we got to a small rise in the road and all you could see was a sea of people, it made a great photo and as we passed all the different districts it was the Entertainment district that was the busiest. There were a lot of food stalls selling cotton candy, corn dogs and all that typical American food that you see on TV shows is all real. I had never had a corn dog, which to us Australians is like a dagwood dog (sausage on a stick) but instead of batter it is fried in a corny batter and I have to say it was flippin delicious!!! We also, out of all the food stands we walked past couldn’t pass up the snow cone stall and got these massive snow cones with any flavor you wanted. It has been a really long time since I have had a snow cone and it was delicious, especially on a really hot day like the one we had. Some people have spoken to me and asked where I am from and when I tell them Australia they think I am the bee’s knees and that they love my accent. I feel a little special with the attention and Teegs says she keeps her mouth shit so that they think she is also from Australia and cool by association. I guess not a lot of Australians come to this part of the world. We were hoping to meet up with Jori, Tegan sister, but it didn’t work out and we got a call from Jenny saying to come and meet her for a drink somewhere. With it now being nearly 4pm our feet were screaming for a rest so we picked up the pace, made it back to the car, drove the 10 minutes to the designated malt shop and were seated with a cold ice water and a sandwich in hand. Like I hadn’t eaten enough already that day!!! But we had walked around 6.5km round trip, so now I know why my feet were hurting!!!!
We retreated back to Teegs apartment for a few hours before thinking about food, again and drove 10 minutes to an eat that Teegs likes to go called the Tin Fish. It is located on Calhoun Lake and is a seafood take out as such. It is an outdoor fresco area and what you do is line up to place your order, give your name, find somewhere to sit on the picnic benches and large summer chairs that are provided and then 15-25 minutes later the waiters bring out your food yelling your name, you pop up your hand and they bring it over to you. It is a popular place and we started our line up at 7.50pm and made it to the order window at 8.20pm. Tegan kept reminding me it was worth the wait and once the food was delivered 15 minutes later, it really was worth it. With the sun setting over the lake and the beautiful hues of pinks and purples it was a great introduction day to the mid-west of the US.
When Tegan and I were in Central America we had a ‘song’ which was The Beatles ‘Revolution’ and no trip is complete without a travel song and this trip is Some Nights by FUN. It is a great and catchy tune and every time I hear it I will think of my stay in Minneapolis. I’m also still working on the Barbados accommodation charge to my account. I emailed them a portion of my bank statement that showed the 400BDB charge, quite clearly and now they have asked for me to send them my whole bank statement for the month of May and for me to contact my card issuer to ask them if they can shed some light on the charge. I will just have to wait till I get home but what a pain in the arse and why would they want to see my whole statement? In saying that Montreal is still to charge my card for my last 2 nights, so what I have lost with one I have gained with another, but it is still annoying.
I have the Teegs Mystery Tour tomorrow and I am excited to see Minneapolis.
No comments:
Post a Comment