Great River Road 2011: Day 5 - sightseeing in the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis

By: Dave and Hazel Crowder - Adventure 5

We had to "rise and shine" early today to board our tour bus at 8:45 a.m. As our bus approached downtown St. Paul, we were "hijacked" Gangstertown style by our tour guide for the day. Dressed in full "gangsta" attire, and assuming the role of a 20's man about town, he entertained and enlightened us on St. Paul's past history. In the 1920's, St. Paul was called a "citadel of sin, and the cesspool of America." Gangsters and police were in cahoots, and the city was a safe haven for gansters all during Prohibition

our "Gangsta" tour guide

A visit to Wabasha Street Caves provided a perspective of how life during the gangster era really was. Originally, the caves were dug out of the sandstone, with the silica mined out being used to make glass. The caves provided a perfect environment for growing mushrooms. Later, the caves were used as nightclubs (Speakeasies), where they sold hooch. It was neat to experience being inside one of the original, unimproved caves, which was about 50 - 55 degrees (perfect temperature for storing foods, and aging cheese.) "I'm going to the library will always have a new meaning to those of us who visited the caves today.

Entrance to the historic Wabasha Street Caves

one of the tunnels filled with debris from a recent flood

Several of the ladies "belly up" to the bar in the caves

After leaving the caves, we had a little unexpected excitement......a lady drove her car right into the back of our bus!!! Ouch!! Adjusting our schedule, and being the troopers that we are, we were able to disembark the bus, and walk to the Minnesota History Museum while our bus driver took care of the accident details. We enjoyed lunch at the museum cafeteria, and the beautiful museum displays depicting Minnesota's past.

thankfully, no one was injured during this incident

Back on the bus at 2:00 p.m., our tour guide took us through the magnificent St. Paul's Cathedral, which is the fourth largest cathedral in America, and has the largest self-supporting dome, which is held up by the pillars of the faith--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The stained glass windows were astounding in their splendor. This beautiful cathedral was visible from many spots in the downtown area, and added a wonderful dimension to the city.

St. Paul's Cathedral

some of the beautiful stained glass work in the Cathedral

Next we had a drive-by of the capitol building which was the first state capital designed with electricity and air conditioning, and with bathrooms for women!!!! Yeah!!! It was built with beautiful white granite from Georgia and gray granite from Minnesota.

Minnesotta State Capital Building

A tour of the twin cities included a stop at the Guthrie Theater, where we could also view five of the bridges that cross the mighty Mississippi. It was a treat to see the splendid old mansions and quaint homes of the past, and to see many of the 22 lakes in Minneapolis. A special treat was to see the Mary Tyler Moore house and statue. At our last stop of the day, at a lakeside park with its very own creek that flowed into a waterfall, we surprised Marilyn Kern with a birthday cake. We didn't get to see all of the 50 square miles of each city, but it wasn't for lack of trying!!! We had a wonderful day, and will treasure the memories of our Day on the Town.