Minnesota State Capitol | Mall of America

Thursday - 26 September 2002: Minneapolis, Minnesota - It just poured rain all night and did not let-up until after 10 a.m. With Snickers in Doggie Daycare, we toured downtown Minneapolis and then went over to St. Paul to see the Capitol Building. I must say the Capitol Building in Minnesota is one of the nicest, most elaborate Capitols we have ever visited.

The Minnesota State Capitol (on a dark and stormy day)


The Round Balcony


The Grand Staircase

This building is actually the third Capitol Building. The first, used when Minnesota was still a Territory, burned. The second was too small before it was completed. The present-day Capitol was finished in 1905. The exterior of the State Capitol is made of white Georgia marble and St. Cloud granite. Everything inside the Capitol is ornate and very elegant. The Governor, Jesse Ventura, was not in (he is in Cuba!), so we were able to go into his office and see the ornately decorated Governor's Reception Room. The room was too dark for photography - sorry - but it is used for official functions and is a showcase of Minnesota history. Famous painting commemorating important events in Minnesota history line the walls. Actually, now that I type this... I find it difficult to picture Jesse Venture is such somber a setting.

Then, after all this culture - we headed out for the "real" reason for our stop-over in The Twin Cities: The Mall of America! There is controversy if The Mall of America, or The West Edmonton Mall is larger, but we can say that The Mall of America is nicer than The West Edmonton Mall.

In the center of the Mall of America is an amusement park - Camp Snoopy - run by the Knott's Berry Farm people. The Mall has three floors and is anchored by four department stores on each corner - Nordstrom, Sears, Bloomingdale and Macy's. We didn't look into the department stores, but hiked the entire circle of each floor! We found a huge Sanrio store and a General Mills "boutique" where you can make your own box of cereal. (That was fun.)

After all this shopping (and a little buying) we went to a place on the 2nd floor which advertised "Two for One Beer". Can't beat that, so we ordered two pints. The waitress brought us FOUR pints of beer. What? She proceeded to explain Minnesota liquor laws require her to bring each person two drinks during happy hour. (This is the same state where you have to buy beer in a liquor store, not a supermarket.) Well, not that we can't polish-off a few pints... still, strange rule.

RV Park: Town & Country (in Savage, Minnesota)