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!

21st July 2011 Brainerd

A quiet day today. We went all down the shopping street from one end to the other and back. The men and Grandma going in the car and Jade and I walked at our peril. It is much cooler today and around 87 degreesF. We had breakfast at the 371 diner and typically when you first hit USA everyone over ordered, but it was enjoyed by all. We ended up at The Black Bear bar and had a cooling drink and then home as the two boys had to get ready for the bachelor night for Mike. They are being picked up by Pat who will take them to Maddens and Zac, Pat will then bring Emily home and we are all going out for a meal.

Photos are just a selection of all of us having a good time together!

20th July 2011 Brainerd

The day started out very hot, nearly 90 degrees F but not as humid as it has been. Apparently it is the last day of intense heat and tomorrow will be 80 something, so much more comfortable hopefully. Came over to Pat's for breakfast which he made in true American style. He went out to a retirement party and so I took everyone in the car, to Whipple Beach and we had a good half an hour enjoying all the activity on the beach which was mainly young families enjoying the water and the lovely weather.

By now Pat was back, we had the cool box filled up with drinks and off we went to the boat. It was exceedingly hot, but there were some cool breezes coming from the lake and it looked promising for a cooling couple of hours. We had a lovely tour of the main part of the lake mainly to enable Grandma to enjoy the view, to see Maddens and remember her last trip 2 years ago. As we went around, the breeze grew stronger and the water became quite choppy and we received some cooling sprays! We made our way to Squaw Point - the sandbank where you can pull the boat up, anchor it and then enjoy swimming and socialising. We had a great time. We took the boat back and called in at Ernie's for drinks and snacks and to enable all our visitors to view Zac's new venture and new house.

This evening we had a big grill out at Pat's. Angie and Mike (the couple getting married) and Debs and Dave (Mike's parents) came over for kebabs.

A good but long day in intense heat.

However ...by 11pm it was 20 degrees cooler - yahoo!!

19th July 2011 Brainerd

This evening Edward, Richard, Jade and Grandma arrive. I am sure that they will be surprised at the heat around the place. It is still extremely humid and still and due to be even hotter tomorrow.

This morning started with a huge storm which lasted until about 0930. This brought the temperature down to about 84 degrees F.

We had jobs to do this morning, mainly buying food ready for the rest of the family coming over. Delivery to Pat and then swopping cars with him so he can take Em's car down to the cities airport and we will use his big, old Buick.

We went to Whipple Beach for a short while after we had been to Pat's as it is fairly close to his house, withing walking distance if you didn't do it when it is too hot. It is a very quiet beach by Whipple Lake. There is only a small swimming area and it has lifeguards. I had a paddle and it seemed odd that it was a lake rather than the sea. The water was lovely and cool and the surroundings were peaceful and relaxing.

The Delta flight 41 landed slightly late but got down ok which you always have to be grateful for. They will be back at Pat's by about 9pm and we will go over there to see them for a short while before the workers have to go to bed!

18th July 2011 Brainerd

Me drinking Bloody Mary and beer chaser, just as they have it in Minnesota.
Pat and Stan mending the light on the boat so that they don't get pulled up by the sheriff again!
Cub foods where all the grocery shopping is done, similar to a very large Sainsbury's!
Notice in the local coffee shop!
Minnesota is The Twins territory - baseball rules

17th July 2011 Brainerd

An extremely humid day today, putting the heat index to over 100 degrees F. It is very sticky and uncomfortable. Zac was at work and Emily had stayed at Maddens overnight with the other four girls. Stan and I walked down to North Wind Grill for breakfast and soon after, Emily came home and we went to pick up Zac from work. Everyone was tired, so had a quick sandwich in Jimmy John's and back home to watch the Women's World Cup Football match.
Went to see Zookeeper at the local cinema, just to keep cool really. By the time we came out it had rained and there was a severe thunderstorm watch going on.
Japan won the football against the USA on penalties.
Nothing else today.

16th July 2011 Brainerd

Quiet day today, oppresively hot and humid although there is cloud cover. The worst bit is the humidity and not the heat. Everything feels damp. To alleviate all this we have been on the boat most of the day.
Started off with a drive thru McDonalds breakfast and then went to collect Pat. There was an artisan's exhibition at Nisswa which was first port of call. We had a good look round, had ice cream, then went to get the boat from Ernie's. Looks like Zac will be signing papers this coming week to become the new owner. It is a very busy watering hole and restaurant. I'm looking forward to seeing Zac in this new environment.
We spent several hours on the lake calling in a Madden's for a 'to go' meal and ate it out on the lake. Great!
The main event of the day was for Emily who was going to a bachelorette party for Angie whose wedding we are going to on Saturday. We had to drop Emily off at Maddens at 4pm then pick up 5 girls at 6pm at Maddens to take them to Ernie's for their bachelorette meal and from there it transpired that they needed to be taken to Zorba's night club, by pontoon also.
Stan was on the pontoon until late and was stopped by the water Sheriff for an out light. He also said that the mosquitos were like clouds, expecially when the sheriff put his lights on!!

15th July 2011 Brainerd

It was a funny old day today. Started out with rain and a storm, so we went to the 371 diner for breakfast before going to Mille Lacs. We thought we would visit the Indian museum which we found very easily but also found it shut! The state has a problem at the moment as all the public workers are on strike, called a state shut down. They have had this shut down for at least 14 days and it is causing huge problems in the state as no roads are being built, no licences are being given out, no museums or state parks are open. Hopefully this will solve itself in a few days as lots of money is being lost. So, anyway, the museum was closed so we went down to Onamia, a small city some ten miles south. This was a waste of time as there was nothing there. Coming back we came along the frontage road of Mille Lacs which was very pretty. This lake is huge some 75 miles round and 130,000+ surface acres. Lots of birds, lots of reeds, lots of waves today after the storm. All the same, very beautiful. We ended up at the city of Garrison and stopped at the Blue Goose for lunch. This, according to Zac, is a true American red neck bar. I have to say it was pretty rough and there is no comparison in the UK. I had my favourite wild rice soup which was served up in a big, round loaf of bread. It was enjoyable and different. From there, home, after a walk to the big wall eye!
Off to Pat's to grill and a few drinks.

14th July 2011 Brainerd

Stan and I went to some old haunts today, met people we had met before, had coffee, some lunch and then came back to Brainerd.
Pequot Lakes is a small city about 20 miles from Brainerd. It is the home of Paul Bunyan's bobber and chair. The water tower is the fishing bobber and the chair is by Babe, his blue ox. The city has about a 1000 people in it but it is a tourist spot because it is on the Paul Bunyan trail. This is a walking or cycling trail in the summer and a snowmobiling trail in the winter. The trail is about 150 miles. We saw the man in the tobacco shop who we met last year and also met his son who was planning to go to Warwick University.
Nisswa is on the way back to Brainerd and also on the trail. This is a very busy little city as it has a lot of speciality shops and is a really pleasant place to visit. All towns of whatever size in Minnesota, are called cities.
Eat at home and a night in tonight.

13th July 2011 Brainerd

Pat took us to the Camp Ripley Military Museum about 20 miles south of Brainerd at Camp Ripley. a large base housing mainly National Guard. It was a very interesting visit as it was the might of the Americans from the Civil War right up to current times. I was most interested in how it all started and why and the Civil War room had been newly built to provide this. Another interesting aspect for me was reading about WW1 and WW2 and the American take on this. Seeing this from others points of view gives a very different picture and different thought processes about how things are seen in another part of the world with a different culture. We had an enjoyable couple of hours browsing around. It wasn't as hot today, so pleasant walking around the old vehicles, tanks and helicopters on show outside.
When Emily and Zac returned from work we had a totally different experience! In Brainerd's Northern Arboretum they were holding a food picnic and pig racing event. This was pure fun. Local restaurants and shops were plying their wares and giving out free tidbits and alcohol. We tried beer, chocolate beer ( which appears to be popular and in vogue at the moment), flavoured vodka (white cake flavour!), wine, cheeses, pasta, ices. Stan even had a free massage from the local chiropractor!
The pig racing was great! About six piglets at a time ran around a wire enclosed track. It was the guy that was running it that really made the whole event. He was full of energy and got the crowd excited. There was no betting and no prizes. Just a laugh and the excitement of seeing these little pigs running around a track looking as though they were having a good time. Not sure that they were but the audience certainly were - good old fashioned fun. An experience we hadn't had before and very different to the turtle racing at Nisswa.
Back to a bar to have a drink and yet more snacks ...and the end of yet another day in the USA.

12th July 2011 Brainerd

Another reasonably restful day and much cooler, so much more pleasant. Around 78 - 80 degrees F with a little breeze to blow the heat around a bit! It had been an exceedingly hot night and no one had managed to sleep very well despite cooling fans. As the week progresses the heat is going to build up to 96 degrees F on Sunday. Not looking forward to that. Saw some wildlife in Emily's garden today. Two nut hatches climbing the tree and a rabbit lollaping across the lawn and an American robin which is three times the size of our little robin, but then it would be wouldn't it?
We took the first tentative drive again on the wrong side of the road and went up to the main drag and to shop for clothes which will stay home at Em's. Stan went to visit the Harley Davidson shop to look over his next purchase when he gets back to the UK. From there to coffee at Caribou, frequently visited by us as its the nearest thing to Costa! One more shop visited, The Christmas Shop, just called that but doesn't reflect it. It is an Aladdin's Cave of goodies from furniture to jewellery to wild rice. All really nice stuff that is not available in UK, its getting it home that's the problem, they don't ship and Fedex can double the price, so we just go to the shop and gawp and drool and wish that we could buy. Oh well!
Back home for a rest and wait for the workers and then off to Pat's house for dinner. He lives about 6 miles away in Baxter and Thai Green curry is on the menu.
Photos are of Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox, iconic of Brainerd and of Emily and Zac's house.