On The Train

I HAVE MORE FOOTAGE OF the Northstar Line, which runs from Big Lake, Minnesota to Minneapolis. So far I've only taken it to Anoka and back a few times. Thought you would enjoy this quickly edited footage in the meanwhile. I was so excited to have gotten a seat in the very front row for the very first time!

Chocolate at the Minnesota History Museum

Chocolate at the Minnesota History Museum
October 2, 2010 - January 2, 2011

THERE ARE ADDICTS WHO USE WHENEVER THEY CAN and those who claim to just use during special occasions. Statistics show that, on average, individuals in the U.S. consume 12 pounds of the stuff annually, and with that number we know there are some for whom that number is far too conservative. I’m talking, of course, about chocolate.

There are many people who have their habits down to a science. They know exactly how long it takes to rip open a Hershey Bar: no time at all. But how many of us know how long it takes for a bar of chocolate to become a scrumptious snack in the first place? In the grand scheme of things, it has taken thousands of years. And the latest exhibit at the Minnesota History Museum is ready and willing to help chocolate-lovers everywhere sort it all out. After all, it’s useful to at least understand one’s addiction even if there’s no intention of kicking it.

The exhibit, simply named Chocolate, was developed by The Field Museum in Chicago. The Field Museum is focused on science, but the exhibit is a good fit for the Minnesota History Museum, as it takes visitors back in time to the very beginnings of chocolate. Visitors enter into a Central American tropical forest where the focal point is a tree sprouting pineapple-sized, football-shaped pods full of 30-50 cacao (ka-kow) seeds (enough to make about seven milk chocolate or two dark chocolate bars). Throughout the science of it all -- like finding out about midges, the small birds that pollinate cacao -- there are facts about the Mayans. They were the first to use cacao beans to make a spicy, bitter drink for use in their ceremonies.

On display are replicas of ancient carved dishes and sculptures devoted to cacao, which demonstrates how seriously people regarded the cacao bean from its very beginnings. From there the exhibit takes off like a roller coaster, following a history full of wealth, war, chaos and luxury that is directly linked to chocolate.

FUN FACT: “The seeds were so valuable that dishonest merchants are believed to have made counterfeits.”

The exhibit is dotted with fun facts and artifacts, and the magic word throughout the exhibit is definitely the word frothy. And if the original European porcelain chocolate services doesn’t induce drooling and magnificent fantasias of rich and frothy chocolate drinks, the antique chocolate molds and wrappers most certainly will.



But chocolate’s past isn’t without tragedy. Because of the cacao’s limited growing area, the beans became valuable as a form of currency in addition to being a royal consumable. This is how it spread to other cultures, namely from the Aztecs and then Spanish. Cacao is a bitter tasting seed; it was the Spaniards who found it tasted better when mixed with sugar. As a result, sugar became more valuable. It wasn’t until a century later that chocolate, sweetened or not, made it to Europe. And, unfortunately along with chocolate’s growing popularity, there was a growing slave trade forced to harvest cacao beans and sugar cane.


As chocolate became easier to mass produce, the amount of chocolate products on the market sky-rocketed. By 1930 there were as many as 40,000 different kinds of chocolate candy bars on the market. The chocolate molds, including antiques from Hershey and Ghirardelli, are especially fun to see.


The end of the exhibit provides a fun photo opportunity, so bring your cameras. But the real treat is how the Minnesota History Museum has brought in the Minnesota element -- the sweet sweet Minnesota element. They’ve bulked out their gift shop with chocolate delicacies from local chocolatiers.

Additionally, they have fun interactive events planned including Family Day on October 2 from noon to 4pm. There will be Aztec dancing and drumming, Ecuadorian music, samples of chocolates from local chocolatiers, cooking and tasting demonstrations, take home art activity for kids and an illustrated presentation on the process of making chocolate from the bean to the bar.

Adult programs include sampler evenings, which feature wine tastings and demonstrations and samples from local chocolatiers. There will also be a two-hour workshop called DIY: Chocolate! Participants will explore the industrial secrets that transform chocolate from a hard bean to a luxurious indulgence, and even learn how to temper and mold chocolate. There will be samples to take home, along with tips and tricks for working with chocolate, and a mole recipe provided by Fabulous Catering.

Admission to Chocolate is included with regular museum admission of $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and college students, $5 for children ages 6-17; free for children age 5 and under and MNHS members. Admission is free Tuesday evenings from 5 to 8pm. Group rates available. For more information on public programs, visit http://events.mnhs.org/.

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Minnesota History Center
345 Kellogg Blvd W.
St. Paul MN 55102-1903
651-259-3000, 651-282-6073 (TTY)
800-657-3773 (toll free)

$10 adults, $8 seniors and college students, $5 children ages 6-17; free for children age 5 and under and MHS members.

Hours for Museum and Stores:
Tuesday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (free admission 5 to 8 p.m.)
Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday noon to 5 p.m.

Closed Mondays except Monday holidays year round (open Martin Luther King Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day). Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's day.

Library Hours:
Tuesday noon to 8 p.m.
Wednesday through Friday noon to 5 p.m.
Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday noon to 4 p.m.

Closed Monday, Memorial Day and Labor Day Weekends, and major holidays including the day after Thanksgiving.

Bunny and Coco Attend the 2010 Ivey Awards

September 20, 2010; Photo Credit: Claire Molepske

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My First Ride on the Cyclone!

Thanks to mom for recording this.

I FINALLY RODE THE CYCLONE.


Sitting in the car third from the front and waiting for other riders to get seated, I remember watching and waiting for the operator to pull the giant wooden latch to release the train of cars along the old wooden track. At various points in the above video, you may be able to see me waving to the camera.


While being pulled up the first big hill, I was hit with the strong odor of old, wet lumber. Even at this moment, I could tell this was going to be the most exhilarating roller coaster ride ever. I've ridden some pretty intense roller coasters, but none with such a history behind it. It was a wild ride, indeed, but the history of the coaster contributed to my exhilaration.


Since I was the only one in the third car, I slid around quite a bit as I held on, white-knuckling the safety bar over my lap. I even had a blood blister souvenir on my palm afterward!


I was *this* close spending all my money riding the Cyclone.


Thanks to mom for recording this.

My First Ride on the Cyclone!

Thanks to mom for recording this.
I FINALLY RODE THE CYCLONE.

Sitting in the car third from the front and waiting for other riders to get seated, I remember watching and waiting for the operator to pull the giant wooden latch to release the train of cars along the old wooden track. At various points in the above video, you may be able to see me waving to the camera.

While being pulled up the first big hill, I was hit with the strong odor of old, wet lumber. Even at this moment, I could tell this was going to be the most exhilarating roller coaster ride ever. I've ridden some pretty intense roller coasters, but none with such a history behind it. It was a wild ride, indeed, but the history of the coaster contributed to my exhilaration.

Since I was the only one in the third car, I slid around quite a bit as I held on, white-knuckling the safety bar over my lap. I even had a blood blister souvenir on my palm afterward!

I was *this* close spending all my money riding the Cyclone.

Thanks to mom for recording this.

Coco Dreams of Space

UNLIKE MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE in love with outerspace, such as Niel DeGrasse Tyson of Nova Science Now, I have trouble pinpointing exactly when my love affair with the cosmos began.

The incalculable enormity of the universe has always simultaneously calmed me into deep thought and frightened me. I would say this has been the case for me at least since grade school -- the days when we were all taught those amazing facts about the speed of light, how hot the sun really is, how big Jupiter is in relation to Earth, and weightlessness. To discuss the massive measurements of space while at the same time not being able to really comprehend it, has always been part of why the subject is so enjoyable for me.

When you get right down to it, what would it mean to be lost in space, in total silence, to float about with absolutely no mechanism to return? How strange would it be to find yourself in such a frightening circumstance and simultaneously be viewing, in person, the spectacular displays that the universe has to offer? It seems absolutely heartbreaking and fascinating all at the same time.

I compare it to learning about the human body -- we learn about it all through school, see the parts that humans are made of illustrated in books and even on screen. But until I went to the Body Worlds exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota and saw the minuscule hammer that bobs about in our eardrums, it just really wasn't real to me. Of course I knew about it, even knew what it looked like. But until I saw the real thing, the fragile nature of it, it just wasn't totally comprehensible. And just knowing simply that it's the real thing changed how I saw it. (I loved the Body Worlds exhibit. It was one of the most historic events I've witnessed. Just stunning.)

This is why I have such an intense desire to go into space. I want to actually feel and see outer-space for myself. In the year 2010, this is now an attainable dream thanks to Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic.

I've become a regular viewer of NASA TV and never get over the fact that I can pop open my computer and watch astronauts working on the International Space Station. I remember the first time I watched and didn't quite know what I was seeing right away. I couldn't really get my bearings, but slowly I began to see movement in the foreground and picked out an astronaut working beneath a panel, and soon, while listening to the scratchy radio communications from ground control to the astronaut, I saw the backdrop. It was Earth. I can't imagine what it must be like for an astronaut to get so involved with working on the space station, only to take a short break to stretch their shoulders and look up and see an entire planet spinning under them. I've been hooked on NASA tv ever since, and now follow several astronauts on Twitter. The future is a wonderful thing, isn't it?

Within the last couple of years, my love has grown into a bit of an obsession and it seems I don't go a day without looking up at the sky, day or night, to wonder what it's like to float in space. I would love to know the sensation of bouncing around on the moon. That may not be a realistic dream to have yet, but in the year 2010, going into space is. I wear my meteorite ring every day, but I'd like to go out and see where it came from.

I want to go into space.

Lark Toys in Kellogg, Minnesota

IN 2009 MY MINNESOTA WANDERLUST directed me to Lark Toys, located 95 miles south of Minneapolis on historic U.S. Route 61 in Kellogg, Minnesota.

After years of selling their wooden toys at craft and art fairs, Sarah and Donn Kreofsky founded the Lark Toy factory in 1983. Shortly thereafter, they opened a small store which they eventually expanded to make room for other unique toys and books, in addition to their own handcrafted wooden toys.

Unicorn prototype

Since the addition of their retail space, Lark Toys has grown into an even bigger spot for fun. There is now a toy museum, an 18-hole putt-putt course, and even a healthy dose of amusement park with a stunning one-of-a-kind carousel.

With so many items to ogle, it's difficult to pick one or two favorite elements at Lark Toys; though I was especially fond of the toy train chugging along the perimeter of the store at ceiling-height -- disappearing into tunnels and traversing various rooms. The stand-out attraction, however, is the one-of-a-kind, fully-functional carousel designed by Donn Kreofsky. According to Lark Toys' website, "In 1988, Donn began to design a carousel, 'the largest toy I could make,' he says."

For just $1, kids and adults alike are welcome to hop on a giant goldfish, chicken, otter, or even a pig (if you don't mind sharing the seat with a gnome) for a few go-arounds. Also from their website, "Over a period of nine years, Tim Monson (LARK’s head toymaker) blocked-up the wood; Bill Stark (a local artisan) carved the animals; and LARK artist Mary Eversman hand-stained them. Many visitors had the opportunity to watch the carousel in process. Finally, in 1997, it was ready to begin delighting riders from around the world."

The carousel is housed in the Lark Toys building for year-round use. It is a masterful centerpiece in a space naturally lit by large windows. There are wooden tables and chairs around the merry-go-round, too. Lark Toys has its own cafe that serves picnic fare like sandwiches, hot dogs, ice-cream, and even gourmet fudge made fresh on the spot. It's easy to spend the better half of a day here, so make time to have lunch and be merry.

WANT TO VISIT LARK TOYS? HERE are hours and directions.

Click here to see my entire Lark Toys photo set on Flickr.