27th July 2011 St Paul and home

After a successful evening eating at the local Italian just across from the St Paul Hotel, we started our last day. The reason we were in St Paul again was that we were unable to find hotel rooms in downtown Minneapolis because of some American football game.

Our day started with breakfast in Mickey's Diner. What a place! A real American diner as you would see on the old movies. The food was great and a thoroughly enjoyable experience was had by us all. We then wandered downtown to an Italian deli, to Macy's etc., until it got too hot. A drink in a bar which brewed its own beer and then to The Mall of America for food, a cool down and last minute shopping for us. The Mall, of course, is so huge (4 storeys, 100's of shops on each floor and a funfair in the centre) that it is not only difficult to find what you are looking for, but there are also many distractions.

Soon it was time to leave for the airport and the flight home. We were exceedingly sorry to leave everyone this time, particularly Emily and also to leave Minnesota with its simple and relaxing life style.

26th July 2011 Brainerd to Minneapolis/St. Paul

The last day in Brainerd today and we decided that we would go visit Em at Maddens for breakfast. It was a beautiful day and, of course, a beautiful setting overlooking one of the golf courses. We hung around for a short while as it was so lovely. We then made our way around the back road to Nisswa and gave the family time to have a last shop and for me, the last chance to have a cotton candy flavoured ice cream! We went for a quick cold drink and a last sit in the sun by Gull Lake at Madden's competitor, Grand Bay Resort. We had to be on the road for 4pm to get everyone down to the airport without, hopefully, hitting too much traffic. It was sad to see everyone go because Stan and I knew it was our turn tomorrow.

25th July 2011 Brainerd

Almost the last day in Brainerd, I will be sad to leave, it has been a great month away from the UK and this last week while the rest of the family have been here has gone particularly quickly.

After Pat's American breakfast - pancakes, maple syrup with bacon on the side, we get ready to go on the boat, as it is yet again a beautiful, hot day. We went all the way up to Bar Harbour and Zorba's Bar, then came back to Squaw Point to swim.

Grill this evening, ribs and pork tenderloin, and of course, s'mores, the all American sweet consisting of Graham crackers, Hershey chocolate, all bound together with a melted and grilled marshmallow!

24th July 2011 Back to Brainerd

The morning was spent casually. We had breakfast while the bride and groom had their present opening ceremony!

Everyone was tired so when we arrived home we sat around relaxing at Pat's. Went for Pizza and then some of us went to crazy golf at about 9pm. This was really fun except that the mosquitoes were out in full force and biting. Never seen so many and they were really uncomfortable!

23rd July 2011 Crosslake

Today is the wedding day and we awoke to violent storms and torrential rain. We also know, though, that by the time 5pm comes around, the weather will be much better!

We sat around for a little while, chatting, until we could get outside. Pat then took us into Crosslake which was a pleasant little centre with a few specialist shops. We also visited the Historical Centre which housed a little logging village of around the 1900's. There was a school room, village store, a couple of houses etc. Very interesting and enjoyed by us all.

The wedding was very different. It started off on the water's edge at about 1330 with 'The Reveal', where the bride reveals herself to her groom for the first time in her wedding attire. They then have photos taken for about an hour before the family join them for another hour of photos. They then all disappear while the guests sit down. Quiet guitar music played as the service started. The first people down the aisle were the paired up bridesmaids and groomsmen. They were followed by Boulder, the bride and groom's dog who carried the wedding rings down the aisle. He was followed by the groom flanked by his mum and dad and finally the bride with her mum and dad. The service lasted 15 minutes and the words were lovely, nothing like our service, very relaxed and easy on the ear, with a lot of meaning, without being over the top. At the end the wedding party walked up the aisle and waited for their guests to line up and congratulate them. We were then treated to appetizers, while the bridal party sorted themselves out. Appetizers were help yourself bags of M&M's, Reeces pieces, nuts etc and soft drinks!

After a while we sat down to the Wedding Dinner which was true Minnesotan. A light salad for starter, followed up with Wall-Eye fish and wild rice. Between these two dishes was the father of the bride's speech, which thanked everyone who had helped Angie to get where she was today. At the end of the main course was the best man's speech and the Maid of Honour's speech. We then had the sweet course, ice cream and sauce while the bride and groom had their first dance together. The ice cream, which was a special make and very expensive was instead of a wedding cake. By now everyone had moved from their seats and were socializing. It was all very relaxed and enjoyable and there was lots of music and dancing going on! This lasted until midnight, but it had been such a long day that really only the younger people were left by that time.

It was a great experience.

22nd July 2011 Brainerd to Crosslake

Bit of a stressful day for Pat as he has quite a lot to get together for his daughter's wedding, plus all of us to manoeuvre up to Cross Lake and Big Trout Lake where we were staying. We went backwards and forwards between Emily and Zac's house and Pat's house ferrying Emily to have her nails done and ferrying us and stuff, then back to Brainerd Mall and eventually we made our way to Manhattan Beach Resort, Big Trout Lake, Crosslake. After we had all booked in we could relax. Well, I say relax! Those ladies that wanted it could have a Zumba class arranged by Angie as a bit of fun. I took part in this and thoroughly enjoyed it and didn't do too bad for an old 'un! We followed this with some drinks, explored and then joined the Wedding Rehearsal Dinner. We had this outside and it was a self serve Taco Bar which was quite unusual and very nice. We sat with Pat's dad, Neil and his wife Joan (Jo-An). We sat in the pet friendly area as they had a miniature dachshund with them, named Mickey. Last time we saw them they had three chihuahuas! They are a lovely couple and we spent a lot of time with them over the weekend. We then sat and enjoyed the glorious evening and the sunset over Big Trout Lake.

We met many of our new American relies during this time! Plus the many who have joined the Swarthout clan through Angie's marriage. The amazing thing to me are the connections this makes as history moves on. The Swarthouts originally came from Holland until one soul only a few years after the Pilgrim Fathers left Plymouth, left Holland and came and settled in the New York/Philadelphia area and from that came Zac and our new family history. Swarthouts are spread far and wide and there are Swarthouts in every state in the USA.

Answers to questions!!

Anwers to the questions then!!!

Why is New York called the Big Apple? Big Apple meant the big time place and was firstly used on horse racing tracks among jockeys and grooms and then it went to the music scene. It was revived in the 1970's as a marketing ploy.

Why is Chicago called the Windy City? Various reasons. Because the people of Chicago were full of hot air and could persuade people that the things they said were correct! That the politicians bellowed hot air. That winds came off Lake Michigan. More recently that the high rise had caused tunnels of wind. There are lots more reasons, so take your pick and choose the one you like most!

The big patch of water that we went by between Philadelphia and Delaware was the Delaware River. An awesome piece of water!