Out West 2016 - Day 8

June 3, 2016 (Friday)

Mississippi River & Rec Area - Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock

Rainy day…well at least it was not an all-day rain. Our first stop for the day was the Mississippi River and Recreation Area – Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock. There were a few displays on the viewing floor. The person at the top was very talkative and told us all about the area surrounding the lock.

Minnehaha Waterfall

Upon recommendation, we headed to the Coldwater Spring portion of the recreation area. It was quite rainy at that point so we did not hike out on the trail, but we had our lunch there. The Coldwater Spring is at the very end of the Minnehaha Park. The Park is not very well labeled and we did not find a map.  Eventually, we were able to find the Minnehaha Waterfall. The waterfall was really nice, as was the park in that area.

Near the park was a local ice cream place that my cousin that lives in St. Paul recommended – Grand Ole Creamery. The portions were HUGE – a double is four scoops!  It was excellent ice cream!

The Cathedral of St. Paul

Continuing our quest to visit capitol buildings, St. Paul, the capitol of Minnesota was our next target. The capitol is under major preservation work through 2017. The capitol was constructed in 1905 and was designed by Cass Gibert, this is the first comprehensive preservation since original construction. There are 20 memorials in the capitol grounds – it was too rainy for us to explore.

St. Paul Capital Building

Leaving the capitol area, we got some amazing views of Cathedral Hall. The Cathedral of St Paul sits on the highest point of the city and is the third largest church in North America.

We spent the afternoon visiting my cousin and her family. It was a nice break from being on the road and of course it was great to get a chance to visit! For dinner we had some carry out fried chicken, fries and coleslaw – it was good (I’m not a fried chicken fan)!

Heading south from St. Paul, we stayed at the Comfort Inn in Rochester, MN for the night.