VIP Bemidji Tour

We met Al and Colleen for breakfast at a little place in town called Raphael's.  I'm not sure if it's because it's one of the only breakfast places right downtown but it was really busy.  It's more bakery than restaurant but they did a great job of taking care of people.  Al and Cheri say the donuts are Minnesota Nice!

  

Al said Colleen was disappointed that this phone number was not available

After breakfast we climbed into Colleen's Subaru and drove a few blocks to the Bemidji State University campus where Colleen starts her new job as a librarian on Monday.  It is a really nice campus that serves 5,000+ undergrads and also a couple of graduate programs.  The school is also know for their championship hockey teams.

  

Beautiful BSU entry

Colleen Deel, Librarian at A.C. Clark Library

Bucky says "game on"

We saw many of the campus buildings and of course we had to stop in the bookstore and buy a couple of BSU shirts.  We also had a photo op with Bucky the school mascot.

  

Someone in this picture needs orthodontia

All of the campus rooms are identified in English, Brail, and Ojibwe.  Now you know how to say Einstein Bros Bagles.

After the campus visit we drove around Lake Bemidji, admired some of the homes and drove into the State Park.  This is really a beautiful part of the world.

  

The MN State park system is impressive

We stopped at the Bemidji Brewery for a late lunch/early dinner.  It was pretty overcast but we ate outside.  Al recommended the smoked trout dip and crackers...which tasted like fish and cigarettes to me...but it was still tasty!

  

  

This is where smoked trout dip comes from

...and here's the other type of dip

We were going to walk over to the College Fishing Tournament site and listen to a band and visit the vendor area but it had started to rain by this point.  So, we went back to Colleen's downtown above the storefronts walkup apartment and relaxed for a while.  She had just taken the apartment before going to Ohio for a few weeks to visit her folks so it is still in "I'm just moving in" condition but its is a nice cozy spot.  

When the rain let up a little we walked over to Big River Scoop Ice Cream and had a treat.  

We visited for a while more and then it was time to say goodbye and drive back to the Hampton Inn.  It was sad to say so long but we were very glad to have had a couple of days to visit.

Motor on

In the morning we start heading southeast toward Madison, WI.