End of term at Minneapolis

End of Term in the Twin Cities

Minneapolis in the 1890s

Out on the town in Duluth

Trying hard to be chilled out!

A cool chilled out dude

The Icelandic volcano’s activity seems to have abated somewhat for now and so the prospect for our timely return home looks a lot better. We experienced our coldest and cloudiest day of the trip so far this morning. There was a small skim of ice yesterday morning on the surface but it still was a glorious day. Today is different with a cruel cold wind blowing off the lake. People in Duluth have a healthy respect for the lake. It dominates their lives and their horizons. Storms can blow up in minutes and no ship is immune to the might of its winds (gusting to over 90 miles per hour). Many ships and many lives have been lost on what yesterday appeared to be an innocuous expanse of calm water.

Such a contrast to yesterday on the lake

The power of Lake Superior

Driving to Minneapolis St Paul this morning. Bob would have done this journey but as we learnt yesterday not for long. He did record some of the material that he was playing at the time on a home tape recorder. These songs turn up in bootlegs on a number of occasions. “The Great White Wonder” released as a bootleg in1971 has a mix of these Minneapolis recordings interspersed with songs recorded in 1967 with the Band in upstate New York at the Big Pink. Bob’s guitar work is not great, neither is his voice but the passion and energy is.

It seems strange to be driving Highway 61 in the opposite direction but it was the way that Bob did on the road to stardom. I think that I now understand the meaning of the title of the album “Highway 61 Revised. It was about rebelling and escaping from that comfortable Jewish middle class life and living his dream. My preconceived perception of Duluth and Hibbing were so different to reality. People on the way advised us against going there with “What do you want to go to that dump for” Bob seems to have had a downer on both towns in his writings. We spent 2 pleasant chilled-out days up there with those lovely people from “The North Country Fair”

The Mall of America. Cathedral to shopping!

Its been a great trip. We have travelled through 9 states and covered nearly 2,500 miles during the 21 days of the vacation. We have listened to many music forms encompassing numerous styles and genres in each. We have experienced Traditional Jazz, Modern Jazz, Cajun Music, Zydeko, Delta and Chicago blues, Rhythm and Blues, Rock and Roll, Country, Ragtime, Gypsy, Folk and the rest. One of the major disappointments was the lack of Jazz in Chicago. At one time the City was known as one of the centres for jazz. Luis Armstrong was based in the city. It’s hard to find any live jazz venues whereas the Chicago Blues scene appears to be vibrant and progressive.

There is an “end of term” feeling now that we have arrived in Minneapolis. I last visited this city over thirty years ago when my sister-in -aw lived here. The climate at this time of year is delightful but it has one of the worst climates in the US with extreme winters and hot humid bug filled summers. We visited the huge Mall of America. This is more a cathedral to consumerism than anything else. Plenty of shops but nothing to buy. Shopping has become the new religion in the 21^st century and it has certainly taken grip in the USA. This consumer opulence is such a contrast to the poverty and boarded up shops that we saw in the Delta.

What a naughty boy!

Last crossing of the Mississippi