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GALA Festival Trip, Day 3 of 10
Jul. 8th, 2024 11:59 pmMONDAY
Woke up about 4 am to pee and returned to bed. Got up for the day just after seven and turned off my alarm set for 7:30. Around nine we headed downstairs for breakfast at the hotel bar. A group of maybe six or eight were seated at the adjacent table and I overheard a discussion concerning farming or gardening, one couple's location in western Washington, and dealing with US Customs and Immigration. After breakfast we sat briefly in the lobby to plot a course for the day.
Our first stop was the Foshay Building which is shaped like the Washington Monument. We entered through the lobby of the W hotel which currently occupies most of the building, where we were handed a key card and instructed to take elevator 4 to the top (30th) floor. We checked out the exhibits including a march commissioned from Sousa for the occasion of the building's grand opening and the story of Foshay's conviction for mail fraud and subsequent clemency from two Presidents. Next we ascended the short stairs to the observation deck and took pictures. On our way down, a couple of hotel guests entered the elevator at the 17th floor: an admittedly hot bear with a salt-and-pepper beard and his petite brunette wife. He remarked that we were "two big, burly men" and asked if we knew each other, to which Gary responded "for a long time." Meanwhile, his wife read my Dear Dorothy T-shirt and pointed it out to him, and they both chuckled. As we left the elevator, I noticed the back of his T-shirt read "boys can dance too", which explains the curious graphic on the front. We returned the key to the front desk, where Gary overheard the wife telling the desk clerk they needed to extend their stay at least one night to avoid having to go back to Texas during tropical storm Beryl.
Exiting the lobby, we turned right to continue north on Marquette Avenue to the Nicollet Mall station. Gary noticed the Metro Transit service center as we were about to pass it, so we entered and he bought us fare cards loaded with 7-day passes. That settled, we made our way to the station and boarded a southbound train to the Mall of America. We stopped by the restroom, then sat in the Huntington Bank Rotunda to get our bearings and pick a place for lunch. Gary chose Ichiddo Ramen, in the third-floor food court. On our way there we walked through the Nickelodeon Universe theme park. Both there and throughout the mall we spotted many daddy bears with wives and children. When we reached the restaurant, Gary ordered regular beef ramen, egg rolls, and a Mountain Dew, while I ordered spicy miso ramen with pork belly, gyoza, and watermelon coconut milk with Boba. After we'd finished lunch, there was a conga line of young people past our table. We hit the Walgreens in the mall, then took the elevator down to get the train. There were many families with strollers wanting to use the elevator, including a daddy-pup with ink on both arms. I stopped by the restroom and overheard a lady on the janitor's radio who sounded like the teacher in Peanuts TV specials (whose voice was actually a muted trombone).
We boarded the train downtown, headed for the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The train was nearly empty. We transferred to the 6 bus at Hennepin Station and arrived at the Sculpture Garden, where we were greeted by 1) a Liuna (union) picket line against the parks department and 2) a torrential downpour. We took refuge in the bus shelter and plotted a course to return home. We caught the next 4L bus in the same direction after the rain slacked off, and rode three stops. We crossed the street and checked the shelter but it had a different route from the one we wanted to take. I double-checked on Google Maps and found the correct stop across the street, diagonally opposite where we left the previous bus. When the 17W bus arrived, we took the seats immediately in front of a dude who remarked to his lady companion: first, "Big guy!" as Gary was seated, then, "Two big guys!" as I joined him. He claimed he used to be a big guy himself, but lost weight chasing young females (as best I can paraphrase). A couple stops later, this couple left and a cute otter-pup with a trim beard passed by to take the seat they'd vacated (sitting directly behind Gary). A big and tall young dude in a rose-colored shirt ran through the rain (which had picked up again) to catch the bus at one stop, but at the next stop, a person in a streamlined wheelchair boarded and big bear passed me on the way to a seat behind otter-pup.
By the time we reached our hotel, the rain was still coming down, but at a tolerable pace. We returned to the room to recharge our phones and ourselves, arriving about 3:30. We actually managed to nap for an hour and change before heading downstairs to meet Dan for dinner at Hell's Kitchen.
We bundled into Dan's car and rode the few blocks to the restaurant, where Dan found Doris Day parking across the street. We had a nice meal and a great time catching up. I had a double smash burger with a spicy jelly sauce and chips and queso instead of fries, while Gary and Dan had mac and cheese - Gary with shrimp and Dan with chicken. I tried the local cider on tap, called Loon Juice, which Dan recommended and had a glass of as well. Gary passed on dessert, while Dan and I each had a scoop of their specialty ice cream.
We returned to the hotel and chilled in the room for the evening. We went to bed early, around 11 pm.
Woke up about 4 am to pee and returned to bed. Got up for the day just after seven and turned off my alarm set for 7:30. Around nine we headed downstairs for breakfast at the hotel bar. A group of maybe six or eight were seated at the adjacent table and I overheard a discussion concerning farming or gardening, one couple's location in western Washington, and dealing with US Customs and Immigration. After breakfast we sat briefly in the lobby to plot a course for the day.
Our first stop was the Foshay Building which is shaped like the Washington Monument. We entered through the lobby of the W hotel which currently occupies most of the building, where we were handed a key card and instructed to take elevator 4 to the top (30th) floor. We checked out the exhibits including a march commissioned from Sousa for the occasion of the building's grand opening and the story of Foshay's conviction for mail fraud and subsequent clemency from two Presidents. Next we ascended the short stairs to the observation deck and took pictures. On our way down, a couple of hotel guests entered the elevator at the 17th floor: an admittedly hot bear with a salt-and-pepper beard and his petite brunette wife. He remarked that we were "two big, burly men" and asked if we knew each other, to which Gary responded "for a long time." Meanwhile, his wife read my Dear Dorothy T-shirt and pointed it out to him, and they both chuckled. As we left the elevator, I noticed the back of his T-shirt read "boys can dance too", which explains the curious graphic on the front. We returned the key to the front desk, where Gary overheard the wife telling the desk clerk they needed to extend their stay at least one night to avoid having to go back to Texas during tropical storm Beryl.
Exiting the lobby, we turned right to continue north on Marquette Avenue to the Nicollet Mall station. Gary noticed the Metro Transit service center as we were about to pass it, so we entered and he bought us fare cards loaded with 7-day passes. That settled, we made our way to the station and boarded a southbound train to the Mall of America. We stopped by the restroom, then sat in the Huntington Bank Rotunda to get our bearings and pick a place for lunch. Gary chose Ichiddo Ramen, in the third-floor food court. On our way there we walked through the Nickelodeon Universe theme park. Both there and throughout the mall we spotted many daddy bears with wives and children. When we reached the restaurant, Gary ordered regular beef ramen, egg rolls, and a Mountain Dew, while I ordered spicy miso ramen with pork belly, gyoza, and watermelon coconut milk with Boba. After we'd finished lunch, there was a conga line of young people past our table. We hit the Walgreens in the mall, then took the elevator down to get the train. There were many families with strollers wanting to use the elevator, including a daddy-pup with ink on both arms. I stopped by the restroom and overheard a lady on the janitor's radio who sounded like the teacher in Peanuts TV specials (whose voice was actually a muted trombone).
We boarded the train downtown, headed for the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The train was nearly empty. We transferred to the 6 bus at Hennepin Station and arrived at the Sculpture Garden, where we were greeted by 1) a Liuna (union) picket line against the parks department and 2) a torrential downpour. We took refuge in the bus shelter and plotted a course to return home. We caught the next 4L bus in the same direction after the rain slacked off, and rode three stops. We crossed the street and checked the shelter but it had a different route from the one we wanted to take. I double-checked on Google Maps and found the correct stop across the street, diagonally opposite where we left the previous bus. When the 17W bus arrived, we took the seats immediately in front of a dude who remarked to his lady companion: first, "Big guy!" as Gary was seated, then, "Two big guys!" as I joined him. He claimed he used to be a big guy himself, but lost weight chasing young females (as best I can paraphrase). A couple stops later, this couple left and a cute otter-pup with a trim beard passed by to take the seat they'd vacated (sitting directly behind Gary). A big and tall young dude in a rose-colored shirt ran through the rain (which had picked up again) to catch the bus at one stop, but at the next stop, a person in a streamlined wheelchair boarded and big bear passed me on the way to a seat behind otter-pup.
By the time we reached our hotel, the rain was still coming down, but at a tolerable pace. We returned to the room to recharge our phones and ourselves, arriving about 3:30. We actually managed to nap for an hour and change before heading downstairs to meet Dan for dinner at Hell's Kitchen.
We bundled into Dan's car and rode the few blocks to the restaurant, where Dan found Doris Day parking across the street. We had a nice meal and a great time catching up. I had a double smash burger with a spicy jelly sauce and chips and queso instead of fries, while Gary and Dan had mac and cheese - Gary with shrimp and Dan with chicken. I tried the local cider on tap, called Loon Juice, which Dan recommended and had a glass of as well. Gary passed on dessert, while Dan and I each had a scoop of their specialty ice cream.
We returned to the hotel and chilled in the room for the evening. We went to bed early, around 11 pm.