Playing Tourist

Had 12 hours off on Saturday so I spent the day in Bemidji  playing solo tourist. Camp was crazy that morning (I swear all the girls are menstruating at one time) and I locked myself out of the cabin so  Hua Ai wasn’t able to turn back into Evelyn until 30 minutes later than planned.

I started my day at the local Dunn Bros since I was craving a Latte (Lordy, too many days since my last Latte!).  I had planned on spending some time applying for jobs, but their internet kept cutting out and I felt like I was wasting too much of my valuable free time.  My first stop was to visit Paul Bunyan and his giant blue Ox Babe, of course.

Does anyone know why Bemidji is tied to Paul Bunyan? I checked a respectable historical resource, Walt Disney, and didn’t come up with an answer.

From the website RoadsideAmerica.com, there are the following Paul Bunyan’s in Minnesota:

Minnesota

• Akeley:Kneeling Paul Bunyan 20 feet tall (maybe the claimed 33 feet, if he was standing), across from Paul's Purple Cow Ice Cream Parlor. Akeley is "Birthplace and Home of World's Largest Paul Bunyan Statue." His cradle was here when we visited.
• Bloomington: a 19-foot Bunyan, part of the Mall of America
• Bemidji: Paul Bunyan and Babe Statues, built in the 1930's.
• Blackduck: Paul Bunyan's Duck.

• Brainerd: The 26 feet tall Talking Bunyan, long a fixture at the now defunct Paul Bunyan Amusement Center, can now be seen at This Old Farm outside of town, along with Babe the Blue Ox and Sport the Dog.

• Brainerd: In 2005, a seated Paul Bunyan was erected outside a new welcome center 5 miles south of town.
• Chisholm: "There is a statue of Paul Bunyan inside one of the buildings at the Minnesota Museum of Mining. I know of this statue because it scared the living s**t out of my when I was a little kid in the '60's. I believe it's at the main curve of highway 169 in Chisholm...last visited in 1992." [Jon A. Egger, 3/24/97]
• Hackensack: Statue of Paul Bunyan's Sweetheart, Lucette Diana Kensack, 17 feet tall, on the east shore of Birch Lake.
• Kelliher: Paul Bunyan's Grave, in Paul Bunyan Memorial Park.
• Ortonville: Paul Bunyan's Anchor, weighs 225,000 lbs., and is mounted on four granite pillars. Looks like a big rectangular piece of rock with a chunk of metal chain sticking out of the top. At an overlook above Big Stone Lake.

My favorite, and one I must see is Paul Bunyan’s duck in Blackduck, Mn!

Inside the Visitor Center is this fireplace – The Fireplace of States. It was built in 1934. The mason wrote hundreds of letters to all the state governors, governors of Canada, the US President, and all the County Directors of MN, as well as all the National Parks and Monuments asking for stones for the fireplace. Some senders placed inscriptions on the stones.

Bemidji also has several statues of Native Americans, including Chief Bemidji.

The Beltrami County Historical Museum is also in Bemidji and is housed in the last depot built by James J. Hill.  Their current display is on the history of healthcare in Beltrami County – fascinating!

Here’s something common to most of Minnesota, except the North Shore – not a whole lot of grain being grown up there!. When I see one of these it always makes me think of Henning, the town where my grandparents lived when they retired.

 

 

 

Drove a few miles over to see the County Courthouse and discovered a beautiful little park area just outside of it. It’s one of the prettiest courthouses I have seen.

 

 

Remember the Snoopy statues that were all over St Paul several years ago? Well, Bemidji did the Beaver.

I also took a drive down the “Gold Coast",” which is Bemidji’s version of St. Paul’s Summit Avenue.

It was hot and humid on Saturday, so after hours of sightseeing I decided to head to the theatre and sit in air conditioning for awhile. Not really knowing what movies were out there, I picked Grown Ups since it had SNL comedians in it and I was in the mood for something funny. Boy, did I choose wrong. I won’t spend much time on details, but I will say this: Don’t waste your money or time, Sandler is just out to make some dough the lazy way.

I went out to dinner at the Green Mill which is one of the most beautiful Green Mills I have ever been to.  Right on Lake Bemidji and with a very nice patio area. I wanted something far far from Chinese… decided on a deep dish Canadian Bacon and Pineapple pizza. And lots of Diet Coke.  Nummy.

Got back to camp, and every meal since Saturday has had rice in it. Every meal. I am not exaggerating. For breakfast it’s either Soupy Rice, or Rice Krispies. No joke.