May 22, 2008

• An Evening in St. Paul

  Minneapolis and St. Paul are affectionately known by native Minnesotans as the “Twin Cities” — or often just plain “the cities”, as if no other cities matter or even exist anywhere else in the world.  They may claim the name of twins, but they are definitely fraternal, NOT identical.  They each have a unique personality.  Minneapolis is the fast-paced, trendy, business-like urban sibling, while St. Paul is the laid-back, historical, artsy one.  Debates have been going on for years over which twin is superior.  One thing is certain, wherever your interests lie, you can find something to satisfy them in one or the other of Minnesota’s famous twins.

  When I was a young girl, growing up in the far reaches of northwestern Minnesota, a trip to “the cities” was an EVENT of major proportions.  One of my most embarassing childhood moments involves a trip to “the cities” when I was probably about 14 years old.  I was accompanying my Dad and older brother on a trip to the state high school cross country meet.  My Dad coached our high school team, and we had a runner qualified to run for the state title that year.  Since it was a six hour drive, it involved an overnight stay in a downtown Minneapolis hotel.  In those days, the place to stay when visiting Minneapolis was the Curtis Hotel.  Not far away was a restaurant my Dad liked as much for it’s name as it’s cuisine — The Hungry Eye Cafe.  Both places are lost to time now, but in my mind I can still picture them.  On the particular morning I am recalling, we walked the two or three blocks from the Curtis to the Hungry Eye.  I was acting like your typical small-town girl on one of her first visits to the BIG city.  I was gaping in awe at all of the “skyscrapers”, particularly the (relatively) new IDS tower, which at 700+ feet and 55 stories completely dominated the skyline.  Unbeknownst to me, as my gaze was directed upwards, the street I was walking on suddenly and violently thrust a curb in my path, causing me to trip and go sprawling headlong right in front of the large plate glass window that provided a spectacular streetside view to diners at the Hungry Eye.  Imagine my humiliation when I picked myself up, examined my scraped palms and bruised ego, and then proceeded to follow my Dad and brother into the restaurant and had to walk past the gawkers who had so recently witnessed my awkward acrobatics.  My Dad and brother still break out into uncontrollable laughter at the mere mention of “The Hungry Eye”.  All at my expense, of course.

  Over the years, my history with “the cities” has grown.  In college I spent many weekends in one of the southern suburbs while visiting my then boyfriend and his family.  After college I spent a year completing a Medical Technology internship at a downtown Minneapolis hospital and then worked for the next 5 years at Memorial Blood Center in south Minneapolis.  Eventually life led me back to a small-town environment.  In considering where I wanted to raise my own family, I returned to my roots and chose the small town over the big city.  With one difference.  My small town is now within an hours drive of the attractions which make city life appealing — the dining, the shopping, the culture.  Especially the culture!

  As you know, yesterday was my 25th wedding anniversary.  It was one of those times I was glad for my proximity to the cities.  Given that this milestone date landed smack dab in the middle of the work week, an extended romantic get-away was out of the question, especially considering my husband’s highly developed work ethic.  But an evening out was within the realm of possibility, so after a bit of discussion we (husband and I) arrived at a plan.  Dinner and a concert.  In St. Paul.  I got to choose both the dinner and the concert.  As luck would have it, my college choir was performing a free concert at the Cathedral in St. Paul, so planning that part of the evening was easy.  As for chosing a restaurant, I decided to take the recommendation of my 22 year old son (that was wierd — taking advice from my son on where to go out for dinner with my husband!).  We had a very nice, relaxing dinner at the Downtowner Woodfire Grill, followed by a spectacular performance by the Bemidji State University choir, directed by Dr. P. Bradley Logan.  The acoustics at the Cathedral are amazing, to say the least, and every song was performed acapella.  The choir sang songs by many of my favorite contemporary choral composers, including Morten Lauridsen, Steve Heitzeg, Eric Whitacre, Philip Stopford and Eric William Barnum.  I am particularly proud of the last composer, Eric William Barnum, because he is a shirt-tail relative of mine, as well as a fellow Bemidji State University grad.  (I know, only in Minnesota would there be a university with a name like “Bemidji”.)  I encourage you to check out Eric’s MySpace page to learn more about him — or if you just want to listen to some of his choral works, you can chose the second link to get his MySpace MP3 player (also available on his MySpace page).  I recommend skipping the first song, Inferno and listening to the others first, especially The Lady in the Water, and my personal favorite, Afternoon on a Hill.  If you like his other works, then go back and listen to Inferno.  It’s pretty avant-garde.

   

  Eric’s MySpace page

  Eric William Barnum

  Finally, I leave you with some images from my evening in St. Paul last night—-

  The Downtowner Woodfire Grill:

   

   

   

   

   

  

   

   

   

   

  The Cathedral of St. Paul:

   

     

  

  

  

   

  All-in-all, it was a wonderful way to spend my anniversary.  One I will remember for the next 25 years!

  • 10:14 am
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