End of the line folks!

    Thursday was scheduled for celebrating Amy's birthday. Its actually Friday, but we have guests coming so we took Thursday to catch a ride to Mall of America. I had been there over 20 years ago, but Amy never has. 

    Before heading off to the mall, I snapped these two shots. This is the entire Mississippi River here at St. Paul, MN. Tiny and narrow compared to what most people picture. 

 

    We had little interest in overpriced shopping, but had a great time seeing the place. We did walk into a store that sold nothing but hot sauces. Amy's dad loves hot sauce just as I do. We found him a great one for his birthday coming up. We also found the mini golf to be a fairly reasonable priced adventure, and Amy kicked my butt.

    After that we stumbled into a photo studio doing old time photo shoots. Amy decided she wanted to do a picture for her birthday, so away we went. Got a nice 8x10! And we videoed the photo shoot, so keep your eyes peeled for our videos!!

    We had a great lunch, and a stop at Margaritaville, and Wahlburger for adult beverages. 

By the time we got back to the boat we had 12,000 steps in... so it was beers in our comfy chairs for the evening!

    Friday has been a big day. Amy's actual birthday for one, plus it's "family day" for her, as we were visited by Amy's aunt and uncle, and their children and grandchildren. We had a wonderful afternoon catching up, enjoying some great food, and even a birthday cake and ensuing shenanigans!

Notice the fire extinguisher at the ready for birthday candles for such an advanced age! 😅🤣😂

 

    Saturday we wrapped up our stay in St. Paul, MN with a trip up to the head of navigation in Minneapolis at St Anthony Falls.

 

 

    

Lock 1 is a much smaller chamber than the rest of the river.

That is the new I35W bridge we are sitting under.

 

 

    After we returned to Watergate marina, we had lunch, then set out on a tour up the Minnesota River. We took this trip on the dinghy just in case there was any shoaling we prefer to find it with the dinghy 😅

    While we were celebrating making it to the head of navigation on the Mississippi, Toscana's previous owners were celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary!  STORY HERE We had a great time in Minnesota. Tomorrow we head back, with a side trip up the St Croix River!