USA Travel Guide

My wife thinks sixty-five is scarf weather, so it’s unlikely I’ll ever live in a place like St. Paul, Minnesota. A place where it gets so cold for so long that rather than burrow away and hide in the warm glow of their TVs – the way we do it here in Dallas – they throw on a layer, head outside and gosh darn celebrate it.

In fact, they’ve been doing it for over a century. They call it the “Coolest Celebration on Earth”: the St. Paul Winter Carnival.

For eleven bone-chilling days in late January, the Minnesota capital city of St. Paul explodes with winter merriment. Fun-loving peeps deck themselves in their best gloves, scarves and poofy hats and head out for a day of frigid festivities. It’s all free, and it’s all a lot of fun.

Carnival coordinators always look to surprise, with new entertainments every year. Here’s a small slice of what you’ll find on the 2010 St. Paul Winter Carnival calendar: 

• Ice Carving – always a big deal at the carnival, since the sculptures don’t melt. The carnival holds single and multi-block sculpture contests, viewable through January 31
• Royal Coronation – lame festivals have one Queen and King, tops, but not the St. Paul Winter Carnival. They’ve got a King, Queen, Prime Minister, like a dozen princes, princesses, guards, and as many as five royal horse whisperers*
• Snow Sculpture – like the ice carving, only…
• Moon Glow Pedestrian Parade – all are welcome to join in this public parade
• Hot Air Ballooning – and lots of it, because the one thing you want to do in St. Paul in January is get higher up
• St. Paul Winter Carnival Beer Dabbler – you don’t have to worry about getting your beer cold enough at this free outdoor biergarten
• Carnival Fireworks – it’s a shame the biggest day for fireworks is in July, because they’re especially vivid against a snow-draped horizon.
• Plus: talents shows, ice skating, art shows, dog and cat shows, sports, blood drives, scavenger hunt, kids’ play, ice fishing contest, etc.
• View the full calendar.

Unless specified otherwise (and I couldn’t find one), all winter carnival events are free and take place around St. Paul, Minnesota.

The 2010 St. Paul Winter Carnival will run from January 21 – 31, 2010. You’ll want to use the calendar and Web site to find locations of specific events and plan out your day. Get more information here.

Face the frostbite yourself by traveling in to attend the Saint Paul Winter Carnival. Enjoy a central downtown location near most of the action with a stay at the Crowne Plaza St. Paul – Riverfront. The classic-contemporary feel and host of amenities give you a warm, inviting place to return to after days at the fair.

Have a great time at the 2010 St. Paul Winter Carnival!

*One of these is an embellishment, but I’ll never tell.

For the season, we’ve mentioned high-quality haunted houses almost every day. These menacing manors are expertly crafted to spook the bajeezus out of you. But, then, they are just that: crafted. They’re designed, built, planned … made up. And they’re great! But I’m a writer. I get into the story of a place. I want to know the history, and I want that history to be real.

That’s why, for me, few Halloween haunts can live up to a good ghost tour, and boy have we got a cool one for you today: the Ghosts, Graves & Caves Tour of St. Paul, Minnesota, featuring the Wabasha Street Caves.

This is kind of a twofer, so I’ll try to keep it organized. The Wabasha Street Caves in downtown St. Paul, MN is an unusual special events center built into a large sandstone cave network. Over the years, the caves protected French mushroom farmers, 1920s gangsters, speakeasy proprietors and lots of other people. “Wabasha Street Caves” refers to the event center as well as the cave system, which offers tours year-round. And oh yeah, the Street Caves are allegedly haunted.

The Ghosts, Graves & Caves Tour is a special October-only tour offered to the public that features a groovy nighttime stroll of some of St. Paul’s most active haunted locations, including the caves. While fascinating tours of the Street Caves are offered throughout the year, it’s only this month that you can experience this spine-prickling procession.

What’s going on? In the caves themselves, stories run the gamut, but a few recurring themes have given as much credit as you can reasonably give a haunting. Supposed manifestations include a man wearing a panama hat, a man and woman sitting in the bar in the early morning, a woman randomly searching the caves, and three gangsters who met a chilling lead-filled end.

The tour includes all of these fun stories, as well as a Deluxe Motorcoach (bus) tour of downtown St. Paul, including a local cemetery. For a little extra atmosphere, though hardly needed, expect your tour guide to show up in full costume.

The company also hosts a Ghosts & Graves tour. It’s shorter and cheaper, but doesn’t actually feature the caves, so we recommend buying up if possible.

You’ll want to do that soon, too. The Ghosts, Graves & Caves Tour at the Wabasha Street Caves is offered Thursdays and Fridays only through October, and tour capacity is limited. I’ve checked that tickets are still available, but you’ll want to act quick-like. Of course, if you fail to get ghost tour tickets, the company still hosts near-daily tours on other topics, so don’t let that make you miss out on the Caves completely. Learn more.

Located less than a mile away (you could walk it), we recommend the Crowne Plaza St. Paul Hotel – Riverfront. A popular choice for all kinds of St. Paul travel, this is the perfect place whether you’re attending a meeting or visiting family. Just be sure to get those tickets in advance.

Like ghost tours? Check out “Top Haunted Attractions in America” coverage for tips on more great ghost tours all over the country.

Welcome to another edition of The Cultured Commentator.

Here we eat foie gras and chili cheese fries. We read Pynchon and Brown. We play Go and Guitar Hero. And we watch A&E and American Idol.

Heck, we’ll even watch American Idol live!

That’s right, the American Idol Live Tour 2009 has less than a month left, but chances are tickets are still available for a show in your area, provided your area is the Northeast. So go ahead, give in to guilty temptation, get some use out of that “Adam Lambert 4 Life” tattoo, and get your tickets to American Idol Live.

As always, the tour cast includes the previous season’s top 10 contestants. That means this is your chance to hear the smoky tones of Allison Iraheta, the prog-rock wail of Adam Lambert, the surprising soul of Anoop Desai, the humble adequacy of Danny Gokey, the bring-more-originality-ness of Lil Rounds, the arm-flapping birdsong of Megan Joy and all the others.

Then of course there’s Scott MacIntyre, who I can only hope delivers another of his trademark dance numbers. (High Five! … Up top! … Don’t leave me hangin’!…)

Between now and the final show on September 15, American Idol Live will be hitting the North and Northeast pretty hard. They’ve got stops in Milwaukee, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Grand Rapids, Bridgeport, Providence, Manchester and others.

You can view the schedule, read fan reviews and get your tickets here.

I thought I’d dip into our past hotel recommendations and pair them with some upcoming shows, just to beef up the post.

On September 1, the show comes to the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the Twin Cities, we like the Crowne Plaza St. Paul. It’s an affordable, comfortable, well-rounded kind of stay.

On September 10, the show comes to the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Nearby we’re big fans of the Holiday Inn Express Shelton, CT Hotel. If you time it right, the hotel offers a free shuttle to the Arena, and the rooms are always clean and inviting in our experience.

Have fun!

I figured we should head back up to the twin cities at least one more time before the freeze comes and it starts to look like a scene from Fargo. Last time we virtual-visited St. Paul, Minnesota it was the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory that inspired us. Today, we’re headed to the zoo’s next door neighbor, Como Town.

I like Como Town Amusement Park at Como Park in St. Paul not only because of the old-school carnival flavor – the park is free to enter and charges by the attraction – but because they do something special after my own heart: they run a blog (and they really run it)!

Meet Bri – Como Town’s official event planner, entertainment coordinator and ride “tester”. She also finds time to update the Como Town blog on a semi-often basis. Reports from the latest events, sneak peaks of upcoming attractions, reminders about the current specials and a little silliness here and there, Bri does a great job of running the product-oriented blog without drowning in the sales message. She’s doing it just right, and we salute her from one blog to another.

Well, I guess we could do a little of the work, too.

Como Town is a smallish, 18-ride, free-to-enter amusement park bright with historic charm and chill family-fun. Rather than an upfront admission, guests purchase tickets to use on the attractions. Individual tickets run for seventy-five cents, though unless you really just want the one ride, you’re better off purchasing discounted combo pack of 10-82 tickets.

Actually, for family visits, you’re better off purchasing the $17 unlimited ride wristband per person. That’s about 23 tickets, which is easy to spend. This setup isn’t right for every park, but we love it for smaller joints like that because non-riders can still join their friends and family without biting the bullet on admission.

About those rides, Como Town is not a thrill park. It wouldn’t fit in on our list of The 10 Best Amusement Parks, but it does have plenty of kid and family-pleasing flat rides with three thrill attractions to boot. Expect the classics: spinning swings, train, tea cups, good old-fashioned bumper cars, and for the mild thrill fans, the Dragon Coaster, free-falling Drop Zone, and guest controlled Sky Glider (pictured).

If you’re traveling into St. Paul or Minneapolis with family, especially with younger children, Como Town is a great choice for an afternoon of fun. Make a double-feature with the Como Park Zoo in the morning and Como Town after lunch. It’s a trip that’s sure to please.

Como Town Amusement Park is open daily at the moment, but that weekdays will start to slough off by September, so act soon. Learn more about the park here, and read that blog, won’t you?

Located near Como Town, and all the fun of Como Park, is our favorite hotel in St. Paul, MN, the Crowne Plaza St. Paul Hotel. Featuring large rooms and suites, affordable rates and a huge indoor pool (invaluable up north), it’s a fine choice for families.

Have fun!

USA Travel Guide has been all around this great land of ours, but it’s sad to say our humble blog has never once stopped in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Minnesota. Well, loyal readers, our careless neglect ends today.

Welcome to the Como Park Zoo & Conservatory in St. Paul, Minnesota, an AZA-accredited animal park rife with charm, personality and, of course, top-notch exhibits. It’s an older place: the Zoological Building (a bit of a local landmark) was commissioned in 1936. We like it that way. Even with the bulk of the newer exhibits built since the 1980’s, the Como Zoo has a nostalgic feel, a historic ambiance that helps to zoo add up to more than the sum of its parts.

Not that there’s anything wrong with the parts. Devoid of unnecessary flash, the animals are definitely the stars of this show. Favorites include black-footed penguins, polar bears, sea lions, Siberian tigers, snow leopards, reindeer, western lowland gorillas, spider monkeys, leafcutter ants and gray wolves. The animals are joined by the zoo’s famous artwork, a series of commissioned sculptures to be found throughout the grounds.

The zoo is smallish, you can see it all in just a couple hours depending on your pacing, but not to worry, the zoo isn’t half of what Como Park has to offer. After all, this is Como Park Zoo and Conservatory. The adjacent conservatory features eight incredible gardens, including the peaceful, reflective Como Ordway Memorial Japanese Garden, the popular fern room, and my favorite, the stately Sunken Garden. It can be a fairly brief stroll through the gardens, so no reason not to see them all.

Both the Como Park Zoo and the Conservatory are free to enter all through the year, though a visitor donation of $2 per adult, $1 per child is recommended (and if you skip it, your mother will know). Parking is also free, and it’s conveniently located at the park right next to the entrance. No hassle at all. Learn more about the Como Park Zoo & Conservatory.

It’s a bit beside the point, something we’ll probably come back to in a future post, but also located at Como Park is a free-to-enter 18-ride amusement park called Como Town. Rides are available for tickets, or you can purchase an unlimited ride pass. Learn more about Como Town.

For hotels in St. Paul, MN, we’ve had great luck with the Crowne Plaza St. Paul – Riverfront Hotel. It’s just a few miles from Como Park for starters, and we’re always a fan of Crowne Plaza’s rooms.

Have fun!