Heading to the Winter Carnival

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I have been bouncing around for the past week or so trying to decide if I wanted to spend what it would cost me to go to the Winter Carnival in St Paul, Minnesota.

Going to the Winter Carnival in St Paul has been one of the things I have always wanted to do and since it is a something that only occurs once a year I decided I would bite the bullet on the cost and go.

I invested most of yesterday evening and today in doing homework on the Winter Carnival in St Paul, Minnesota. I Found a nice hotel, the Hotel 340 on Cedar Street about a block and a half from Rice Park where most of the events for the Winter Carnival occur. I booked a room for February 3 thru Feb 7^th. The plan is for me to go to San Antonio and visit my sister Laura on Wednesday and Thursday and then fly to Minnesota on Feb 3^rd. Then fly back on the 8^th of February to San Antonio and visit Laura again for a day or so. Then I will either go on to Corpus Christi and the Gulf Coast or head back to the hacienda.

I got a good rate through Booking.com ($89 a night for a standard room), for a room at the Hotel 340 on Cedar Street which has an entrance for the climate controlled walkways for St Paul.

I had done some homework on getting from the airport to the Hotel and was disappointed to find out there was no train going to St Paul, just a bus. If I am correct the #54 Lmt bus picks up at the Airport terminal 1 – Lindbergh Station and will take me to downtown St Paul. About 22 to 34 minutes. The #54 bus will also go to the Mall of America in the opposite direction if I want to go there later. Of course my first necessity will be to get to downtown St Paul and secure my room so I can relax knowing that important detail is taken care of. The fare is supposed to be $1.75 and I will just pay $2.00 as no change is given. If I get a transfer ticket from the driver it is good for 2 ½ hours on any other bus.

Once I get to my hotel which has a connection to the Skyway I will probably just use it to get around. The Skyway is a climate controlled walkway, (about 5 miles worth). Most of the places I want to go to are in walking distance of my hotel which is on Cedar Street. Considering that it will be February when I get to St Paul I was much relieved to hear of the Skyway.

So that is the plan. I guess when I hit the ground at the Minneapolis/St Paul airport I will just work things out as I come to them.

Traveling somewhere I have never been before requires something of a leap of faith so here I go.

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