Daily Adventures July 25 - 29, 2011

I mowed the lawn last week.  It was against my better judgment, but we had company coming.  The sweat that soaked through my shirt looked like an old-fashioned smiley face.  Not sure why my ribs were sweating so much . . . On second thought, the heat index was higher here than in the Amazon rain forest.  I'm actually surprised my teeth weren't sweating.  Maybe they were.

Monday, July 25  We just endured the longest state shutdown in US history.  Check out where all the action happened, or didn't happen.  The Minnesota State Capitol offers free guided tours on the hour every weekday from 9 am - 4 pm.  If the weather is nice enough we'll get to see the golden horses on the roof up close and, given the price of gold these days, that will be quite the sight.

Tuesday, July 26  Take a walk on the Heritage Trail in Downtown Minneapolis.  Start at the Guthrie Theater and make your way down to Mill Ruins Park.  Cross the river on the Stone Arch Bridge and head left through Father Hennepin Park and along Historic Main Street.  View St. Anthony Falls from the observation area, cross over to Nicollet Island, and take the Hennepin Avenue Bridge into the former "Gateway" area of downtown.  Follow the trail along the river back to the Guthrie.  There's a map here but it's not the best.  The trail is the red loop near the center. 

Wednesday, July 27  The last concert we tried to attend at Northrop Auditorium was rained out.  We're gonna try again today.  Since we can't legally go to Cuba, Charanga Tropical will be bringing a little slice of Cuba to us.  They have multiple Latin Grammy nominations and that's good enough for me.  I have none.  They play for free from noon to 1 pm, so pack your lunch and a Frisbee and hang out on the mall at the U of M for the afternoon.  For me it will bring back memories from 20 years and 20 pounds ago.  Twenty pounds?  Yeah right.

Thursday, July 28  Even if you don't like pickles, you like the word "pickle," right?  I mean, it's fun to say.  It rhymes with tickle.  To be in a pickle makes a sticky situation seem less daunting.  And you can pickle just about anything!  The proof of that will be in the free "World of Pickling" workshop at the Walker Open Field.  From 4 to 7 pm today, we'll see demos on pickling melon rinds (from the Electric Melon workshop happening from 2-4 pm), sauerkraut, and some unexpected objects, such as film.  Yeah, I said film.  They also said something about lacto-fermentation which sounds wrong, but so does pickled pig's feet, and lots of people like that.  I'm keeping an open mind.

Friday, July 29  We live in the land of 10,000 lakes and the number of fish I've caught in 20+ years of fishing them must number in the 10's.  Maybe you'll have better luck.  Several state parks, including nearby Fort Snelling and Interstate, offer free fishing this summer through the I Can Fish! program.  You don't need to purchase a fishing license, bait, or any equipment.  They'll supply it all.  And an expert will be nearby if you want any tips.  If you'd rather fish on your own, a couple of places in the city that sell live bait are Settergren Ace Hardware on Penn, or Diamond Lake Ace Hardware on Nicollet.

See you next month!