summer 2024

Cathedral of St. Paul

Another favorite stop when we visited the Twin Cities was the Cathedral of St. Paul in…you guessed it, St. Paul! It is an absolutely structure built in the Beaux Arts style, and made with granite from Saint Cloud.

The interior is stunning:

Like the cathedral in St. Louis, there is a Pietà:

I especially liked the shrines honoring the national patron saints of some of the immigrant groups in the area. In no particular order: Saint Anthony of Padua (Italy), John the Baptist (French Canada), Saint Patrick (Ireland), Saint Boniface (Germany), Saints Cyril and Methodius ( the Slavic Nations), and Saint Therese (protector of all missions). A really cool detail about these shrines is that each contains marble from the country they represent.

Don’t forget to look up!

A peek into the baptistry:

In addition to the shrines, there are also four chapels, dedicated to Saint Peter, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Saint Joseph, and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

There are four piers supporting the dome, and at the base of each is a statue of one of the Gospel writers. I especially liked the statue of Saint Luke, which included an illustration of Mary on the scroll, as church tradition states that Luke was the first to create an icon of the Blessed Mother:

There were beautiful stained glass windows, and an exceptional organ:

Here’s a closer look at the grand high altar and the baldachin:

I love church architecture, and this beautiful building did not disappoint!

A French Feast for the Opening Ceremonies

Mesdames et Messieurs, la Cérémonie d’ouverture de Paris 2024!

Today is the Olympics Opening Ceremony I’ve been waiting for for eight years! While I enjoyed the Tokyo 2020(1) Games, it just wasn’t the same, and we all know it. But Paris 2024 is going to be the Olympics we all remember from pre-Covid days, and I can’t wait. Of course I planned a day full of French recipes to get us in the proper spirt, beginning with homemade croissants for breakfast, served with butter, Nutella, and homemade blueberry jam:

For lunch, I made Salade Niçoise. I liked it, but the best I can say for everybody else is that they found aspects of the salad they enjoyed. We did discover that we really like seven-and-a-half minute eggs, though!

For the soup course, I made Vichyssoise, which I thought was really interesting. The flavor was excellent, but it is a different experience eating cold soup!

I made the classic French dish, Bœuf Bourgignon, for dinner. It was A LOT of work, but really delicious!

We didn’t have champagne, but we did still have a toast to Paris 2024!

For dessert, Ladybug made macarons. I tried to help, but as it turns out, macarons are above my pay grade. She kindly let me help fill them, though. They’re so delicious, and we’re looking forward to making them again!

I have a few other French recipes I want to try over the next two weeks, but mostly, I’m just ready to watch the Olympic Games!!!

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

One of my favorite things about our trip to Minneapolis last month was getting to visit the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. It’s a beautiful place, with many interesting pieces of art. My two favorites (which I’ll be looking at in greater detail in the coming days) were “Spoonbridge and Cherry,” which I’m told is a favorite of locals, as well, and at set of shimmering “Untitled” rocks:

There were so many other cool sculptures, too:

We were fortunate to experience only a bit of light rain while we were there, but the rain that had fallen earlier made for some excellent puddle photography!

I love finding cool local places to visit when we travel!

Mid-Century Marvelous Architecture in Minneapolis

One thing I really wanted to see when we were in Minneapolis is the Northwestern National Life Building. I had stumbled across a picture of it online, and I knew I needed to see this mid-century marvelous beauty for myself. I was not disappointed.

I love the way the tall arches contrast with the sharp line of the roof:

The glass is something to behold, too:

And the use of water out front to offer a reflective surface to lengthen the lines of the building is outstanding!

I’m so glad I actually got to see this gorgeous building!

Lighthouse Court

I’m always on the lookout for a vintage road sign when we travel, and while the sign for the Lighthouse Court motel in Clear Lake, IA, was fairly simple, it still fit the bill!

Three Stars Plaza and the Surf Ballroom

When we drove through Clear Lake, IA, last month, we stopped at Three Stars Plaza, a very cool memorial in honor of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper, which has the appearance of three records:

Why is this memorial in Clear Lake, IA? Because the night before “The Day the Music Died,” those three musicians played what would be their final concert at the Surf Ballroom before their ill-fated flight.

It was very moving to see these pieces of American pop culture and music history.

A Brief Getaway to the North–Day Four

Even though we chose a wildly different route home (through Wisconsin and Illinois), we didn’t have much planned for the drive from the Twin Cities, but we did stop to see the Gaming Gen store in Eau Claire, WI, on the way…but we left so early, we were there hours before they opened!

We did stop in Madison, WI, and walked around their Capitol Building, which is in the lovely Beaux Arts style:

And since we were coming home through Illinois, we stopped at our favorite Portillo’s, where I had my favorite Italian beef!

And that marks the end of our trip north. I wish we could have stayed longer, because it was a beautiful place to visit, and I really enjoyed the cooler temperatures, but I’m glad we had the chance to see someplace new!

A Brief Getaway to the North–Day Three

On the third day of our trip, we set out to see as many things as possible, beginning with the Cathedral of St. Paul in…well, St. Paul! The skyline of the Minnesota state capital is smaller than that of Minneapolis, but I still enjoyed seeing it, and there was something charming and cozy about the city that I really enjoyed!

The cathedral was absolutely stunning…it reminded me of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis in some ways, and was very different in others.

After we toured the whole cathedral, we drove by the Capitol Building:

And then made our way back to Minneapolis, where we found a good view of the skyline:

And a local landmark, the Witch’s Hat Water Tower:

I really wanted to see the Northwestern National Life Building, which is absolutely mid-century marvelous!

We drove around a bit more, and saw the flagship Target store and the Mary Tyler Moore statue, but it was so busy downtown we couldn’t find parking to get out anywhere. Then we stopped at the Basilica of St. Mary. It wasn’t open for tours, but we did walk all the way around it, and it too is a grand and beautiful building.

We stopped by Lyndale Park where we saw some lovely fountains and flowers:

And enjoyed a meal with friends at D-Spot. I had a burger with cheese curds on it, and there were wings with lavender…such brilliant and unexpected culinary offerings!

One more stop at Caribou:

And then a little excitement back at the hotel. Just as Ryan, Turkey, and Ladybug were ready to leave to see the Sonic Symphony at the Orpheum Theatre (the main reason we chose Minneapolis as the destination for our trip), the power went out, and then the fire alarm went off. There were rumors of flames, and I did smell smoke, but in the end, they allowed us to return to our rooms, and the power came back on not too long after. It was a weird time, with a wedding party in full dress and various motorcycle clubs standing around the parking lot (the two main groups staying at the hotel that weekend), and later on the balconies of the hotel, but there was a nice sense of community about the whole thing…I just wish our room hadn’t been on the 7th floor, because that was a lot of flights to climb down in the mostly dark (and then back up again…we didn’t trust the elevator while the power was out, even though it was operating!).

Anyway, they made it to their concert in the middle of the hotel chaos, and I’m told a good time was had by all.

Up next: An early start for a long drive home!