The Lost Viking

I found him lurking around in Rice Park during the Republican National Convention held during the late summer of 2008.

Into The Great Unknown

Park Between The Bridge

In downtown St Paul between the Robert Street bridge and the Wabasha Street bridge, there is a great stretch of land. I'm not sure of the name of the park, but it overlooks the Mississippi River and the view is, oh so fantastic.

Mallard Ducks Part Two

Contribution photo from swc....this pair of mallard ducks made their way into the front lawn of http://www.twincitiesdailyphoto.com/labels/swc.html during the spring of 2008.

Soon, Very Soon

Very soon, these mallard ducks will return to the open waters in the Twin Cities. Though, tomorrow morning I will be shoveling the snow from my driveway. Hello spring....

Union Pacific Vertical Lift Rail Bridge

Crossing the Mississippi River around the downtown area, the Union Pacific Rail Bridge is the one of three vertical lift bridges on the river. The other two vertical lift bridges are in Hastings, Minnesota and Hannibal, Missouri [which I paid a visit to during the summer of 2008, I'll check my archives for a photo]. The bridge in St Paul is 940 feet long and opened in 1913.

Contrast In Design

Spot The Differences - #2

If you scroll down to yesterday's daily photo and compare today's daily photo, there is a major contrast between the two downtown photos. Today's photo is of the historic downtown Hastings. The two downtown cities [Minneapolis and Hastings] are not very far from each other, about a 30 to 35 minute drive. Yet, they are night and day to each other in all shapes, sizes and anything architectural. Also, which downtown you would prefer to live by or visit says a lot about one's personality. Can you visit both? Sure, I'm sure we all do at times, but I'd be willing to bet, you prefer one over the other.

Where Am I?

I know I was in downtown Minneapolis when I took this photo. I believe I was on Washington Avenue, or somewhere close to there. I can't name the buildings in the reflection though.

Fields Of Green

I've been looking through my archived photos from the past couple of years. I've been finding a few that I liked, but had never posted for one reason or another. This is one of them. I did post a similar view, but I really liked the vantage point taken on this one today.

Happy Valentines Day

I'm going to buck the trend of a traditional Valentines Day themed photo....why, because I have nothing heartsy, lovey dovey, snuggly, sweet, redish, rosy, teddy bearish, lingerish, daring, loverish, warming, sweet or even remotely tinglyish....except for this cutesy little crab I photographed while on vacation a few years back. Enjoy?

Pink Sky At Night

The sun had set on this warm summer night, the sky was oh so pink that evening....

The Stahl House

Back in the day, The Stahl House, on Como Avenue and Rice Street, was a smokey filled bar and bowling alley, or at least that's what I can remember. I know I had been in the place a time or two when I was under the age of ten with my Grandma. Today, I am told by my Grandma that the bowling lanes have been removed and have been replaced by a dance floor for receptions and various other dancing events. Driving by in my car, I didn't catch the difference between the Stahl House sign and the male and female shaped dancers sign on either side of the original sign.

Frigid Temps

I took this one back in January when the temperature in the early morning was around -15F. The Ashland Oil Refinery was throwing off steam everywhere making visibility of the refinery almost invisible. One thing I have noticed, the colder the temperature is, the more steam is present.

Sliding At Baker Playground

So what do we do for entertainment in Minnesota during the colder winter months? We grab a plastic sled and cruse down a snow covered hill. Baker Playground has to be one of the largest hills in St Paul to slide down.

Minneapolis Halo

I've heard people refer to the top of this building in downtown Minneapolis as having a 'halo'.

Hidden Treasure

This one of a kind painting can be found inside the Eagle Street Grill on 7th Street in St Paul.

Frogger

It is okay to admit you smiled when you saw this photo....

Which Photo Do You Prefer?

It's amazing what a difference it can be taking photos and changing the height of the camera when shooting. The photo I posted on Friday and today were taken exactly in the same spot, one shot has the camera inches off of the ground, while the other has the camera about shoulder high. The difference in perspective is incredible. Which brings me to my question, which photo do you prefer? I like today's photo because of the tree blocking the sun. Though I also like last Friday's photo because of the glare of the sun off of the snow, which is what I was trying to capture in the first place.

Theme Day: Paths And Passages

The first day of the month, myself and fellow daily photo bloggers select a theme ahead of time, we prepare a photo for the theme day and we all post our theme photo where we can then see how each photo blogger choose to interpret the theme. For the month of February, "Paths and Passages" was the selected theme. My photo was taken in the City of Cottage Grove at Hamlet Park along a straight stretch of a walking path. It had snowed about six to eight inches of snow overnight and into the morning, but by the late afternoon, it had warmed above the freezing temperature and the snow began to melt away.

Stop by the other Daily Photo Blogs participating in the 'paths and passages' theme to see how they interpreted the theme at the theme day photo portal.