February Thaw, Stillwater

On Valentine's Day, we spent the afternoon in Stillwater shopping, eating, walking around outside. It was in the 40s, and a store owner at the mall was hosing down his wooden deck behind the store, while someone in a bathing suit jogged by.

Minnesota, you have to live it to believe it.

People and Places, Stillwater, Valentine's Day 2011

Jody is with ethel's dress shop in the Grand Garage mall.

Owner, with his family, of Reve 324 bistro. We had sandwiches and a modest but spunky Grenache wine. Excellent, recommended.

Cecilia, proprietor of Chestnut Street Books.

I spent $60 without getting past the first shelf by the door!

Anastasia. The lost daughter of the Czar? Or simply a great paddlewheeler frozen in the St. Croix River.

Scenes from Stillwater, Valentine's Day

Paddlewheelers icebound for the winter.

Memorial to the pony express?

Clerk in the cookware store with her unique glasses.

Facades downtown.

Valentine's Day in Stillwater

The owner of Reve 324, a new bistro in Stillwater, and a photo of their Valentine's Day cheesecake special. Check it out.

Happy Accident

This is our breakfront. The Ansel Adams poster came from a thrift store. The poster is advertising something called "The Mural Project" -- a series of extraordinary photos of major National Parks views done by Adams, probably in the '50s. A few weeks after finding the poster, we were in Stillwater, 30 miles away, and came across the first edition of the book "The Mural Project" in Chestnut Street Books. Happy accident.