2.7.12 Moon Over Minneapolis

Yes, there was a moon over Minneapolis last night, but I didn't get a decent photo of it, so I ask you to use your imagination and pretend that the light shining on this door is really the moon. The moon was up there, I swear, while my lovely companion and I strolled for hours, through the Warehouse District of Minneapolis, down the west bank of the river, over the Stone Arch Bridge, up St. Anthony Main, and finally back over the Merriam Street Bridge to our island home. The unseasonably temperate weather made me question whether we were actually in Minnesota in February. We passed this door on North 1st Street, near the Acme Comedy Club.

Here is a nighttime view of Nicollet Island, in which--if you click to enlarge--the Hennepin Bridge and the Grain Belt Beer sign can be seen reflected in the river. I look at this picture, and once again think how much cooler it would look if the Grain Belt Beer sign were illuminated--as it was designed to be! What exactly is the obstacle? C'mon, Grain Belt Beer folks, get on it!

Here is a picture meaningful only to me, and to those who have followed this blog. Shot from the downtown side of the river, it is a view of the spot on Nicollet Island where I cross underneath the Hennepin Bridge while out on my daily constitutional. As some may recall, it is the spot where, on a couple of occasions, a bundle of clothes and/or bedding has suddenly appeared (one is still there, tucked up underneath the bridge's underpinning); it is the spot where I noticed someone parked on the sidewalk behind one of the bridge's large stone pillars; and it is where someone had scrawled on the sidewalk in large letters: FREE BRADLEY MANNING (still visible to this day). The bottom half of the picture is the river and the lights which are reflected therein.

Here is perhaps the clearest shot I've gotten of the Gold Medal Flour sign, whose words blink on consecutively all through the night and can be seen when standing in front of our house. The sign is mentioned in a song I wrote this past Christmas, which some of you may recall, and if you don't recall, I include the link again below. Once upon a time, the individual letters of the Grain Belt Beer sign also used to light up consecutively. I really would have liked to see that. Are you listening out there? Fix the damn sign already, will ya! The Gold Medal Flour sign sits atop the Mill City Museum which opened in 2003. Built in the ruins of the Washburn "A" Mill next to Mill Ruins Park on the banks of the Mississippi River, the museum focuses on the founding and growth of Minneapolis, especially flour milling and the other industries which used water power from St. Anthony Falls.

Gold Medal Christmas:
http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_11490851

Here is the best shot I've ever taken of the North Star Blankets sign, which crowns the North Star Woolen Mill building just a bit northwest of the museum. This building was originally a textile mill for the North Star Woolen Company. The mill was built in 1864 by W.W. Eastman and Paris Gibson on the west side of the west side canal. High quality wool blankets, scarves, flannels, and yarns were made at the facility which, by 1925, had become the nation's largest manufacturer of wool blankets.

Just before heading over the Stone Arch Bridge, I gaze across the river and snap this shot of the St. Anthony Main sign, which sits upon the Salisbury & Satterlee Building and overlooks the popular St. Anthony Main area. On the first floor of this building is a bar & grill called Tuggs Tavern, which, it just so happens, is where my companion and I stopped for our evening meal, after crossing the Stone Arch Bridge. After our long walk, a burger and a beer seemed just the thing, and so it was. A quick game of foosball and we were back on our way again, strolling down the cobblestoned street toward home.

But I've jumped the gun a bit, since there were a few pictures snapped before reaching Tuggs that I have yet to share. This one, for instance, taken almost midway across the bridge, shows the pantheon of playwrights constituting the outer shell of the Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis' premier theater. You can easily make out (from left to right): George Bernard, Eugene, Anton, and Tennessee.

And here, a picture of one bridge shot from another, is the rebuilt 35W bridge. As you may recall, this is the one that made headlines in 2007 when it collapsed into the Mississippi. As you can see (click to enlarge!), the bridge is looking pretty spiffy now and makes a beautiful picture when paired with the pollution-spewing smokestack to its left. Lovely blue reflection in the river, if I say so myself.

And finally, the last picture before we reach Tuggs Tavern (and before my camera battery dies a well-earned death), here is the neon self-assertion of a place called the Soap Factory, a non-profit art space founded in 1988 whose mission is stated thus: "The Soap Factory is a laboratory for artistic experimentation and innovation, dedicated to supporting artists and engaging audiences through the production and presentation of contemporary art in a unique and historic environment." The building which houses these artistic hijinks is none other than the historic (so much around here is "historic") National Purity Soap Factory (a 48,000-square-foot warehouse). I have been inside this building where I have viewed traditional artwork such as paintings and photographs, as well as performance art which included performers on stilts. A pretty cool place to experience something new and/or different.

And so ends our evening promenade through the Warehouse District, along the river, and over the bridge to St. Anthony Main and Nicollet Island. Each day we discover new restaurants, new businesses, and new entertainment venues, while making new friends and getting to know our world a little bit better in fun and interesting ways.

Life flows on, in and around us--sometimes over bridges, sometimes illuminated for all to see, and sometimes quietly and with meaning that only we, in the deepest wells of our consciousness, can fully understand and appreciate.

D.E.S.