The trip from Brookings, SD to St. Paul, MN yesterday was 230 miles mostly on secondary roads which were all very nice. Of course, we had more wind but not as much as our last couple of drives. Our campground was in the Lake Elmo Park Preserve just a few miles east of downtown St. Paul. Joani reserved a very convenient pull-through site that was long enough to leave the tow dolly attached. The sites were widely spaced and the reserve had more trails than we could walk in a month. This early in the season the park was mostly empty with just a few families camping on the weekend.
It rained for our first few days but Joani was able to add another IKEA to her list in an attempt, I think, to visit every one of them across the country. One day I spent sprucing up the coach and got it looking pretty good.
Finally, the sky cleared, and we saw the sun and felt the warmth of a nice spring day. We ventured downtown to tour the Minnesota State Capitol. More than 20 types of stone are found throughout the structure including walls of white Georgia marble.
The golden sculpture at the base of the dome was titled "The Progress of the State" commonly referred to as the Quadriga. It certainly gleamed in the bright sunlight, probably because the bronze had been re-gold-leafed just a few years ago.
The beautiful architecture included all the traditional touches you might expect. Fine marble columns and colorful murals and paintings were found everywhere inside the spacious interior that had just finished an extensive restoration from 2013 to 2017.
We had to wait for a gathering to clear before I could snap this picture of the rotunda from below.
From the front steps of the capitol, we could see the St. Paul Cathedral close by and it was next on the day's agenda.
We were just as impressed with the massive cathedral as we were with the capitol building. Beautiful stonework adorned every square foot of both the exterior and interior surfaces of the structure.
Guided tours were offered but our timing was off. Self-guided tours were also encouraged.
We both noticed an area around the door handles that was clean and shiny compared to the rest of the door. We deduced the oil from so many hands kept the copper brads from oxidizing.
It was still early in the day so we decided to visit the Science Museum of Minnesota. The museum included three floors of exhibits and displays. We were a bit disappointed that, while the exhibits were geared toward a young crowd, very few of the kids seemed to appreciate the opportunity to learn. Wow, I sound like a jaded old man!
The museum was located within the Mississippi National River & Recreation Area, which is part of the National Park system.
Looking down any street outside of the museum we could see plenty of intriguing architecture that will have to be explored on another visit to downtown St. Paul.
The Landmark Center, built in 1902, will need to wait for another day.
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