St Paul Undressed

Alexander Ramsey House

Make a call on Anna Ramsey, wife of the first territorial governor, at St. Paul’s Ramsey House. Guides dressed as her servants may even surprise you with a tour of the Victorian home and some fresh cookies. Enjoy a glimpse into family and servant life in the 1870s. One of the nation’s best preserved Victorian-era homes, the Ramsey House features carved walnut woodwork, marble fireplaces, crystal chandeliers and many original furnishings. Pick up Victorian-era souvenirs in the Carriage House gift shop.

The holiday programs and tours are a lot of fun.  See upcoming events.

Virtual Pumpkin Carving Contest

No one knows why, but every year I hold a virtual pumpkin carving contest on the St. Paul Real Estate Blog. Stop by and look it over. Vote for your favorite pumpkin. The entry above is from the undressed network of local consumer blogs.

Halloween

My husband decorates for every holiday, well at least the outside of the house.  He hangs decorations from the porch ceiling, the kids that stop by for Halloween love it.  The ghosts and goblins disappear shortly after Halloween.   He takes one decoration and hides it somewhere in the house.  One year it was a bat in the fridge, another year is was a ghost in my shower.  I expect it every year but he always catches me off guard.  Just one of those strange holiday traditions at the Boardman house.

A Quiet River

The Mississippi River near downtown is almost never this quiet. With wind, boat traffic and current, it is rare that it looks smooth. Last night it was quiet and I happened to notice. I grabbed my camera hoping to get a few quick shots. There were a lot of other people who had the same idea.

I crossed the Wabasha bridge and there were three people with camera’s taking pictures. I took the pictures from Harriet Island and took the Smith Avenue bridge home. There were two people on the bridge with camera’s. I wonder is they all have blogs?

Halloween Houses

This is a Tudor, one of my favorite Architectural styles. I have not been in this house but I know on the inside I will find a brick fire place and the opening will be round or curved instead of square, and it will have a window on each side of it. The design dates back to medieval times. We have a lot of these in St. Paul, particularly in the Mac Groveland and Highland Park neighborhoods.

There is a block near Highland Park golf course where there are a lot of Halloween decorations. Nice to see especially on a beautiful fall day.

Undressing Flowers

Found at the St. Paul Farmers Market.  The are celebrating their 150th anniversary this year.  I go there too often but then I do have a listing on the next block.  These  flowers are for Sarah.

House of Hope

This isn’t the whole thing, just the steeple on the top of the House of Hope Presbyterian church on Summit Avenue. I like to take pictures of churches and I have several that show the entire church. I have to say the best way to see these churches is to visit St. Paul, MN. If you visit and want to stay I can probably find you a home. We do have many on the market.

Pleasant Street

Most every town has a Pleasant Street. These maple trees are on Pleasant near Grand Avenue. They really are pleasant.

Clouds

We had a serious drought in the twin cities this summer, but in the last month we have gotten enough rain to make up for it. In the last two weeks there has only been one sunny day. It was supposed to be sunny yesterday and I got all excited about it. As I was driving through the gloom the announcer on the radio said that the forecast had been revised and that there was a 100% chance of rain. That was yesterday and it is still raining, like it will be tomorrow. We Minnesotans are tough bunch. We have dealt with the flash flooding and the slow rush hours. Now we just want to know what a cubit is so we can plan for the future.

The pictures are of Downtown St. paul and the Mississippi River taken from the east river bluff, also known as Dayton’ bluff.

Horse

I post this so that the Issaquah bloggers can see that their’s is not the only town with metal sculptures of horses. I would venture to guess that St. Paul has nicer horse sculptures than Issaquah does but I don’t want to start something here. I could be voted off the island.