WEEKEND: DAY TWO - SECTION SIX

WEST 7TH WINDUP

RECOMMENDED TIME WINDOW: 10:30pm - 11:30pm

WALKING DISTANCE: 1 MILE

Take a last look from the top of the western bluff. Time to move on to the St. Paul Windup. No history to learn, we’ve learned to just bask in history. Let’s head down to the OG neighborhood of St. Paul, the first urban area in all of Minnesota. Let’s dispense of diatribes and descriptions.

Let’s have a nightcap.

West 7th is the premiere locale for restaurants and bars. Where the Cities unites in celebration!

So, how do we choose where to have our nightcap?!

Well, for the purposes of making a careful and informed decision, I, unfortunately, have to open up the ol’ historical ledger one last, but short, time!

The first settlers in Saint Paul were Irish soldiers from Fort Snelling. The St. Patrick’s Day Parade is held in St. Paul. The Irish Fair of Minnesota is the nation’s largest event of its kind. Saint Paul has two Irish coffee spots and eight Irish pubs. (visitssaintpaul.com)

Eight Irish pubs.

Bingo.

These pubs carry the culture of the city and its past, in my opinion, moreso than any other type of establishment in St. Paul. Blue collar, all killer no filler, bare bones, people of the land meet up for any and all reasons. The heart of the midwestern get-together can best be observed and partook in . . . at a St. Paul Irish pub.

Smack in the heart of the busiest section of West 7th, in the shadow of Grand Casino Arena, is Patrick McGovern’s. The perfect nexus of partygoers, hangouts, and meetups.

And my personal favorite bar in this section of the street.

We have our heading.

Go down the steep Ramsey St. beneath our current perch.

At the bottom, cross 35E. Go two more blocks, crossing Thompson St. and Smith Ave N (Children’s on our left, Hope Breakfast Bar and Cafe Astoria on our right.

We’ve reached West 7th.

Turn left.

We’ll go two and half blocks into the center of the West 7th hubbub. Cross Sherman St., N Walnut St.

At the corner of West 7th and N Chestnut St. is the unmistakable Patrick McGovern’s Pub.

Pull up and stop just before entering for some info and parting words on Day Two:

Choose from a variety of bars, rooms, environs, including an energetic and vibrant patio. Depending on the night we’re here, it might be a quiet, reflective experience, a time to think back on the day in calm reminiscence. Or, it might be bombastic, chaotic and fantastically frenetic, a time to think back on the day in loud declaration and pontification.

Whatever experience it turns out to be . . .

. . . May we raise our glasses in a toast. A toast in celebration of hightailing it all over St. Paul, Minnesota’s humble yet grand Capital City terrain, of partaking in history, tourism, knowledge, food, drink, and wholesome good ol’ American tomfoolery!

You’ve slayed the eastern beast!!!! A whole day’s worth of sticking your scimitars in all the vital zones.

As you take that first sip of your drink inside . . . bask in your accomplishments today. You killed it!

I hope you’ve gained a great first impression of this fair city. That you’ve learned a bit about the origins (from “Pig’s Eye”’s debauchery, Lucien Galtier’s course correction through Catholicism and the massive spiritual successor to his church through the work of John Ireland, the rivalry between the two Cities and the olive branch created by Horace Cleveland’s visions of connective parkland, James J. Hill’s presence in St. Paul and the financial world at large, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s contributions to defining the Roaring 20’s), the significant aspects of why St. Paul is a great metropolis. From the grease pits of Mickey’s Diner, to the charming animals and plants of Como Park, the deli goodness of Cossetta, the whirlwind experiments of the Science Museum, the unique living museum of the Cathedral Hill neighborhood, to here, the windup, I’m betting you’ve got a pretty good foundation in knowing what makes St. Paul a premier midwest destination.

Celebrate at Patrick McGovern’s, and then . . . celebrate some more somewhere nearby, if you’d like! I’m a fan of the nearby Truck Park, in particular.

If it’s time to tap out after McGovern’s . . . me, too, partner. Me, too.

Head on back to your hotel or home in your car or via Uber/Lyft and call it an awesome, productive Day Two.

Day Three starts a bit later than today’s start time, but just a bit. Tomorrow continues the history, tourism, nature, tourism, gastronomic goodness . . . and TOURISM. The Big Dog of Tourism rears its head tomorrow evening . . .

So, I wish you a good, healthy rest!

With this last, I bid you adieu.

Now, go on in and have your nightcap!!!! And then head on back to sleep headquarters!

CLICK HERE FOR DAY THREE: RELICS TO RIDES!