Somethings that just make you go "Wow"!

Let's face it, the thrill of traveling is seeing new places, learning new things and visiting sights we may have heard or read about.  I'm constantly trying to research the cities and towns en route of where we might be going through or nearby, and have several books that I look through to help me with.  Then there is always our "interests" to throw into the mix!  Jack likes WWII museums and we both like factory tours for instance.  We also keep in mind our family and friend's interest as well, just in case (we always have to be prepared for "shopping ideas" you know!).  One such place came about when we were looking up a route through Minnesota.  I discovered that SPAM was made in Austin MN and that Hormel had a museum and tour there!  I have a son who loves SPAM!  He's crazy about the stuff, so how could we not go there? 

What a hoot!  From the moment you enter, you are inundated with the famous little can!  After you are cheerfully greeted, you enter through the cute "piggy" doors to the theater to view a short film giving you a nice over-view of how George Hormel came up with the idea for SPAM (using all the parts of the ham), how they came up with the name (an actor did, taking the letters for shoulder of port and ham). 

The museum does a great job showing you what an important part it played during the war because of it's ability to be shipped (and stored) all over the world, it supplied all our troops and our allied troops with the much needed protein that they wouldn't have been able to get otherwise.  Because of the way it's preserved in cans, it's become a staple in many overseas lands, with Hawaii & Guam being the leaders.  

Let's not forget the "real reason" we stopped...shopping!  Who knew there were so many kinds of SPAM?  Wow!  ...and so many things to go with it too?  What fun! The museum is closing Sept 28th until 2016 (building a new one) so we caught it just in time, phew!



Always another "Wow" find, are churches.  You just never know what your going to find when you read about a particular one, and "how spectacular" it's going to be, until you get there.  Such was the case with The Cathedral of Saint Paul, in St Paul MN.  I guess the word "Cathedral" should have tipped me off...but it didn't...other than I figured it would be big.  But "big" is relative, isn't it? 

This Cathedral isn't just big...it's huge!  It seats 3000 people, and that's without an unobstructed view of the pulpit and altar.  The Cathedral exterior measures 306 1/2' high to the top of the cross (interior - 186' to the apex of the inner dome ceiling).  307' long from the front steps to the sacristy door; and 216' wide from north to south transept.

The Cathedral contains 33 different types of marble, from 11 countries and 4 continents.  There are 97 different saints, prophets and patriarchs (several saints are pictured more than once).

All that is just "statistics"...what's hard to put into "words" is how very beautiful it truly is.  Several times I just had to sit, to take it all in, it was almost overwhelming.  I'm not sure what I thought was more beautiful, the inside with all it's statues & marble or the outside with the black domes against the white walls. 

As beautiful as it is, and as much as I love seeing these great works of art...my heart always aches a little afterward.  In their brochure they share that if built today, it would cost more than $1 billion.  The restoration project in 2000 cost over $35 million.  Yet all I can think of is how many poor people that could feed.  I love all the beautiful churches, of all faiths, I really do, but at what cost?  Are beautiful statues, art, robes, etc more important than the people inside?  Sadly it seems so...

St Paul also gave us a bit of whimsy as well...as guess who grew up there?  None other than Charles Schultz of the "Peanuts" gang!  So...they have lovingly added sweet bronze statues throughout the city of all his various characters!  Jack and I had a wonderful time tracking some of them down and "posing" ourselves with some of them!  We even found a few of Snoopy's Dog Houses that various companies took advantage of using as advertising space!  All fun!

...kicking back in Minnesota,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

Hawaii - Oahu! Final days...

With only a couple days left of our "Islands Vacation" it was time to hit the beach - Waikiki! Jack had never been to Oahu, so, of course had never seen the "famous beach", a must see, if your ever going to Honolulu!  I had only received one request for a souvenir, and that was from my son Aaron, who is a fan of Spam.  He asked for a Spam T shirt.  I had looked for one on the Big Island without success, but hadn't fret over it, thinking that Oahu would really be the island that would have it anyway.  I had shared with Susan that I was on the lookout for one, and that put her "on it!"  Everywhere we went, we asked sales folks for it.  Each one shook their heads, but would make suggestions as to where we might try finding one.  We had first tried the Flea Market (no luck) then many shops all along Waikiki.  While we didn't find the T shirt, we did enjoy the shopping and sightseeing, stopping for a drink at the famous Royal Hawaiian Hotel.  Jack even learned the difference between a $500 Panama hat and a $15,000 Panama hat...smooth as a piece of silk... The sights were fun too, everything from a lady walking her 8 dogs, to a Tiki carver, to a man playing a didgeridoo, to the variety of surfboard lockers, upscale hotels, restaurants, sand, surf and bikini clad babes!  Wonderful!

Our evenings were fun-filled as well.  Susan & Miles volunteer as ushers at the local theater and managed to snag us a couple of tickets in time before they were all sold out, so we got to see a wonderful performance of "Rent" while we were there.  They are also on the "inside track" of a local jam session that's been going on for about 20+ years in a woman's home.  Her husband used to play in a band, and she converted her attic into a wonderful lounge complete with a few tables and chairs, an area for the band, a small kitchenette for punch & coffee and hosts musicians and guests on Thursday and Sunday afternoon/evenings.  She's quite old now, and her husband has passed away, so her son has continued their tradition and wonderful local artists come and grace their home with their music.  We enjoyed listening to some terrific jazz and a great vocalist for several hours one sunny afternoon.  Afterwards they took us to an "old style" Tiki restaurant, La Mariana Sailing Club for some nostalgia and great food!

One of the things I had seen passing each day was the top of a Japanese Temple that intrigued me.  I asked Miles what it was and he told me it was at a cemetery below the freeway we were on.  I asked if he would mind if we stopped at it (I love unusual cemeteries).  They had never actually been to it and were up to the adventure!  What a great find!  It turned out to be several things - the Oahu Cemetery & Chapel that was founded 1844, a Buddhist Cemetery and the Kyoto Gardens that housed the Kinkaku-ji Temple (which is the top I kept seeing) and the Sanju Pagoda.  We ran into a very nice gentleman who was working on the two buildings and pond, who explained all about the place (even gave us a beautiful brochure) and how it's being renovated to bring it back up to it's former beauty. I really enjoyed the excursion and showing my hosts a spot that they had never seen in their own city!

All to soon our Hawaiian Vacation was coming to an end.  All that was left was the Spam T shirt!  And guess where we finally found it?  At a cook's store in a mall!  What a hoot!  Well, that done, and lots of hugs and even a tear (mine) and it was time to go...for now.  One thing for sure, it won't be another 25 years before we meet up again!

...back on the mainland, trying to catch up!  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/