Grand Old Day (Updated)
Generally speaking, St. Paul is a bit of a lonely city. If you visit downtown at 9:00 on a Friday night, chances are you’ll find it utterly, inexplicably dead. That’s why it’s nice that at least once a year St. Paul gets completely overrun by people during Grand Old Day.
This year was my second time at Grand Old Day, and for those who’ve never been, the only thing I can compare it with is State Street in Madison on Halloween. The entire street is filled with people as far as you can see. From Fairview Avenue to Dale Street, the whole of Grand Avenue is completely blocked off to traffic (a major inconvenience for the neighbors, by the way) and inundated by a sea of remarkably well behaved revelers. It’s really a unique event.
We didn’t really see any of the shows there, because: (1) the people-watching is more interesting anyway; (2) you actually don’t need one of the $6 wristbands to drink beer unless you absolutely must do it in one of the beer gardens; and (3) frankly, it didn’t seem like there were any bands or groups there that justified the price of a wristband (Heiruspecs excepted, perhaps). Anyway, it was a beautiful day, and we were happy to just walk around… although we did take the time to stop at Stogies on Grand for a good cigar.
Sunday, June 1st, 2008
