Winter Storm, Dinner and a Show
As a storm gets off to a slow start, life
goes on...
On Friday evening, I wrote about the winter
storm moving through Minnesota. At the time, there was snow
falling here, but it stopped by about 10:00 p.m., with only a fraction of an
inch on the ground. While we were expecting four to six inches overnight, we
got nothing. Peg headed off to work at the library Saturday morning, and light
snow started around 9:30 a.m., turning to freezing rain and sleet for a while
around noon. I cleared the remarkably dense inch-deep sleety mix from the
driveway in the middle of the afternoon, and Peg got home around 4:00. By that
time, only light snow was falling, and she reported that driving wasn't too bad,
so we decided to attempt our evening plans for dinner out, and a concert in
downtown St. Paul, a dozen miles
away.
At first we were going to go to our favorite local Mexican restaurant, El Loro, but once on the road, we decided it might be best to get into downtown early, while it was still light, and before much more snow fell. We drove--actually, Peg drove--rather slowly, in light traffic, and without incident, and parked in a ramp near the concert venue, the Fitzgerald Theater. We walked a few snowy blocks to Babani's Kurdish Restaurant, our downtown favorite. It was nearly empty when we arrived--around 5:00--but filled up quickly while we had a fine dinner.
We had quite a bit of time to spare after dinner, so we walked down St. Peter street and over to Rice Park. The trees along the way and in the park are still decorated with lights, and the effect of the lights and falling snow was beautiful. But as we got close to the river, the wind started blasting snow in our faces, so we continued our walk through the tunnels and skyways, wending our way back toward the theater. We arrived nearly an hour before the show, but we were soon comfortably seated, had a glass of wine, and waited for the concert to begin.
Oh, yes, the concert! It was Pat Donohue's Roots and Blues Review, with a half dozen other fine musicians joining Donohue in a program of mostly blues, with some jazz and folk included in the mix. Donohue plays guitar, and is a regular in the Guys All-Star Shoe Band on the Prairie Home Companion show. The other performers were Cindy Cashdollar (steel guitar and dobro), Peter Johnson (drums and percussion), Howard Levy (an amazing harmonica player), Willie Murphy (piano), Gary Raynor (double bass) and Randy Sabien (jazz violin). We were only somewhat familiar with Donohue before the show, but came away quite impressed with him and the whole group.
Of course, while we were enjoying the show, the snow was gradually accumulating, with about four inches on the ground as we started the drive home. It was snowing pretty heavily, and we had to go at about half normal speeds due to slippery conditions, limited visibility, and a tendency for the wipers to ice up. It was a bit tense, but we got home just before midnight, and thought it was a great time to take advantage of our adrenaline by shoveling the driveway. Half an hour later, the job was done, and we could relax--a good time for blogging!
At first we were going to go to our favorite local Mexican restaurant, El Loro, but once on the road, we decided it might be best to get into downtown early, while it was still light, and before much more snow fell. We drove--actually, Peg drove--rather slowly, in light traffic, and without incident, and parked in a ramp near the concert venue, the Fitzgerald Theater. We walked a few snowy blocks to Babani's Kurdish Restaurant, our downtown favorite. It was nearly empty when we arrived--around 5:00--but filled up quickly while we had a fine dinner.
We had quite a bit of time to spare after dinner, so we walked down St. Peter street and over to Rice Park. The trees along the way and in the park are still decorated with lights, and the effect of the lights and falling snow was beautiful. But as we got close to the river, the wind started blasting snow in our faces, so we continued our walk through the tunnels and skyways, wending our way back toward the theater. We arrived nearly an hour before the show, but we were soon comfortably seated, had a glass of wine, and waited for the concert to begin.
Oh, yes, the concert! It was Pat Donohue's Roots and Blues Review, with a half dozen other fine musicians joining Donohue in a program of mostly blues, with some jazz and folk included in the mix. Donohue plays guitar, and is a regular in the Guys All-Star Shoe Band on the Prairie Home Companion show. The other performers were Cindy Cashdollar (steel guitar and dobro), Peter Johnson (drums and percussion), Howard Levy (an amazing harmonica player), Willie Murphy (piano), Gary Raynor (double bass) and Randy Sabien (jazz violin). We were only somewhat familiar with Donohue before the show, but came away quite impressed with him and the whole group.
Of course, while we were enjoying the show, the snow was gradually accumulating, with about four inches on the ground as we started the drive home. It was snowing pretty heavily, and we had to go at about half normal speeds due to slippery conditions, limited visibility, and a tendency for the wipers to ice up. It was a bit tense, but we got home just before midnight, and thought it was a great time to take advantage of our adrenaline by shoveling the driveway. Half an hour later, the job was done, and we could relax--a good time for blogging!
Posted: Sun - February 25, 2007 at 01:47 AM by email
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Published On: Feb 25, 2007 07:18 PM
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Published On: Feb 25, 2007 07:18 PM