Don
and I were finally on our own when we left everyone on Monday, October 9. We
headed for St. Paul MN to visit the capitol. I am collecting stamps in my Capitol
Collection passport book and I was missing the Minnesota capitol, so I had to
include that on this trip. We only had an hour and a half to tour – but that
was enough to admire the 3 floors plus a ground level AND a basement. The
building was just renovated and reopened in August, so we timed it well. It was
designed by Cass Gilbert (who did the Woolworth Building in New York City) and
opened in 1905. The Senate, House of Representatives, and Supreme Court are all
in separate wings on the second floor. The dome is the second largest
self-supported masonry dome in the world. The basement contains a Rathskeller,
which I learned is a restaurant in the basement (keller) of the Rathouse (town
hall) in a town in Germany. The stone walls were covered with German mottoes and
other decorative elements with a German flavor. This shows the strong German
influence in the early 1900’s. Everything was painted over during WWI and has
only recently been restored.
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| Suzanne at the Minnesota State Capitol, St. Paul MN |
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