ONE DAY: ST. PAUL - SECTION TWO

SECTION TWO:

COMO PARK - THE MIDDLE GROUND

RECOMMENDED TIME WINDOW: 9:30am - 1:00pm Disregard Time Window if doing A La Carte or going at own pace

Personal car users: Parking can be a bit stressful, but getting there right before the opening of the zoo and conservatory should make finding empty spots easier. Aim for the parking lot just outside of the complex of the zoo, conservatory, and Como Town.

DRIVE 9:30am - 10:00am

Full on grease with a side of solid food, time to order an Uber/Lyft. Set the destination for Como Park Zoo and Conservatory.

Once our ride shows up, we should be in for a 10 minute ride out of downtown into the Midway area of the Twin Cities, which is a part of St. Paul between downtown and Minneapolis.

Sit back and relax and feel free to read the following for a little info about what we’ll be going past and where we’re ultimately headed:

First thing’s first: the Capitol!!!

Our driver is most likely skirting the southern side of the Minnesota State Capitol, either close by or at a bit of a distance.

This is the third iteration of the Capitol building. The first was opened in 1854 but burned down in 1881. A second building was built in 1883 on the same site. It was immediately disliked and scorned. “Overcrowding due to a lack of space, a lack of adequate fireproofing, and the discovery of dry rot made the building increasing (sic) unacceptable. Additionally, poor ventilation led in the push for a new Capitol building in 1893.” (Minnesota State Capitol Wikipedia)

The choosing of the location for the third building was somewhat tumultuous and is part of the sprawling tale of why the Twin Cities are split into two separate cities instead of one city surrounded by suburbs and satellite towns.

In 1838, Major Joseph Plympton, the ranking officer stationed at Fort Snelling, and a number of other officers, were privy to the Dakota treaty ceding land to settlers around Saint Anthony Falls in what is now Minneapolis. They knew that the falls would be a gold mine in hydroelectric power possibilities, and they wanted to get in on the action first before anyone else. Their position at the Fort made it so they could formulate false but true sounding reasons for expanding the boundaries of the Fort. Settlers were settling just beneath the Fort near the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers, and the officers repeatedly expanded the boundaries to keep riffraff separate from the Fort, or to control trade more efficiently . . . or to seize resources for themselves using legal loopholes.

They spread the boundary more and more, spreading settlers eastish and westish to present day Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Once Fort Snelling ceded land to Franklin Steele, sutler at the Fort and first stake claimer at the Falls, the separate settlements were already planted and growing. Plympton’s claims never came to fruition, as he was reassigned elsewhere in the country. His actions made it so that the area surrounding the Fort and the confluence never became the downtown focal point of the budding metropolis.

Throughout the rest of the 1800’s, an actual rivalry was present between the two communities of Minneapolis/St. Anthony and St. Paul. Who had the better politics (St. Paul was Democratic and pro-slavery, Minneapolis Republican and anti-slavery)? Who had more people (both cities put their thumbs on the scale with different censuses)? Who had the better State Fair (each city held their own fair)? Who had more crime? More money?

As time went on, sentiment for a unified metropolis of one city to rule them all bled through the noise. Perhaps the one individual who swayed most people’s opinions to this joining was none other than Horace W. S. Cleveland.

Cleveland was a landscape architect, who, in 1872, was invited by William H. Folwell, the first president of the University of Minnesota, to come and talk about livable cities. The St. Paul Chamber of Commerce asked him to speak in their city the next day.

His philosophy was to use natural landscapes and create parkland. Then, connect all of these places via boulevards and electric streetcar tracks.

St. Paul was inspired to purchase 650 acres near downtown to make a large park based on Cleveland’s ethos. This became Como Park, where we’re currently headed.

Cleveland then set about creating more parks, cemeteries, towns, and schools in both cities. He then set about connecting them. Minnehaha Falls was his center from which all parks were connected.

Eventually, Minneapolis manifested the closest entity to Cleveland’s vision: the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway, an interconnected system of parks and parkways. Plans for a St. Paul version never came to fruition, but Cleveland’s realized projects at least “inceptioned” the idea of unifying the two sibling cities.

Como Park was the first product of this “Middle Ground” compromise that has come to full fruition today with the Twin Cities metro.

Back to the third Capitol: with Cleveland’s ethos, there was talk of putting the new building in the exact middle of the Cities, at what is now the Town and Country Club on Marshall Ave. just east of the Lake Street Bridge over the Mississippi River. Here, the two cities could have united into Minneapaul, Twincite, or Federal City, with a city center stemming from the Capitol grounds, John Ireland’s Saint Paul’s Cathedral project and college project, commerce, the largest and most potentially successful city in all the world . . .

Well, John Ireland (who we will talk about later when we reach the Cathedral this evening) was pushed out of the land he wanted, and he took his college south a ways, building Macalester College, and placing his cathedral just west of downtown St. Paul.

The Capitol was chosen to be built just to the north of downtown, keeping St. Paul the capital city, opening in 1905. And thus, keeping the Cities the Cities.

(Much of the information above on the separation of the Cities and the resulting rivalry and acts of unification came from Drew M Ross’ amazing book “Becoming the Twin Cities: Swindles, Schemes and Enduring Rivalries”. He gets into more detail about the general history of the Cities than I’ve ever encountered. It’s especially fun to read it through the filter of ugly truth regarding our revered forefathers whom museums and older historical texts tend to propagandize.)

It’s now time to see why the Twin Cities is considered the best in terms of parks systems and recreation in general. Como Park is the closest we have to New York’s Central Park. You can see the enthusiasm and energy channeled by Cleveland’s vision, funneled into existence by Como Park designer Frederick Nussbaumer.

Seriously, the amount of things to do in this park is staggering! Como Lake (complete with a huge pavilion with a restaurant and live music and paddleboat/canoe/paddle board opportunities), a golf course,  Como Pool, Mini Golf, bridges, a carousel, statues, gardens, waterfalls . . . and where we’re headed: a zoo, a conservatory, and a gol’ danged amusement park!!!!

We’ll be getting dropped off at the entrance to the zoo and conservatory. Read the next section once in the main plaza between the carousel, zoo and conservatory.

COMO PARK ZOO AND CONSERVATORY 10:00am - 1:00pm

We’re surrounded by turn-of-the-century charm glazed with a bit of modernity.

The zoo was built in 1897 (mainly because the mayor of St. Paul wanted a place for his deer to live). The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory was built in 1914. Cafesjian’s Carousel off to the left was built also in 1914.

I have a surprise for you: everything you’re about to do is absolutely FREE!!!!!!!!

Well, namely, the zoo and the conservatory are free. But that’s great!!!! I would consider making a donation in one of their many donation boxes, however.

If you’d like to go off on your own at your leisure, that’s totally fine. If you’re sticking with me, I definitely have my preferred way of maneuvering this facility.

One of my primary Loreway philosophies is to keep the story, or itinerary, in a constant build. Meaning, start with the more mundane activities and build up to the more exciting experiences. This makes the mundane more exciting at the beginning, lest you do it the opposite way and the mundane is possibly less than even mundane.

So, let’s do the Conservatory and then the Zoo (with a stop in at Como Town, to boot!). Here's a link to the official website's map of the facility.

Once 10:00am rolls around, I’d suggest heading into the Visitor Center entrance area and hanging a right to go to the Conservatory. We’ll pass through the Ribbitzibit, the Fern Room, the Palm Dome, the Sunken Garden, the North Garden, the Ordway Gardens (a bonsai exhibit) and finally, we’ll head outside to the Japanese Garden. This place is exquisite, has variety, and lots of opportunities for picture taking.

Once we’re through, come back through the building to the original Visitor Center crossroads we started at.

Now, for the main event: the Zoo!!!!

Immediately upon entering the main doors, head to the left into Tropical Encounters, a small but impressive tropical biodome exhibit. I especially like the leaf cutter ants and the star attraction for this area: the sloth!!!!

Once finished here, let’s journey into the main portion of the Zoo.

Head outside and we’ll immediately come to the Bird Exhibit, starring flamingoes.

Stop here a sec and read the following plan for the first half of the zoo experience. This way you don’t have to keep stopping and reading my diatribes. I don’t want to interrupt the flow (Lord knows, I’ve been doing it already!)!!!

My guess is it’s about 11am. The main event, the Sparky Show, starts at 11:30am, so we should first go to the right of the Bird Exhibit. We’ll pass the Galapagos Tortoise, and see Como Harbor. This is where the show takes place. If it’s getting close to 11:30am, take a seat. If not, pregame in the Aquatic Animals building off to the right.

Once we’re setting our sights for the Sparky Show, I’d suggest getting snacks at Pier 56 and then finding seats in Como Harbor. Sparky used to be a show about one sea lion, and they were local celebrities. Now, the show features some of the 8 different “Sparky”’s in a more humane fashion of sea lion camaraderie. It’s a short but cute educational show that doesn’t carry the overshadowing of guilt of Sea World’s “Blackfish” . . . (cue “The Sound of Silence”)

Alright, do all that fun stuff, and once the Sparky Show is over, take a gander at the rest of the Como Zoo trajectory:

After the Sparky Show, I’d continue counterclockwise through the zoo.

Hit up the Polar Bear Odyssey, the Bison, the Arctic Fox.

Next, the Big Cats.

Thirdly, the African Hoofed Stock/Giraffe/Cranes/Tortoise/Zebra/Nyala. Don't forget about the wolves enclosure, too!

Break time!!! I’d suggest popping into and doing a clockwise circuit around Como Town, the small amusement park made mainly for small kids. But it’s cute, it’s fun watching the kids have a blast! And, you know, there are two rides worth maybe riding: the Tiger Trax Roller Coaster and, an actual slightly scary attraction, the Soaring Eagle Zip Ride.

Head back into the zoo and complete the zoo circuit with the Gorilla Forest/Orangutan/Primates. Hopefully, they’ll be lively!!!

And that’s the zoo! Have fun finishing up the trajectory! I’ll catch you back at the Visitor’s Center.

Once in the Visitor’s Center, take stock of the time. If we’ve still got some time before 1:00pm, I’d suggest a ride on the carousel if you’re willing, and maybe even a quick jaunt down to the left (looking away from the Visitor’s Center) to see the Enchanted Garden and Exedra. Also, past the carousel and Como Town to the right, across the street, is a cool little mini-golf course.

If it’s 1:00pm, or if you’re itching to head out early, hail an Uber/Lyft (or head to your car in the lot) and we’ll head back downtown for lunch!

CLICK HERE TO START SECTION THREE: MANGIAMO!