As part of our jaunt in the midwest earlier this month, we spent part of a day in my old hometown, Red Wing, Minnesota. If you've never been there (which I'm sure is the vast majority of you), it's definitely worth the trip some day. Red Wing is an old, historical river town south of St. Paul just full of lovely old buildings, neighborhoods built on bluffs overlooking the river (that's THE river - the Mississippi), and more inborn charm that Chandler, Arizona could ever hope to create.
Red Wing will always bring back memories of childhood for me...
...including the YMCA where I took swimming lessons and was part of the city-winning girl's softball team...
...the gradeschool where I discovered Olivia Newton John and "I Write the Songs" in the 6th grade coat room...
...and the neighborhood grocery where my brother Travis was caught and convicted of candy bar theft at age 6 or 7. Of course, we've never let him live that down. :-).
The downtown area itself brings back so many memories...especially the library (shocker). I actually wanted to take a picture of the row of shelves that contained the Nancy Drew mysteries and the Betsy, Tacy and Tib books. However, the library was closed at 4pm on a Thursday. Ah yes, small town life.
Right next to the library is a beautiful town square surrounded by four different churches, all of them made of stone and absolutely gorgeous. The Methodist church in the background shows the bell tower that provides chimes throughout the day. I'm wondering if somehow this beautiful flower display got into my subconscious early on and is part of my garden longings. The smell of roses and alyssum was just lovely.
The town theater is also right across from the library. Yes, this is where I recall seeing "Return of the Jedi," "Sleeping Beauty," and a Don Knotts/Tim Conway vehicle called "The Private Eyes."
No upper-midwest town should be without a shop proudly displaying and profitting from its scandanavian heritage. In Red Wing, that's the Uff-da shop. "Uff-da" can fill in for almost any nonsense phrase ... and it really is a cool little store.
3 comments:
Cool, guys. It's great to see Red Wing lovingly photographed and travelogued by NatMatt. I don't remember the theater being so small...and I don't seem to remember being incriminated for candy bar theft. It's a pity that your memories have faded with the years.
I do remember walking the Buchanan corner as T.D.O. Double G...cane in hand. Yeah, that's right I was a pimp. The whole candy bar thing was a ruse.
Pimp...petty thievery. It's tough to keep it all straight now. I'm just glad that you didn't resort to a life of crime after all - felony or misdemeanor.
With sisterly love,
Natalie
As the eldest, I assure you that it was definitely theft. You stole that candy bar...repent!
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