Minneapolis
and St. Paul
Art
Music, Literature and Shopping
May 28 – June 4, 2002
Paul
Bunyan, Longfellow, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Oldenburg and Mall of America — all
are associated with Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota. Trees grow tall, but
tales grow taller in Minnesota. The heroic exploits of legendary Paul Bunyan
inspired thousands of lumberjacks to carve their futures out of the millions of
forested acres of Minnesota. At the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi
rivers, the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul grew on opposite sides of
the Mississippi River near the original site of Fort Snelling. Led by Pierre
"Pig's Eye" Parrant, a wild French-Canadian whiskey trader, a motley
group of undaunted squatters moved to a river landing near the fort; the new
settlement was named "Pig's Eye" and the name endured until Father
Lucien Galtier erected a log chapel to his patron saint, St. Paul and persuaded
the townspeople to rename the town for this more subdued personage. Soldiers
from Fort Snelling built a sawmill and flour mill at nearby St. Anthony Falls
on the east bank of the Mississippi. Soon a suspension bridge linked this
village area to the community on the west bank and the two merged to form the
second sister city. It was called
"Minneapolis," a name combining "minne," an Indian word for
water, with "polis" the Greek word for city. During the 19th
century, the twin cities grew and flourished, attracting countless people from
the east coast and from abroad.
The
20th century has witnessed increased growth and visibility. Many notable
and infamous citizens and visitors flocked to the area: in the 1930s,
Minneapolis-St. Paul was the hideaway for numerous notorious legendary mob
figures: John Dillinger, Ma Barker, and Baby Face Nelson. F. Scott Fitzgerald,
a Saint Paul boy, lived through Minnesota winters and summers, walked the
streets, watched the Mississippi flow by, and looked at the golden horses on
the capitol dome. Today,
the Minneapolis-St. Paul area offers a wonderful amalgam of historical and
global diversity: the Cathedral of St. Paul, styled after St. Peter's Cathedral
in Rome and seating over 3000 people; the Minnesota State Capitol Building,
designed by Cass Gilbert (who designed the US Supreme Court Building in
Washington, DC) has a central dome which is a near-exact copy of St. Peter's in
Rome; historic Fort Snelling, restored to its 1820s visage; the Minneapolis
Sculpture Garden with over forty sculptures, including the whimsical Spoonbridge
and Cherry;
Minnehaha Park, made famous by Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha; the wonderfully amazing Museum of
Questionable Medical Devices with over 200 exhibits related to medical
quackery: e.g. the MacGregor Rejuvenator which promised to reverse the aging
process; the James J. Hill House, founder of the Great Northern Railroad – the
house includes 22 fireplaces, an art gallery and a three-story pipe organ.
Several excursions are planned to near-by sites: a day at historic Fort
Snelling and Minnehaha Falls and a day at The Mall of America, the largest
shopping and entertainment complex in the U.S. (over 50 restaurants and 450
shops); and, a evening at the Mystic Lake Casino to cavort with Lady Luck.
Please join us on this tantalizing trip to Minneapolis and St. Paul.
This
program has been designed for blind people and individuals with low vision,
their family members and friends who may wish to participate in this tour. To
meet the special needs of our travelers, this program has been carefully
crafted to provide a rich educational experience unavailable on regularly
scheduled sighted trips. This program offers many unique opportunities for
relaxation and socialization. This program will be limited to fifteen
participants. Sighted guides will accompany the program.
For additional information,
Registration Forms, itinerary and cost, please contact:
Campanian Society, Inc.
PO Box 167
Oxford, Ohio 45056
Telephone: (513) 524-4846
Fax: (513) 523-0276
(c) 1996, 1999, 2001 Campanian Society, Incorporated