Our three day weekend was mostly hazy and lazy, which was fine by me. Though I felt like there were a thousand and one other things I was meant to be doing, sometimes time has to be made to relax, read a good book, and throw some veggie shish kebabs on the grill. Today we took a break from our break to hang out with Zophia, who headed to our side of the river for a change. In the five years I’ve lived in this house, this was the first time I managed to lure her to our lovely neighborhood coffeehouse (which she quite liked), and to the nearby playground. Sadly she had homework to do, and was too wigged out by the thought of our next adventure…braving the crowds at the Taste of Minnesota. I had a good chuckle when I read one weekend write-up of the event:
So much for St. Paul’s reputation as a sleepy summer town on a lazy river bend. The capital city has suddenly turned into a bacchanalian vortex this weekend, thanks to a harmonic convergence on Harriet Island.
I generally dislike crowds myself, and the thought of being sucked into a bacchanalian vortex was unsettling, to say the least…but it was practically in my backyard. And, unlike some kids, the little man is game for just about anything. So we walked there and back. Vegan food offerings were few and far between, though that wasn’t what we were there for. It was all about the carny rides. But seeing the carousel lit up just so, with stormy skies behind it, I was having serious Something Wicked This Way Comes flashbacks. Still, the little man has no such preconceived notions to conquer so we forged ahead, and found ourselves aboard a ferris wheel. I didn’t start doubting the contraption’s safety until after boarding the gondola, and noting the rust and ricketiness, and that we’d been seated in #13. But the boy loved being up so high. Beseeching him at regular intervals to sit back down ensured he stayed that way for the duration of the ride. The view really was lovely, though. Afterwards we wandered a bit, and waited for The Violent Femmes to take to the stage. It started sprinkling not long after Blister in the Sun, so I took this as our cue to start ambling back towards home. They must have played a fairly long set, because we caught their encore upon our return…from the back deck.
