St. Paul 2015

I decided to stop in St. Paul after spending a weekend in Minneapolis. The skies were overcast, with a chance of thunderstorms, so I knew I wanted to get in a few photos before the rain started. My first stop was to photograph the Cathedral of St. Paul. I had a lot of fun photographing this huge building, and the variuos carved artwork that adorned it. The Cathedral was also celebrating 100 Years. After leaving the Cathedral, I noticed great views of the downtown area as I headed towards the Minnesota History Center on Kellogg Boulevard. This was another nice architectural building I had fun photographing.

Next stop, the Minnesota State Capitol Building. But as I pull into my parking spot, here comes the rain. I started to get back on the road heading home, but I decided to stick it out as it turned out to be very brief. I noticed that the building was under heavy construction. Boy, was I upset about this one! First, the Capitol Building Dome in Washington is under construction...now this one, too? So I was in no hurry to head in that direction. Instead, I stop at Curtis Patterson's Roy Wilkins Memorial..."Spiral For Justice"...a unique memorial honoring Minnesota native and civil rights leader Roy Wilkins. It was designed to symbolize Wilkins and his life’s work...representing Wilkins’ 46 years with the NAACP. From there, I photographed the Minnesota Fallen Firefighter's Memorial. I have photographed quite a few firefighter memorials, but this was the best one I've seen. Next to that was Rodger M. Brodin's "Monument To The Living"...a tall statue of a soldier in army fatigues. I next walked over to the Veteran's Service Building where John Karl Daniels' "Earthbound" sculpture sits outside. Also in that srea was the Minnesota State Liberty Bell replica and Alonzo Hauser's "Promise Of Youth...Millie" sculpture. It was named "Millie" after the young lady who posed for it. This is a great sculpture! Next was the Minnesota Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. This memorial was laid out very nice witha small pond. And there was a small basket of flowers left at the foot of the wall...touching indeed. Up next was the Minnesota World War II Veteran's Memorial and "Circle Of Honor".

A steady light rain begins to fall as I head in the direction of the Capitol Building. I first stop at Paul T. Granlund's Charles A. Lindbergh Memorial..."The Boy and the Man". Charles Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, military officer, explorer, and social activist. But he emerged suddenly from virtual obscurity to instant world fame as the result of his Orteig Prize-winning solo nonstop flight on May 20–21, 1927. It was made from the Roosevelt Field in Garden City on New York's Long Island to Le Bourget Field in Paris, France...a distance of nearly 3,600 statute miles in the single-seat, single-engine, purpose-built Ryan monoplane Spirit of St. Louis. As a result of this flight, Lindbergh was the first person in history to be in New York one day and Paris the next. The record setting flight took 33 hours and 30 minutes. A few feet from there was the Hubert H. Humphrey Memorial. Hubert H. Humphrey was the Mayor of Minnnesota from 1945-1948, a U.S. Senator from 1949-1964 and again from 1971-1978 and Vice-President of the United States from 1965-1969.

My final stop before the sky really opens up is the Capitol Building. As I stated before, the building was fully covered while it is undergoing a much needed facelift according to the guard on duty. Outside were two statues...one of John Albert Johnson, who was the editor and half-owner of the St. Paul Herald and Knute Nelson, a Norwegian-American attorney and politician active in both Wisconsin and Minnesota. Above the main entrance to the Capitol Building was the "Progress of the State", which polished and very shiny. The statuary group is in an arrangement known as a "Quadriga", consisting of a chariot pulled by four horses. Three human figures: two women and a man are included.