Do They Build Houses Like This Any More?

What I can tell you about this home is it's location and the approximate build date. It is located in St Paul in the West Side neighborhood. I would figure the house was built somewhere between 1910 and 1930 as were many of the homes in this neighborhood. It does look like it is made with brick, obviously painted over. But wow, the detail painting someone has taken on this home. Plus the brass roof on the left tower and in two other areas as you progress down to the ground level. I'm not sure what the 'fruit salad' like thing above the two side by side windows is suppose to be, hummmm. That's odd to me. Someone put a lot of time into restoring this home. Unfortunately this is the only photo I took of the home so far. The lower half is covered quite a bit with trees and shrubs, so it was tougher to photograph from the street. I'll make a return visit in the winter when all of the leaves are off of the trees.

Look What I Found!

I was thinking of making this a guessing game for the locals. But I've decided against it, though I am curious if anyone has visited this location. I am standing under Highway 61, [click here for an aerial shot] in St Paul. I stopped at the roadside park, which I believe leads into Battle Creek Park, and was surprised to find this tunnel filled with spray paintings of all sorts.

Wakota Bridge Progress

After too long of a delay over funding, the Wakota Bridge replacement project is back in full action. While originally scheduled to complete in 2007, the south bridge is scheduled for completion in the year 2010. Yeah, that's a very long delay don't you think for road construction? The big square is where the foundation will be formed. If you look closely, you can see the other side where the bridge will connect.

Poo Removal Mitt

Best of all, the poo pick-up mitt is degradable.

The Witches Tower

A quick shot from my car window as I wait for the red light to turn green. This odd looking tower, also called the 'Witches Hat' located in Prospect Park is actually a water tower. What you might not know is, this water tower was also designed as a bandstand. Constructed back in 1913, the bandstand, incidentally, only held one concert. Carrying musical instruments to the top of the sixty foot climb proved to be quite difficult for the musicians. I must admit, this is one really cool way to hide a water tower.

State Pinewood Derby 2008

An audience of over 550 gathered at the Mall of America in Bloomington to watch the 2008 Northern Star Council Pinewood Derby. The event—which is the largest Pinewood Derby in the country—was held on Saturday, May 31 and Sunday, June 2.

Saturday’s race featured 212 of the fastest cars representing over 38,000 Tiger, Cub and Webelos Scouts that were eligible to compete this year. All of Saturday’s racers won at both the Pack and District levels. This was the 12th Council-wide Pinewood Derby, since it was first organized in 1997.

This was my son's first time making it to the State Pinewood Derby race. We finished 67th in contest. 67th out of over 38,000 cars state wide, I'm very happy with the results. It was quite the experience for my son making it that far, plus Grandpa and myself who helped out with making the derby car.

  

Indiana Jones Movie At The Drive In

Well, we made our first trip to the Cottage View Drive-In theater in Cottage Grove off of Highway 61. We saw the new 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skulls' movie as the feature movie. This was followed up by 'Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian'. Having seen the previous three Indiana Jones movies when I was much younger, I was looking forward to the latest release. Well, while it did keep up with the action from the previous movies, I was a bit taken back by the story line. I won't give the plot away, but it was easy to figure out where the story was going. Some of the other Indiana Jones movies, sure, there is a lot to believe for the viewer. This was a bit over the top for me. My kids enjoyed the movie and want to see the first three movies now. I can easily sit through them. As for the second Chronicles Of Narnia movie....having not seen the previous movie, I was unsure of any of the characters or what had taken place previously. I was able to follow the story line and if you have not seen the first movie, this one is has a decent enough story line for the viewer.

Keep Out!

See it, say it, fix it! Got it?

Now That's What I Call Green

Normally shooting photos directly in the direction of the sun is not a good thing. For this shot however, not sure why or how it happened, but the green is extremely brilliant in this photo. Perhaps the sun is reflecting off of the leafy greens, I just don't know. The location for this shot I will be returning to at night. I can envision some great nighttime photos from this higher vantage point. For those of you familiar with St Paul, this intersection is Highway 61 from left to right in the photo. The street making an upside down 'T' would be the beginning of Sheppard Road as you head into downtown from the East Side of St Paul.

Theme Day: My Favorite Corner Store

June's theme day in the City Daily Photo community was a bit different for me. My favorite local corner store is the theme, but I found myself in search of a favorite. There was a couple I visited growing up as a child, but nothing really stood out to me as a favorite. Or the ones I do remember are no longer a corner store or have been torn down. This posed a challenge. I was passing through the East Side neighborhood last month when this place caught my eye. I made several visits here when I was over at my cousin's house, which is on the same block as this corner store. The very aged sign says the name of the store is called 'Blue' for some reason that name doesn't ring a bell. It may have been called something else when I was much younger, or my cousin called it something else. I just can't recall right now.

Stop by the other cities participating in the June theme day via the links below the photo. Do remember that there are timezone differences between the other cities. Or you can head over to the portal page to see a thumbnail view of blogs that have posted their corner store photo.


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