Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for minnesota
The Great Lake Superior
By Linda Tancs
The largest of North America’s Great Lakes, Lake Superior holds almost three cubic miles of water, more than the four other lakes combined. That’s three quadrillion gallons of water, in case you’re counting. The largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area, it’s bounded by Ontario, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. With tens of thousands of square miles to cover, just start somewhere. How about Minnesota’s North Shore? The 154-mile All American Road combines the best of old and new Highway 61, including several state parks and at least 101 things to do.
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Paul Bunyan Days
By Linda Tancs
According to legend, Paul Bunyan was a giant lumberjack with uncommon strength who could clear forests with his bare hands and shake trees with his thunderous voice. Statues of this mythical hero abound throughout the United States, including Akeley, Minnesota. The town became a mecca for lumberjacks when a sawmill was built in 1902, so it should come as no surprise that the Bunyan legend looms large there. For 65 years they’ve been celebrating Paul Bunyan Days at various locations in Akeley. This year’s celebration takes place from 28 to 30 June. Among the activities are a fish fry, woodcarving, lumberjack mall art show, Paul Bunyan look-alike contest, and a grand parade.
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Rhubarb Capital of Minnesota
By Linda Tancs
Lanesboro, Minnesota is the rhubarb capital of the state. Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable? That depends on whom you ask and where you live. In the U.S., rhubarb has been ordained a fruit in New York. Tart like a lemon, it finds its way into pies, crisps, sauces, soups and drinks. On 1 June Lanesboro celebrates its annual Rhubarb Festival at Sylvan Park. The day’s events include a tasting, a stalk throw and toss, a growers’ competition and entertainment by–no surprises here–the Rhubarb Sisters.
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The Other Twin City
By Linda Tancs
Between the “twin” cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minneapolis may get top billing, but St. Paul bills itself as the most livable city in America. Why? Maybe it’s their dedication to the arts through the sidewalk poetry program. For the second year, the city will hold a poetry contest throughout the month of May; winners get their musings inscribed on city sidewalks as part of the sidewalk replacement program. Or maybe it’s because they honor those in military and civilian life who keep us safe and healthy by offering them loans for first-time home purchases. The collective public conscience in this twin city would certainly make its founding father, Lucien Galtier, quite proud. The city derives its name from a Catholic chapel built by Galtier, a missionary sent there to minister to the French-Canadian population. Good thing the chapel name caught on; the area was originally known as Pig’s Eye. And that’s no hogwash.
Answers to yesterday’s trivia: Hudson River and East River (New York).
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Red River Valley
By Linda Tancs
When I practiced playing the organ as a child, one of the songs in my songbook was “Red River Valley.” A memory long forgotten, until the recent climatic catastrophe in this section of the U.S. straggling northeastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota. The river’s crest of over 40 feet this past weekend broke a 100-year record. Now a snowstorm threatens to dump 16 inches in and around the valley, putting the river level in peril once again. As a line in the song goes, “remember the Red River Valley.” Indeed, let’s keep the folks of this region in our hearts and prayers.
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Fire and Ice
By Linda Tancs
On Saturday, Minnesotans in Plymouth will celebrate their Fire & Ice Festival. That means Parkers Lake Park will be converted into an outdoor gymnasium with bowlers and basketball players trading hardwood floors for nature’s white carpet. Don’t forget the ice fishing, ice skating, dogsled demos and fireworks. If the frozen tundra proves too much, you could head for the Mall of America, the country’s biggest shopping center, just miles away.
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Travelrific® Travel Journal 