Faribault Connections

The best part of going to visit a friend, particularly if that friend lives somewhere you've never been before, is having a built-in tour guide. When I went to visit Patt at Memorial Day, I couldn't wait to have a guided tour of the Faribault, Minnesota area. I have to say that if I colored in the counties in Minnesota where I'd actually spent time, Rice County would not have been colored in, even in part. I had never been that way at all.

There are a lot of reasons to visit. There is a lovely nature center, River Bend Nature Center, along the outskirts of the town. We only drove through it. The phlox were in bloom when I was visiting and some areas adjacent to the road were awash in pink, lavender and white.

The inventor of the carnival staple, the Tilt-a-Whirl, lived in Faribault and invented the ride in 1926. They have an original car which is being restored and will be placed in the downtown area. I think that's my favorite ride.

You may know the downtown from the movie "Grumpy Old Men".

Main street and the drug store from the beginning of the movie were Faribault. I have to admit that I haven't seen the movie in many years so it's on the list of things to watch again, now that I've driven through the town. The Tilt-a-Whirl is going to the left of the intersection in this photo.

Faribault has taken great pride of place. They had a movie theatre. Most towns their size had one. In an effort to keep it functional, it was subdivided into a multi-plex. But that couldn't save it. A merger of the Faribault Arts Center and the Faribault Community Theater created the Paradise Center for the Arts in the old theater. It is a gem in the downtown, staging plays and concerts at very reasonable prices. Cultural opportunities make a town more attractive to people.

And there is a Chicago connection to Faribault, one I didn't know about.

This is the entrance to the elite and very private boarding school, Shattuck-St. Mary's. Driving under the arch catapulted you into a world of old buildings or buildings designed to look old. The campus is very reminiscent of an English college. Shattuck is known for engineering, bioscience, and the arts. Marlon Brando was kicked out of Shattuck. Broadcaster Brent Musburger is a graduate.

Another claim to fame figured into this year's Stanley Cup.

The team captain of the Chicago Blackhawk's, Jonathan Toews, went to school at Shattuck. They excel in golf, soccer, figure skating and hockey. I counted at least 8 current and former National Hockey League players who learned their craft at Shattuck.

I never would have known any of this had I not had a personal guide. It's amazing to me the things a small town has hidden amongst the trees and rolling hills. It makes me want to explore more of the small towns I travel through on my journeys. I actually paid more attention to the Stanley Cup finals knowing of this connection than I would have. Hockey? Meh. Hockey with a visceral connection to where Patt lives? Okay.

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

My First Hockey Game

My boss retires at the end of the month. He's not quite got the tally down to hours and minutes, but he certainly has it down to days. We wanted to do something as an office but we were way too busy during the summer to consider a baseball game. So, Mike suggested we go to opening night of the minor league hockey team, Chicago Wolves. "I know you don't like hockey, Deb." I'm 'meh' on it. The company was picking up the bill so I've got nothing to lose.

Iowa was playing Northwestern in the evening and, of course, it was on TV. At the restaurant, people joked that I could stay at the restaurant and they'd come get me after the hockey game. In actuality, the two ran about the same amount of time with the football game starting before and ending after the hockey game. I gave the pseudo offer a thought but decided no. I won't pay my own money to see a hockey game so this was my chance.

The Wolves play their games at the Allstate Arena, what some of us used to know as the Rosemont Horizon Center. The game was at 7. We got there at 6:45. At 7, they hauled out these pieces and put them on the ice. You can't see real well. It was hard to take good clear photos because flash didn't work real well and although there's decent lighting, it's not the brightest. These are 2 "paws" and a "mouth". The team skates through this onto the ice. The opponent, the Milwaukee Admirals, skated around this after the Wolves were introduced.

It seems, nowadays, that there is a certain amount of flash and boom that is needed in introducing a professional sports team. The Wolves, while being minor league, have adopted the desire for explosions and loud noises. Hence, the need for the scoreboard to explode.

And the paws to emit jets of flame.

We could feel the heat from where we sat. We also noticed the underside of the arena roof is wood. Is that such a good thing to have columns of fire shooting up toward a wooden roof?

In between periods, the zamboni came out; they have 2 actually; and they flew this blimp over the audience. It dropped coupons for a free bag of cookies at the concession stands. They threw t-shirts and numbered balls from the Illinois lottery into the stands. Little kids from a Barrington, Illinois youth hockey club played each other between periods and fans cheered each goal. The kids had trouble standing upright in their ice skates so any goal had to feel really special.

I enjoyed myself. It was kind of quiet, for a sporting event. I expected more noise. Mike said an NHL game is really loud, that you should bring earplugs for one of those. It wasn't a complete sell-out. We noticed a number of seats, some pretty good ones, too, were empty.

This is early in the game and you can still see the haze left over from the fireworks and flames.

We got to see a lot of hockey. The game was tied, 2-2, at the end of regulation. There were only 2 fights,  for those who follow hockey and ask about those things. There was a "sudden death" overtime where no one scored, followed by a shoot-out, one player versus the goalie. Milwaukee won that 3-1.

It was a fun time. My knees weren't too bad during the game. There was plenty of room to sit and be comfortable.  Mike was gracious to, occasionally, check the Iowa score on his iPhone. I thought, for sure, they'd post scores of other sporting events but perhaps there are far too many to put up on the scoreboard. Although the Wolves lost, Iowa won.

Do I know more about hockey now than I did before? Kind of. I still wouldn't spend my money on tickets but if someone gave me tickets, I'd go. I did enter the drawing to win suite box seats. That would be cool to win and everyone go again.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb