by The famed author F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Though the family struggled financially, they managed to just hang on to the fringes of “good society”, but they bounced around quite a bit. After his father’s business failed they relocated to New York, but that was not successful, either. They returned to Saint Paul in 1908, mostly living on his mother’s inheritance. Fitzgerald mostly lived at boarding schools at this time, but in 1919 he rewrote This Side of Paradise while staying with his parents on Summit Ave. The book made him famous, and that was the end of Saint Paul for him!
I’m currently reading a biography of Fitzgerald (Scott Fitzgerald by Jeffrey Meyers, affiliate link), and it’s very interesting to read about his young life in conjunction with having just seen the places mentioned. There’s even quite a bit about James J. Hill!
Around the state capitol building were several memorials and lots of lovely landscaping. The Story Stones are part of the Minnesota Military Family Tribute. There is one rock from each of Minnesota’s 87 counties, and each has an excerpt of a letter to or from a person in military service from that county on it. I’ve never seen a memorial like it!
We stopped at the memorial to George Floyd in Minneapolis. It is at the site where in 2020 police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than 9 minutes, while Floyd repeatedly indicated he could not breathe. Even after Floyd lay motionless, Chauvin continued kneeling on his neck. Protests and riots erupted in Minneapolis the next day, spreading throughout the country and internationally. Thanks to cellphone video of the crime, Chauvin was convicted of murder and is currently serving a 22 year sentence.
Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz was born in Minneapolis and spent much of his life in Saint Paul, so in honor of that there are a number of sculptures in Rice Park and Landmark Plaza. They were designed by Tivoli Too and installed in 2003. The cover photo to this post is Schroeder and Lucy van Pelt.
Minnehaha Falls, which is accessed via an easy stroll across a parking lot, which meant that there were too many people there for our tastes.
Spoonbridge and Cherry designed by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. It’s a fountain at the top and a bridge at the bottom, but since it’s roped off, you’re not actually allowed to use it as either. It was installed in 1988 and is part of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The Basilica of Saint Mary is in the distance, taunting me with its crappy parking and hours.
A near-but-not-quite-Presidential site in Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis: the grave of 38th United States Vice President Hubert Humphrey and his wife Muriel. He served as VP from 1965-1969 under Lyndon Johnson. Ukulele-playing entertainer Tiny Time is also interred in this cemetery.
An 11-foot-tall bronze statue of U.S. hockey coach Herb Brooks, celebrating the “Miracle on Ice” victory of the United States team over the USSR in the 1980 Winter Olympics. Designed by Nick Christensen.
Yes, I agree that the statue of F. Scott Fitzgerald in Rice Park really does look a lot like Terry & Dan! Very interesting!