Friday was a very relaxed day for me. After sleeping in I rode Lisa’s bike to Bryant-Lake Bowl where my cousin was a bartender for four years. I sat at the bar and ate breakfast while occasionally talking to the man behind the counter. I then went back to Muddy Waters and sat outside watching the world go by, drinking coffee, and taking pictures. After that I just rode back to Lisa’s, stopping and taking pictures every once and a while. I got back, uploaded pictures, and took a nap, waiting for my 11:15 train to take me to Seattle. I finally had the chance to actually talk with Lisa Friday night, when I got back, and when she very thoughtfully gave me a ride to the Amtrak station. Lisa graduated from Maumee Valley in 1991, and has lived in Minneapolis for 13 years. We got to the station, I hugged her goodbye, thanking her for all her help, and I walked up to the train. Two cities down, five to go.

The first thing I noticed when I got on the train was the two electrical plugs next to every window. I thanked the Lord and took a seat, seat 17 to be exact. The next thing I noticed, however, was the lady a few rows behind me sleeping in the middle of the aisle. Objective: get water. Obstacle: lady sleeping in the middle of the aisle. She was so large, and I have been mistaken for being 15 three times since I left. I approached the sleeping beast, carefully scoping out the situation. A man steps out of the observation car and simply steps over her, hardly paying any mind to the ridiculous situation at hand. I notioned that she must have been there for a while. I took a deep breath and stepped over my obstacle, water was important, and the snack car was closing in mere minutes. I walked back through, water in hand and stepped over her a little more confidently the second time. More people start filing into the train and we exchange funny glances, “are you serious?” their faces say. The train attendants eventually see the lady, and many people gather around her trying to wake her from her slumber. She’s not getting up. I suddenly start to feel bad. I have been laughing at this situation for some time, what if she was unconscious? “Mam, are we going to have to call the authorities?” one of them says. “I don’t know whether to call the police or the ambulance.” another replies.

A guy steps up to my car who I recognized from my train to Minneapolis. He stops at the top of the stairs, staring at the lady. “Can I help you?” the conductor says to him in a nasty tone. “Can I help you?!” he replies, pointing at the crazy sight of the passed out lady they’re all gathered round. He puts his stuff down and steps outside. I soon followed him, not wanting to be near the now potentially dead body I just confidently stepped over. Life is just full of surprises. An ambulance arrives on the scene and she soon comes walking out of the car, very sleepy eyed. I start talking with the guy on my last train, Derek, about the ridiculousness of the situation. I told him about my trip. The ambulance took off, and the train was just getting ready to leave, right on schedule. I said I’d talk to him tomorrow, it was time for some shut eye… yeah right.

I woke up to Lisa knocking on my door, “I’m going to work,” she said “but I left a note for you on the table in the kitchen.” I thanked her again for the place to sleep and lied in bed, mentally preparing myself for the day. I got myself up and read the note. She had offered me her bike for the day, how could I refuse? I got myself bundled up for the cold Minneapolis weather, got the bike out of the basement, turned down the thermostat, stepped outside, and locked up her house. Off I went into the city. My first stop was Lake Harriet, I sat by the shore watching people and photographing the scenery. Then I was off just a quick ride north to Lake Calhoun. I sat by the shore again, just relaxing and enjoying the scenery.

My favorite rapper, Slug, is from Minneapolis, and every once in a while he mentions Muddy Waters in his songs, a coffee shop. So I found directions to the famed coffee shop (at least famed in my head) and I took off from Lake Calhoun to see what separates Muddy Waters from the Bearners down the street back in Sylvania. I decided to take the long route around Lake Calhoun to enjoy the scenery. Lake Street, past Hennepin, made a left on Lyndale and rode eight blocks north.

I finally reached the corner of Lyndale and 24^th to see the one place I’ve actually planned on going to my entire trip. I’m here now.  I love it. I may never leave. Why don’t we have a Muddy Waters Caffeine Canteen in Sylvania? Walking in the first thing I notice is a giant sign saying “COFFEE HOUSE” on the back wall, the kind of sign that is supposed to be on a building. The lady working the counter was extremely nice, I ordered a hot roast beef sandwich and a chai tea. The atmosphere was wonderful and there were a wide range of characters inside, most of which seemed to be friends with the lady behind the counter. I finished up my last post inside there and proceeded to go down the street to Fifth Element Records. They were playing the new Felt 3 CD inside which is yet to be released, very good stuff. After that it was already getting late so I decided to head back on the long trek to Lisa’s. It was a long ride back, a very good workout. I’m lucky I left when I did, because the sun was already set by the time I got back.

]]> http://amtrekkin2.mvstudents.org/2009/11/05/72/feed/ 5 http://amtrekkin2.mvstudents.org/2009/11/05/train-to-a-new-atmosphere/ http://amtrekkin2.mvstudents.org/2009/11/05/train-to-a-new-atmosphere/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:31:12 +0000 EMC http://amtrekkin2.mvstudents.org/?p=66

The train to Minneapolis sat in the station while I sat in it, an hour late for departure. Electrical failure on the train, couldn’t take off until it was fixed. The conductor came in over the speaker “Power is down” he said in a near monotone voice “so we ask that you don’t use the restrooms at this time, as they don’t work… unless, you know, you have to, then… whatever.” I chuckled at the announcement and how unofficial the man sounded. I sat, thought, looked out the window, and finished my last post. The train still hadn’t budged. Alas, an hour after scheduled departure we set off towards Minneapolis. I nervously made a dining car reservation after we took off, remembering how Roger said that you eat at a table with random strangers. But my stomach was rumbling and I knew I had to start talking to more people, I’ve been too nervous to strike up a conversation with a stranger too many times now. So I made my 5:30 reservation and nervously awaited my dinner.

The dull scenery of the midwest...

Although I was nervous, I had an admittedly good time at dinner last night. I was sat down with three grandparents. One told me to call her La Abuela (spanish for “The Grandma), and if I was remotely good with names maybe I would remember the other two. The man sitting across from me was doing a similar trip to mine with his wife, but it sounded like they weren’t stopping in the cities as much as I am. He said he used to work for Xerox as an engineer and that for two years of his life he was in charge of every single computer at the Pentagon in Washington DC. The lady sitting next to him was a Librarian, and she said she used to work in a school kind of like Maumee Valley. La Abuela, sitting next to me, left the biggest impression on me. As soon as I told my dinner partners about my trip, what I’m doing, she immediately insisted on buying me dinner. I tried to refuse at first, but she seemed intent on it, and I’m on a bit of a budget, so I accepted her money (as in she put it under my salad bowl haha!). She told our table all about her theories on education, most of which had many parallels to MV. She kept saying that children now a days are smarter than their parents, and she talked about the book she is in the process of writing called “Teachers Gonna Let Me Think” after something her grandson said to her. After a fun dinner we said goodbye and parted ways across the train. I proceeded to sleep for most of the rest of the ride.

The train finally arrived, about an hour or so late, and I loaded my luggage up on my back and set off the the first taxi in sight, a green and white cab. I opened the door and he immediately turns around and asks me in a raised tone “Where you going?!”

“France Avenue South” I replied

He looked puzzled, “Where?!” he shouts back.

“Umm… France Avenue South” I repeated

“Okay, okay,” he says “get in, get in.” So I got into the cab and off we drove into a city completely foreign to me, and apparently foreign to the driver as well. He asks me a few more times where I’m going and I continue to give him the same address over and over. “27?” he asks.

“47!” I was near yelling, how many times did I have to say it? He got on his phone and talked in some foreign language to who I presume was the cab company, asking for directions. He looks over his shoulder real quick, “27?” he was whispering.

“No, 47!” I shot back. I felt bad raising my voice, but how often do you run into a cab driver who doesn’t know where he’s going? We finaly made it to France Ave S, but when he goes to turn onto it from Lake St there is a dead end.

“Here?” he asks me, I can tell he just wants this fare to be over with.

“No I’m pretty sure this isn’t it.” I say. So we park for some minutes, asking people walking by for directions, none of them can help. One man gives me a look that says “I’m so sorry you got the worst cabbie in the city, welcome to Minneapolis, good luck.” Eventually his phone rings, its the cab company, and he starts driving immediately. They get him some proper directions and off we go in the right way, back onto a different France Avenue I guess. We pass 46^th street and he immediately stops the car.

“Here?” he asks.

“47!” I yell, I’m about ready to get out of this cab and start walking, but we go a bit of a ways more and I finally arrive at Lisa’s house. I pay him his barely deserved fare, get out of the cab, and walk up to her very nice home. She showed me my room, and I immediately fell asleep.

I woke up to the light shining through the shades and my cold feet hanging outside of the confines of the warm blanket I was so gracious to have. I hoped into the shower to rinse the past couple days off my skin, I was going to a new city, time for a clean slate again. I packed up my stuff said goodbye to Phil and his hilarious, New York roommate Tal. The Metra station is only about a mile and a half from their quad, but with all of my luggage on my back it seemed like a much longer walk. My back was sore and my legs were tired quickly after I took off so I stopped on a park bench to rest and to eat some granola I thankfully packed with me. After a good rest I loaded back up, endured the cold wind, the funny looks and boarded the Metra to Chicago.

I’m sitting on the Amtrak train right now in Union Station waiting to take off to Minneapolis. Looking back on my first stop in Chicago, I had a great time. However, I feel like I stayed in one section of the city and I wish that I could have explored more. Unfortunately I feel like this is going to be the case in every city I visit, two days isn’t really enough time to get to know a gigantic city. Maybe I’ll have to do this again over the summer, although, it’s a little early to tell if I’m going to want to.