Monday – Minnehaha, Brewery, Model Trains

Monday, September 17th, we set out to visit Minnehaha Falls, a brewery, and a model railroad museum. We initially headed southeast about six miles and ended up east of the northern end of the Chain of Lakes we had been near the previous day where we rode a street car.

Minnehaha Falls

We were in Minnehaha Park.

Minnehaha Park is at the southern end of the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway which, per Wikipedia, is "a linked series of park areas in Minneapolis, Minnesota that takes a roughly circular path through the city." We specifically visited Minnehaha Falls at the tiny pink rectangle at the lower right corner of the following diagram. 

This is the view from the top of the Minnehaha Falls. There is a bridge just above the falls (where I was standing), and trails go down into the gorge on both sides, with another bridge below the falls that can be seen in the center of the photo.

At the top of the falls is a statue of Hiawatha and Minnehaha, erected in 1911. Per a Wikipedia link for Minnehaha she "is a fictional Native American woman documented in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1855 epic poem The Song of Hiawatha. She is the lover of the titular protagonist Hiawatha and comes to a tragic end. The name, often said to mean laughing water, literally translates to waterfall or rapid water in Dakota [language]."

As we stood in front of the statue, some of us from our group tried to recall the verses from The Song of Hiawatha. Every body readily knew...

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,

A few of us continued...

By the shining Big-Sea-Water,

But only a couple die hards among us could add...

Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,

Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis

I suggested we stand at the top of the falls and ceremoniously recite the poem. I looked it up per a link for the works of the author Longfellow, and had totally forgotten (or maybe I never knew) how excruciatingly long it is. We punted the communal recitation. Although the Song of Hiawatha brought fame to Minnehaha Falls, Longfellow had never visited the falls himself.

Minnehaha Falls are 53 feet high and fed by Minnehaha Creek. We learned that at one point water from the Mississippi River had been diverted to feed the falls. Here is our proof that we were indeed all there – photo taken by a friendly passerby – with the base of the falls in the background. Back row left to right: Frank, Sue, John. Front row left to right: Diane (me), Margaret, Joe.

Frank and I then sat for a photo of the two of us only. Note that Frank is wearing his train shirt, symbolic of where we would be heading later in the day.

Interesting to note is that Minnehaha means laughing water in the Dakota language and when combined with polis, a Greek derivative for city, you get Minnehaha-o-polis. This root combination  is quite a mouthful, and so it was shortened to Minneapolis by removing an hah and an o. Out of curiosity, I queried at several museums what citizens of Minneapolis call themselves. Are they Minneapolisites? Are they Minneapolympians? Are they Minneapolisers? Nobody seemed to know for sure. On the web I found a chat room that claimed Minneapolitans to be the correct term but ya can't believe everythin' you read. The most concise answer, the one I liked best for how to refer to the people from Minneapolis was, "In the winter... cold!"

Surly Brewery
Our next stop was for lunch at the Surly Brewery. Per wikipedia 

The Surly Brewing Company is a Minnesota-based craft brewery with brewing facilities in Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center, noted for well-reviewed beers and primarily canning, rather than bottling. Initially available only in and around the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, it has since begun to expand distribution to include all of Minnesota and several nearby states. Surly has been growing rapidly; it had production of 21,000 barrels in 2012, 28,000 barrels in 2013, and 47,757 barrels in 2015.

There were no public tours the day we were there, but the dining area had excellent food and those who were so inclined could choose from a wide assortment of local beers. Per the magenta signage on the wall behind the bar, the beers fell into the categories of Belgian Style, Hop Forward, Malt Forward, Lager, and Other.  The names amused me. Some examples of the more unique ones were "Naked and Afraid", "Dots & Loops", Furious", "Hell", Rose", and Heat Slayer". Apparently "Furious" was a favorite of Joe's. He ordered it both at the brewery and when we were out at other restaurants. We truly enjoyed our lunch there. From left to right: Sue, John, Margaret, Joe, Frank, and not shown, the phantom photographer, me.

Their wall art near the restrooms was like the metal stamped plating on a truck side or kick plate.

On the outsides of the building were these spigots, spaced periodically. I am not sure quite what they were for, but I could picture some beer lover lying on his back beneath and guzzling a huge quantity of the brew down his gullet wearing a big smile on his face.

As we made out way from the brewery to our next touring location, I spied this on a traffic light. I think the dedicated amber colored signal reminded me of our street car visit the day before.

Twin City Model Railroad Museum

Our next stop in the afternoon on Monday was the Twin City Model Railroad Museum. This was in St. Paul and during our trip, our only venture outside Minneapolis to the other side of the Mississippi.

Upon entering the museum, a long entrance hallway was lined with large posters of train depots. Each of the pictures was more quaint and picturesque than the previous. These are seven of the depots from six counties along rail lines throughout Minnesota. I asked myself "Where are they now?" and what follows are my efforts to find out.

Grand Rapids in Itasca County was built in1903 for the Great Northern line. The building currently houses the Chamber of Commerce and Commonspace, a co-working office area. More information can be found about the depot at foursquare.com/v/great-northern-railway-depot/.

Lake Hubert in Crow Wing County was built in 1918 as a Minnesota and International Freight House & Shelter.  It is now preserved by local and summer residents.

From this link I found this photo.

McGregor in Aitkin County was built in 1916 for the Northern Pacific line. At one point it was converted to an antique shop.

Wayzata in Hennepin County was built in 1906 by the Great Northern Railway. Per Wikipedia it now houses the offices and museum of the Wayzata Historical Society as well as the Wayzata Area Chamber of Commerce.

St. Louis Park in Hennepin County was built in 1887 for Chicago, Milwaukee, St.Paul, and Pacific line. Per Wikipedia, it now serves as a museum for the St. Louis Park Historical Society.

St. Anthony Park – St. Paul in Ramsey County was built in 1888 for the Great Northern line. My efforts to find where this beauty is now were unsuccessful. I even  checked the National Register of Historic Places listings in Ramsey County, Minnesota to no avail.

Owatonna in Steele County, built in 1887 for the Union line, is now preserved as a railway museum. A Minnesotan named Jerry Waldrop bought it for $1 in 1992, dismantled it piece by piece and rebuilt it in his driveway in a suburb. There is an interesting article published in April 17, 2016 titled Finding Minnesota: Owatonna’s Old Train Depot. Bear with the ads because there is also two minute video worth viewing.

The counties for these depots were scattered along rail lines throughout the state. This is an overview of the county locations. Minneapolis is in Hennepin County. Notice how many of the rails go through Minneapolis.

Finally, I am about to go into the museum proper which contains the model train layouts. Immediately upon entering the large, expansive room, I come upon an extremely detailed LEGO display with trains running through  it.

For those Marvel Comic fans – among whom are my son-in-law Jeremy, his daughter Autumn, and his son Isaiah – this display would be a real attraction.  Three year old Isaiah can name and point out many, many of the Marvel heroes. In researching this I learned there are many Many MANY of those characters. My daughter  Robin has to keep herself apprised in order to keep up with her kids ( and hubby)! Here are several of those heroic icons lined up for inspection in front of the Hall of Justice.

More my speed, this robotic LEGO figurine of Mickey Mouse made me smile.

A side view of the display shows a snow covered village with trains passing through tunnels and tracks at several levels.

A closeup along a side ramp details a fire engine with fireman on board.

In another display area (non-LEGO) was a sequence showing a firetruck leaving to attend a fire. Be sure to look carefully through the arched widow on the right to see a fireman sliding down the pole.

There was a carved wooden locomotive and tender that was very impressive in its size and details. I did not measure, but it was between three and four feet long.

The miniature layouts stretched far into the recess of the building. If you peer carefully you can  barely make out the figures of Frank and John in the far distance.

This device was a fun hands on (and feet on) experience. By standing on the base and pulling up the pump handle at the left you could then depress it and force air into the authentic train whistles mounted at the right end of the base. The room resounded with the sound of an engine that almost made you believe a train was coming on through.

We finished our evening with a dinner at home base that was a combination of grocery store salad and leftovers from other nights eating out. We were content to sit home, talk, and play a few games of Sequence.