Gypsy Mania On The River

Well, it may not have been Milwaukee's Summerfest, but still, what a great evening. :) Clear summer night last night, not too warm, enough breeze to keep bugs away.

Add to that a picturesque setting in someplace new and interesting, decent food and great music, well-behaved relatively sober people, and a special occasion to celebrate (not to mention the good feeling of just having finished up some needed yardwork and my second summer school paper), and it all adds up to a swell time.

St. Anthony Main is a dining and entertainment complex in a refurbished old mattress factory,



right on the Mississippi river by an old hydroelectric dam and a city park built out into the river called "Water Power Park."








Xcel Energy (formerly NSP or Northern States Power) reclaimed a bunch of the land once used for a power plant, and made it into a riverfront walking park. Really very nice. They must still make power there too, because the substation and high-power lines were certainly visible.


But back across the cobblestone street where the horse and buggy stood ready to give carriage rides, St. Anthony Main had sidewalk (patio, really) cafe' dining opportunities



and a courtyard in which they had free live music going. This is an all-summer-long thing, apparently. This one went well enough, maybe we'll go back... even without the special occasion. :)

The band du jour was one we'd heard before in a neighboring nightclub, Vic's. It's Gypsy Mania, and they do "hot club" swing, a'la Django Reinhart & Stephane Grappelli. Missed their CD release party earlier in the month due to that driving vacation I'll eventually get back to telling you more about. But I picked one up last night, and they all signed it for me. An honor to be asked, they said. :)



So again, a very pleasant couple of hours spent at a neat local night spot by a lovely local natural resource, listening to talented local musicians. I do like this area. There really is a lot to enjoy without going far and spending much.



Oh, before I go, a couple of odds and ends. This picture for one. I'm not sure what struck me about it now, but here it is anyway. If you figure out why, let me know. ;)



And the other thing is.. the prior post was my 1,000th on this blog. One thousand and one, now. Yikes! Do I really talk that much?

Don't answer that.