Vermillion Falls

The Vermillion Falls are a full on go right now with all of our rain! A much needed sight from 2021's drought in Minnesota.

View From Below

We only had ten minutes to view the Split Rock Lighthouse in Two Harbors off of Lake Superior before the park closed. So we went to the scenic spot for photos, just as the sun was setting. We were treated to an amazing sky, colors, lighting, and view.

Lift Bridge

The often photographed, Duluth Lift Bridge. The most amazing part about this photo is the lack of people in the shot.

Downtown In Hastings

Downtown Hastings has this row of buildings with a lot of character. I believe I photograph it every time I am here.

Flour Mill Decay

One from the Hastings Flour Mill. You may have to make the photo bigger to see it, but there are three metal stars in the photo. One on the right and two near the roof line. What is the purpose of these stars?

Liberty Bell Replica

I've had this shot of this bell for a year now. I know it's a replica of the Liberty Bell, but that's all of the information I have of it. I haven't made it back to this spot to read the plaque.

Small Arch

One of the smaller arches of the historic Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis.

The End

Tonight was the final showing for the Cottage View Drive-In. The weather was cold, damp and dreary. I guess, fitting weather to the theater's 46 year run. In it's place will be a a very familiar super store that starts with a "Wal" and ends with an "art".

I first photographed the drive-in back in 2007 in late August, but didn't post the photo until September 10. I know it was August because it was a very hot and buggy night, I really needed bug spray badly and made a very short night of it. The very next season, half of their lights burnt out and I never got second chance to improve this shot.

That very photo, from the hot buggy night, can be seen in my local Applebee's Restaurant on their wall. It is part of a photograph mural of sites of Cottage Grove. What's funny to me is, they never asked for permission to display my photo on their wall, but there it is. What do I do? I'm honored to have my photo there and never want it to go away. Soon I will take a photo of me by my photo and post it here on the blog.

As for the theater closing, it is a bummer for the community, but the city will benefit in the long run. The taxes collected are ten fold since the drive-in is only open seasonally. I believe they estimated $20,000 versus $230,000 from the Super Store. I don't quite remember the exact figures, but it is pretty close. A piece of our history has closed, but the untold story is, the theater would be soon closing, regardless of the Walmart purchase, as they needed a projector upgrade from an analog film projector to a digital one, thank you Hollywood. The cost of the upgrade was $70,000 and with the small grossing theater, it was never going to happen. So really, it was a matter of time before they closed and the lot collected no tax dollars.

As sad as it is to see it go from the city of Cottage Grove, I am happy that I was able to give my kids ever lasting memories of the Cottage View Theater for the last six, seven, eight years, or whenever it was I first brought them here.

Fresh Paint

I like the new paint job at First Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. I last posted a photo of the night club back in June of 2006. Comparing the photos, they repainted everything, including the stars. Their First Ave logo is much more pronounced, bold, but still similar to their original look.

M.F.D. Station 19

This is the "Old" Station 19 located in the heart of the U of M Campus. Built in 1893 and is on the National Register of Historical Place. It was one of the last to house horse-draw equipment. It's currently a Buffalo Wild Wings of all things.

Mill City Museum

If you're in Minneapolis, and looking for a place to tour, be sure to visit the Mill City Museum. There is a great history to the flour mills that lined the Mississippi River in Minnesota over the years. The Mill Tour is a must visit.

95th Anniversary

On November 7, 1915, the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory opened it's doors, 95 years later, it's still the major draw to the Como Park Zoo. The conservatory displays five seasonal flowers shows annually in addition to the permanent botanical collections of palms, ferns, economic plants, orchids, bromeliads and select tropical plant species.

Highland 1 & 2 Theater

I had set out to photograph the Highland Theater located on Cleveland Avenue and Ford Parkway in St Paul. I have this photo, but I waited for 10 to 15 minutes for the police officer to leave. You can see the officer in the photo and there was a very long conversation going on. This gives me a reason to go back to the theater for a full shot without vehicles in front of the building.

The Wild Wild West

Is this a left over wagon from 'The Wild Wild West' TV show from the 1960's? Probably not, but this weathered wagon can be found on 7th Street and Hathaway Street in St Paul if you're interested in seeing it.

Schmidt Beer On The West Side

On the corner of Wabasha Street and Isable Street in St Paul's West Side neighborhood, you can find this ghost advertisement of the Schmidt Beer logo. The building looks as it has been recently painted, thankfully they left the logo intact.

If you look really close at the faded logo, you can somewhat make out yet another Schmidt Beer advertisement logo in the same corner of the building. It's very tough to read it, but in the red portion of the logo, you can make out the letters 'hmid'.

The Church Of Saint Agnes

Saint Agnes was built during the years 1909 to 1912. It is the third church built on this site since 1887, when Archbishop John Ireland founded the parish for German-speaking immigrants who settled in this part of Saint Paul.

Kaposia Indian Village

Passed by this sign along Concord Street in South St Paul. I'm not sure what exactly this sign represents. I know if you're traveling in South St Paul, Kaposia is a very familiar name. They have Kaposia Days Festival, many stores have it as part of their retail name, so I know Kaposia is part of this area. But why the sign here, the significants of this exact location is unknown. It is a stones throw from the Mississippi River, there are bluffs above the sign. Perhaps those two factors contributed to the village residing here for 22 years?

Deja Vu

A different day, a different location, but surprisingly I had the same idea in mind for the same subject. I was looking through my archive of photos for some that I've overlooked in the past. To my surprise, the last two days were of the same subject, same location and nearly the same cropping. Personally, I like today's better than yesterday's because of the added green from the trees.

Steve's Newport Drive-In

Though it has been closed for quite some time now, at least three years. It was known for it's great burgers and rootbeer floats. I believe it was once an A&W Rootbeer stand before it turned into Steve's Newport Drive-In. The drive-in became a casualty of the Highway 61 road construction that eliminated the stop light and nearly all of it's passer by traffic.

  

Looking Up

Down along the Mississippi River, an abandon grain house.