Noteworthy Parking Lots of Downtown Minneapolis II is Tomorrow at 3pm!

After many fits and starts, and more than one postponement, the bike tour of Noteworthy Parking Lots of Minneapolis II is finally happening. I'm excited about some new inclusions and some parking lots that have disappeared since I last led this tour.

Here's the writeup:

It's been six years since the last one, , and some things have changed while other things have not. So I think it's time, while the asphalt is still warm, to go out and take another look at some of the finest and most notable parking lots in the great city of Minneapolis.

We'll be biking around about 5 miles in total, retracing most of the route from last time (with one minor modification) to see what has changed and how the parking lots are faring in today's modern world.

SPOILER: Some of them are gone, others are not.

[Facebook link is here.]

I hope to see you tomorrow at 3pm at the Lake Street K Mart parking lot!  

Booklets Back in Print! - Staircases of St. Paul, Dives of the Midway, Overlooked Parks of St. Paul

Good news! 

I have *finally* got some of my long out-of-print booklets back available in my online store. 

What's more, both the Noteworthy Dives of the Midway booklet and the Public Staircases of St. Paul booklet are NEW and IMPROVED with updated information about things like the Midway Saloon, the Black Hart of St. Paul, and the (temporary) closure of the Walnut Street staircase.  

You can now purchase:

Noteworthy Dive Bars of the Midway

Featuring fun information about Tracks Bar (long gone), Hot Rods (for sale), the Trend Bar (in limbo), the Midway Saloon (formerly Big V's), and the Black Hart (formerly the Town House).

Overlooked Parks of St. Paul

Featuring fun information about Hampden, Desnoyer, Newell, Union, and Merriam Parks in the northwest quadrant of the city.

and Public Staircases of St. Paul

Featuring maps and fun information about 17 different public staircases (past and present) in all corners of the St. Paul topographical region.

Get them ASAP and I'll ship them your way. And there's plenty of other stuff in there too...

Parking Lot Tour featured on MPR with Angela Davis

Join the tour on Saturday!

In case you missed it, I was interviewed on Angela Davis' show about interesting tours in Minnesota. I was on to discuss tours, and fun ways for people to get out the house after the long  shut-in COVID year. It was fun to discuss parking lot history on the radio. Even though Angela Davis was probably confused, she did a good job asking me questions about my tours, and I fumbled through some answers.

To kick off the series, Angela was joined by a tour guide from Duluth and a Twin Cities urban geographer who offered up their own ideas on how to enjoy Minnesota this summer.

Check it out.

Also, after a year-plus hiatus, there's a tour coming up on Saturday. Mark your calendar and stay tuned for a further post on the plan.