Cruisin' for cones

On this last day in July which has been a particularly hot month in Minnesota we take a day trip along the Mississippi and stop in Bay City, Wisconsin for ice cream. Fortunately, it's not the only spot along the river to stop for creamery refreshment so if you miss this one, don't despair.

Rockabilly babes

Theme week #1 is over and if you guessed wood - you were right. A new theme starts Monday and it's a double whammy because it's City Daily Photo theme day, too.

Today's post is from a recent motorcycle rally in Northeast Minneapolis where the rockabilly bands on the afternoon bill attract this subculture of retro-dressing fans. I thought for a moment I'd traveled back to 1951, but the neon hair is the giveaway that we are really in 2011.

Cooling off

Last post for this week's theme. You should have it by now. This was taken in the YWCA on Selby and Western where the exercise rooms heat up considerably with all the bodies bending and twisting and stomping.

Gingerbread

Post #4 for this week's theme is again from down the street. The (non-edible) gingerbread trim on many of the Victorian homes in my neighborhood has been painstakingly restored although I doubt the original colors were so vivid.

Stairway to the stars

Post # 3 for this week's theme. Do you notice a pattern yet? Down the street someone has constructed this very pleasing, sturdy, and functional fire escape - I imagine that's why this was done.

Paddlin' nowhere

Post # 2 for this week's theme taken on the State Fair grounds recently when I had an assignment for a photo class to shoot feet. Managed to get both the feet of the duck carved from tree and the feet of the carousel pony painted on the side of a building. But "feet" is not this week's theme.

Rockabilly beat

I'm starting something new today. Following on the theme-based posts that made Happy Snappy a popular blog for several years (sadly, they have closed shop), I will chose a weekly theme and post photos Monday through Friday that explore that theme. Weekends will remain open to whatever I find interesting. The theme will undisclosed until the weekend following the posts, but if you care to make a stab sometime during the week, be my guest.

Here's the first post for the week of July 25-29 taken at Club Underground. The bassist of Al's Rockabilly Quartet (which was actually a trio the night I saw them) strums a mean beat.

St Thomas in the valley

An iconic country church is nestled into the hillside along the Minnesota River southwest of the Twin Cities. Many of the gravestones indicate that the parishioners came from Ireland, and I only found out after the fact that some of my sister-in-law's Irish family worshipped here.

Distracted fan

The Minnesota Stars have a small enough crowd as it is at most games - 2,000 to 3,000 - without having to compete with Facebook.

State parks open for business

We got a budget deal - that no one likes - and Minnesota is up and running again. At least it means that Jay Cooke State Park (close enough for a day trip from the Twin Cities) can open back up along with all the other 68 parks that were closed during the shutdown.

Bowling for grades

Who knew there was a bowling alley in the basement of the Student Center on the University of Minnesota's St. Paul campus? And it can't be that busy during the slow summer months. Head on over.

St Agnes steeple

The copper steeple of the Church of St. Agnes in St. Paul's Frogtown neighborhood can be seen from many points in the city. On this windy day it is a tower of stability.

Hometown news

One of my reject photos from the July theme day (green) still merits a passing glance especially since my computer is in the shop.

Unpredicatable

The summer sky (and our stormy weather) seems to be reflecting the mood at the State Capitol just up the road from this photo.

Summer refreshment

We're into the middle of summer and we're keeping cool with homemade sodas.

Sweet or savory?

Fellow St. Paulites - and maybe a few Minneapolitans (?) have discovered the crèpe stand in front of Meritage restaurant. My favorite is still the simple butter and sugar variety - miam, miam (as they say in Paris).

See Visual St. Paul for another take on this.

Ag campus art

Back to the St Paul campus of the University of Minnesota for this robust sculpture (one of three!) across from the Dairy Building. They're a magnet for lunchtime romps. Apparently, the sculptor has installed a series of these in Thailand, too. I'd love to see them all.

Count down to the State Fair

In a few weeks this picture will be impossible to take. Hundreds of thousands of people will be obscuring the view from the tree sculpture across the lawn to...  help me here, Minnesotans...  isn't this the building that houses the armed services displays?

Design a dress

I've been spending some time on the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota in McNeal Hall which houses the College of Design and the Goldstein Museum of Design. I guess this room is the incubator, as it were.

St. Paul business

From small to large...

Monday night softball

A summer tradition in Minnesota.

King Iron Bridge

The company that made this bridge connecting Nicollet Island with the east bank of the Mississippi near downtown Minneapolis has a website listing the remaining King Iron bridges in the U.S.

Garden faces

Out in Jordan, Minnesota, a tiny town about 45 minutes southwest of the Twin Cities, Maureen Carlson has a polymer clay center - shop, workshop, classroom space - and wandering around the garden is like being in some fairy tale.

Summer Olympics

Ely (Minnesota, duh!) lost out to Rio a couple of years back but the residents of the little town at the end of the road certainly had some gumption. Maybe they should shoot for the Winter Olympics which is more fitting for their 9-month winter climate. This is hardly a day trip since Ely is practically at the Canadian border, but hey, we all gotta get outta town sometime.

Blue Moon mosaic

The windows of the Blue Moon Cafe are adorned with these beautiful mosaics which look like they're fashioned from old windows. I'll have to take a closer look the next time I'm having a cuppa joe.

Sushi & noodles

Fuji-ya is pretty good but I prefer the soba noodles with tempura shrimp from Tanpopo Noodle located in this street of brick warehouses in St. Paul's Lowertown. Their sign is in the background (rectangle with the black circle).

Summer flight

Take a moment to stop and smell the ... purple flowers and watch the dragon flies.

St. Paul's Lady Liberty

The elm trees that once gracefully lined the residential streets of St. Paul have been dying since the 1970s but sometimes they end up as garden sculpture. This one is appropriate for today's posting.

Old Glory

When Fort Snelling was completed in 1825, the United States was not yet fifty years old. Happy 235th birthday to us!

Engine number

Taking a break in engine number 3125 in the South St Paul rail yard.

Theme day: It's not that easy being green

Though if you're a frog in a Minnesota lake, it's gotta be a pretty sweet life.

For more theme day entries, click here.