The Best Croissants

Continued exploring University Avenue with a friend. Visited a modest Vietnamese bakery for one of the best almond croissants ever. I was experiencing a consequence of a convoluted path from French colonialism to skilled Vietnamese refugees and their offspring.

Tail Races

Walked under Stone Arch Bridge on my way to meet friends for a walk. Paused to look at the remains of mill tail races (water channels). Three rusty upright girders once supported a railroad trestle. The blue Endless Bridge cantilevers out of the Guthrie Theater.

Grain Belt Beer Sign

Walked past the historical (1941) Grain Belt Beer sign on the banks of the Mississippi across from downtown Minneapolis. Los Angeles has the Hollywood sign; we have this.

Fluid Dynamics Laboratory

Visited the University of Minnesota’s St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, across the river from our home. It specializes in fluid dynamics of air, water, etc. Its lower levels are carved out of rock, allowing experiments to take advantage of the difference in height of the Mississippi.

A Quiet Place

Cycled past this modest building. It houses one of the quietest places on Earth, an anechoic chamber. Notable recordings when it was a studio include: the first digitally mastered album (St. Paul Chamber Orchestra on 3M equipment) and parts of Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks.

Traces of Ox Cart Trail

Met a friend at St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis. Tried to trace the route of the Red River Ox Cart Trail ending, here, at Lambert’s Landing in St. Paul. Until the railroads took over in the 1870’s, this was one of the busiest steamboat landings in the country.

Categorized as St. Paul