Category: Place

Up and down the river

Cycled up one side of the Mississippi and down the other. Here below the Lowry Avenue Bridge, two people are fishing, with downtown Minneapolis straight ahead at a bend in the river.

A shout-out for downtown living

It’s raining on-and-off all day, so I’m staying close to home. My morning consisted of three loads of laundry intertwined with an exercycle downstairs in the workout room, Open Book for an Americano and a donut, and Trader Joe’s for dinner provisions: just a few reasons we love living in ZIP 55415, the fastest-growing urban core in the country. ​(The infographic is AI-generated. Maxwell’s in an 1894 building, is our usual Thursday night dinner destination.)

Pit stop at Holman Field

The objective of today’s adventure with a friend was Holman Field, a general aviation airport across the Mississippi from downtown St. Paul. It’s named after Northwest Airlines’ first pilot, who died performing stunts. The top picture shows the 1939 terminal where we popped in for a cold beer on a steamy hot day; the staff were incredibly welcoming of two grungy cyclists. The lower picture shows a gate area, where the stairs lead up to a U.S. Customs office.

Party like it’s 2026

Pushed my bike past preparations for a Prince singalong celebration later today; he would’ve been 68 this weekend. First Avenue is right nearby, the venue where he often performed and which he made famous in Purple Rain.

Building a pot of joy

​Coastal Seafoods is probably the best seafood store in the Twin Cities, and it was conveniently on my walk home from my gig at the library this morning. Tonight’s menu: seafood stew with cod, halibut, peppers, onion, garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, saffron, coconut milk, squeezes of lime, and anything else I can think of to round it out.

Hidden grounds

​I always award myself an achievement unlocked if I find a new coffee shop while cycling. My method is to pull over and Google my immediate surroundings. Today, in an industrial area of St. Paul, I came across Port 2050 Coffee hidden inside a large, repurposed industrial building. Some serious art books that I’d normally expect to see in a library were spread out on the community table.

A case of mistaken produce

“Finally, grape tomatoes at the Asian supermarket!” I thought. A closer inspection, however, revealed they were actually kumquats. Tomatoes aren’t really a staple in much of Asian cuisine. On the walk home, I couldn’t think of a single Japanese dish featuring them. Back home, I looked it up and confirmed that tomatoes only started to catch on in Japan in the 20th century.

Blasting the past

Almost sculptural, giant plastic shrouds enclose the power transmission towers across the river from where we live. Decades of rust are being blasted off, followed by fresh coats of paint. On the bottom left sits the inlet for the 1908 hydroelectric plant, still taking advantage of the natural drop of St. Anthony Falls.

A journey of water

Continued planning a possible multi-day hike across Greater Tokyo, a metropolis of 37 million. My route follows the Tamagawa Aqueduct, which dates back to 1654 in the feudal era. Spanning roughly 30 miles, I plan to start in the countryside at the Tama River. Though the city has been leveled by fire several times, including twice in the 20th century, I hope that by following the water, I’ll catch glimpses of the past that survived the flames.