Bob and I gave equal opportunity to each of the Twin Cities today by doing a guided tour of the Union Depot in St. Paul and then doing our own “tour” of Lake Nokomis by walking the 2.5 mile trail around it. We continue to enjoy all the many free activities that this area offers.
I had read about the free historical tour of Union Depot on the Visit St. Paul website. These tours are just getting started and are currently being offered twice a month. We parked in the farthest Union Depot parking lot for $2.00. The tour was an hour long and provided by Cynthia of Cyn City Tours, who is paid a flat rate from Union Depot to conduct them. She also does haunted tours of the depot in October.
The current Union Depot building is the 3rd one on the site, the first two having been destroyed by fires that started in on-site restaurants. The original Union Depot opened in 1881 after James J. Hill (of the house tour that we did) convinced the other railroad owners to create one main hub. The current building was started in 1917 but didn’t open until 1923. It underwent renovations from 2010-2012.
The upstairs seating for the cafe is situated above
what used to be the ticket windows.
This is Lite-Brite Mural by Ta-Coumba Aiken.
It is 216 square feet and contains 600,000 colored pegs
that was put together by over 300 people in 22 days.
for the former carriageway of the depot, now used by taxis and Ubers.
(also designed the Navy Pier in Chicago), whose daughter loved butterflies,
so he hides a butterfly in all of his buildings.
There is a small yellow butterfly on one of the red rosettes above.
After the tour, we drove into Minneapolis to Lake Nokomis Park for a walk around the lake. Even at midday on a Tuesday, both the lake and the pathway were being enjoyed.
so a good day to be in or near water.
Peckish Travels 