So, we attended the Rice Park Winter Lights Opening and Tree Lighting Ceremony in Saint Paul the weekend after Thanksgiving. We parked somewhere half away between Barrio and Rice Park, because we like to eat and word was no food trucks on site, which is such a bummer.
So we hiked through the urban jungle, Todd reminding me to keep my voice down maybe a bit this time because last time we did this I was talking out loud... ok really loudly and we attracted a pickpocket who probably assumed I was an easy target. It wasn't THAT big of a deal since he was looking for a purse when he bumped into my shoulder but surprise buddy, I carry my cards in my wallet in my pocket when downtown. The hilarious part was when, after bumping into me he tried to excuse it like he was out jogging even though he was wearing extremely baggy jeans.
Seriously how pretty is that bowl of guac? And it tasted as good as it looked. I'm such a huge fan of Barrio, some say it's over-rated but I say it's taste-tastic! The guacamole was spicy and had such a great kick with the jalapenos. We ordered a line-up of tacos, the mahi-mahi, pork carnitas and steak respectively.
Now the flavors were very good this time around as well but I will say I thought the shells were a little stale. That's my only critique, the tacos were fantastic and also pretty gorgeous to look at as well. Barrio is still one of my favorite hangouts down town and everything tastes so fresh and you can identify all the individual ingredients.
So we braved the cold and trekked back to the Landmark Center full of cilantro, lime and jalapeno goodness! The Landmark was pretty in the dusk, the lights now on in the park. Walking up to the park I was overwhelmed with the distinct smell of vomit which was permeating the whole area, which was pretty gross. However it was beautiful even if it smelled like puke.
I made a mental note that I have to come back here and skate on this rink at some point, it was so pretty with the buildings all around. The skating, which sits adjacent to The Landmark and Rice Park was closed for most of the evening for actual figure skaters who were doing jumps and spins which was really fun to watch... well for me, Todd was semi-interested.
I mean, who wouldn't want to skate on that? It's gorgeous! So next we went over to The Landmark for the tree lighting ceremony in smack dab into more vomit-smell. I was accusingly avoiding every trash can I saw.
The Landmark Center is such a gorgeous building, love this part of St Paul. The only thing I wish is more restaurants over in this area but it's mostly entertainment, government buildings, and hotels but we can walk perfectly fine.
This is Dave Dahl's backside during the beginning of the ceremony... there were SO many people it wasn't worth getting closer. You don't really need to be that close to see fireworks, note to everyone there.
The fireworks starting over the main tree in the park. We walked around the exterior of the park and under the trees, still smelling strongly like puke and then I overheard a conversation behind me. The main point of this said conversation was about how everything smelled like vomit because it was due to the rotting crabapples decaying on the ground. There was the smoking gun and it was all over my boots... great!
Puke-smelling crabapples all over my boots or no- you can't deny that's not a pretty sight! Rice Park is gorgeous- go check it out!
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