Anniversary XV

Wednesday, 24 August 2011

Today is our wedding anniversary. Jennifer and I have been married for 15 years (as of 3:30 this afternoon).

We always do something special – something out of the ordinary – on the day of our anniversary. Sometimes, we plan bigger trips, too. For example, on our 5 year anniversary we vacationed in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. For our six year anniversary, we spent a long weekend on Lake Superior at the Northern Rail Train and Suites. And on our ten year anniversary we stayed in Hudson, Wisconsin and had a party on the river with our friends and family. But none of these things took place on the actual day of our anniversary. This year, for example, we’re going to spend a few days in Atlanta as an anniversary celebration, but that’s still a few weeks out yet.

So, every year, we (usually me) try to find something to do on August 24th.

Today we paid a visit to the Foshay Tower Museum (which, sadly, appears to not have a better website than THIS). The Foshay Tower was the first skyscraper west of the Mississippi. Its 1929 completion made it the tallest building in Minnesota – a title it held for over 40 years. It is now the 17th tallest building in Minneapolis, meaning its dwarfed by other nearby buildings. Still, those other buildings stupidly lack an observation deck or public viewing area. The IDS Center, for example, used to have a viewing area until a law firm bought out the space. Huh. That’s funny. Lawyers wrecking something?

Jennifer and I going all the way on our anniversary.

The museum on the Foshay’s 30th floor was small but entertaining. We watched an old Felix the Cat cartoon and saw documents from Roosevelt and Truman.

After spending about 45 minutes in the museum, we walked up the remaining two floors to the observation deck. The view was literally breath-taking, as the wind quite strong on the west side of the building. We looked down upon the Twins’ Stadium, the Metrodome, and we looked over at other tall buildings. We could see for miles – even downtown St. Paul was visible. It was, actually, a little scary. Isla was riding on my back and I kept reaching behind and holding onto her legs, a little worried that she might decide to launch herself off the edge.

Look at that breeze! (or, more accurately: Look at the effect of the breeze on that hair!)

The Foshay’s reflection can be seen in the other building.

Here’s a photo that my friend Tim took from the observation deck during his visit to the Foshay Tower back in May.

After that harrowing experience, we explored around the building’s lobby for a while. The building is largely a hotel now.
Instead of calling it the Foshay Hotel like they should, they call it the W Hotel, which is stupid. Anyway, we looked around at the conference rooms and Owen and I tried out the bathrooms that were so insanely fancy-schmancy that he couldn’t figure out how to flush the toilet and I couldn’t figure out how to turn on the sink. Isla started fussing and the business men, in their high-faluttin’ meetings, looked out at us, wondering why people who make less than $350,000 a year were loitering around their turf. We left and went across the street to buy a snack.

Later, Jennifer and I (this time sans progeny) dined at Buca, an experience made even better by virtue of a free dessert coupon and a gift card Buca gave me for whining about their food and service last time.

Happy Anniversary to my wife and me! Next year: a fun, unique day at ground level.