St Paul, Disappoints and Delights!

I hate sounding like a scrooge, but to me the 2008 Winter Carnival in St Paul turned out to be a disappointment compared to the fun of the 2007 Winter Carnival.

I heard that funding was lower for the Winter Carnival this year, but I wanted to support the event that had me thrillin' in 2007. With high hopes, I proceeded this year, despite the rumors.

The venue moved to Rice Park in St Paul this year...I had never been to Rice Park, but it didn't seem like an ideal location for a carnival, and parking was impossible and overpriced ($15). The giant snow slide hill was something we were looking forward to, but it obviously couldn't fit in Rice Park. Still wanting to check it out, we drove around Rice Park and the surrounding area to check out the ice sculptures and look for parking, but most of the sculptures had melted and we couldn't find any parking for less than $15.

There was a hot dish tent and a small ice skating rink, but we couldn't see paying $15 for parking just to chow some hot dish.

I hate to sound like a curmudgeon. I'm all about carnivals and festivals, fo sho, and I wanted to reprazent this year for the Winter Carnival. I just couldn't convince myself to pay $15 to park to check out the melted sculptures and eat hot dish, and I couldn't ask gerg to pay that much, even though he was willing to do so.

Perhaps the sculptures were super marvelous before the melt? Perhaps parking was only impossible on the day we tried to go? Perhaps the hot dish is worth a $15 parking fee?

I know it was worth every penny last year, and I won't be giving up on Winter Carnival next year.

Fortunately, St Paul came through on Saturday night. Gerg and I enjoyed a night out on the town this past Saturday with dinner at the new steak joint in St Paul, The Strip Club.

Read all about our night at The Strip Club here.



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