St Cloud and Vicinity

• En route to St. Cloud MN, we stopped for a few hours in Little Falls. We have always admired a good mural and this one, undoubtedly, is an improvement over a bare brick wall:
  

  

  For a little leg stretching, we chose Maple Island Park in Little Falls. This attractive park is on the Mississippi River, which is visible in the distance:
  

  

  
  Our stay in St. Cloud allowed us to tour several interesting sights, including the College of St. Benedict. Sacred Heart Chapel, which we visited, is part of St. Benedict’s Monastery:
  

  

  

  
  In contrast to this traditional structure is the modern Abbey Church at nearby Saint John’s University:
  

  

  We all know what bell towers are. Well, the structure in front might be more accurately labeled a bell “wall.” Though we expected the interior of this concrete church to be on the “cold” side, it was quite pleasing and definitely roomy. Here is a photo from the Internet:
  

  

  
  In St. Cloud we also toured the Stearns History Museum, which contains a very rare Pan automobile:
  

  

  Only about 700 of these vehicles were built by the Pan Motor Company during 1918-1922 in St. Cloud.
  

  

  
  Sam Pandolfo, the company’s founder, was convicted of mail fraud and received a three-year prison sentence in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. The bad publicity ultimately led to his company’s closure for lack of funds. His conviction, though, was controversial. Modern day judges have said the evidence used to convict him would never be allowed today. For example, the government claimed that Pandolfo defrauded stockholders in his company by sending them misleading information that included a “plane’s eye view” of the Pan Motor Car Company that wasn’t actually drawn in an airplane.(!)
  
  The museum contains much descriptive information on the local granite industry such as the model below:
  

  

  There have been granite quarries in St. Cloud since 1868. Historically, the county was the world’s largest producer of granite and is a strong supplier to this day.
  
  Before leaving St. Cloud, with showers ending, we visited the pretty Munsinger Clemens Gardens, containing quite a few blooms for October ...
  

  

  

  and St. Mary’s Cathedral. The latter is famous for its locally-made marble columns and they did not disappoint:
  

  

  
  Southwest of St. Cloud is the small town of Cold Spring. After asking twice for directions, we found what we were looking for, nestled in a park-like setting. It is popularly called the “grasshopper chapel” although its proper name is the Assumption Chapel:
  

  

  

  The history of this chapel is legendary and goes back to 1876. That year a plague of Rocky Mountain grasshoppers threatened to destroy what had promised to be a bountiful harvest. Farmers made every effort to stop the swarming insects but to no avail. The crops were destroyed, and, even worse, the grasshoppers honeycombed the countryside with eggs that would hatch the following spring.
  
  Minnesota’s governor proclaimed April 26, 1877, a day of prayer and throughout the next few months the people of the Cold Spring area continued to pray. They vowed that if the Blessed Virgin would rid them of the grasshoppers, they would build a chapel and offer Mass there for the next fifteen years. When the hoppers later disappeared, the people kept their promise. A chapel has been on this tranquil spot ever since.
  
  Staying in a Hutchinson MN hotel made for an easy Sunday drive to Glencoe and the Pla-Mor Ballroom:
  

  

  We arrived early and were able to take a photo before the polka dance began:
  

  

  The floor was big, smooth and as enjoyable as any dancer could hope for. The band wasn’t bad either. On our drive back to Hutchinson, we were jolted out of our reverie by this alarming roadside scene:
  

  

  Taking a closer look, it is obvious someone has a sense of humor..... and he was probably bellowing with laughter indoors while we photographed the scene.
  
  New Ulm was the last sizable Minnesota town we drove through. Its German immigrant background is obvious in its architecture:
  

  

  

  Once upon a time, New Ulm billed itself as the “Polka Capital of the Nation.” It still fosters that reputation with an annual Oktoberfest celebrated the first two weekends in October. Next time we come through here, we’ll have to time our arrival better as we just missed the party. :(