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Thursday, August 19, 2010

Visiting Our Old Haunts

Yesterday was a good day.  It was our first full day in MN, and Hans and I decided it would be a good time to go to visit our old colleges, St. Ben's and St. John's.  The thought was 1) We could get some brats and enjoy them with the whole family on Friday, and 2) If we didn't get everything done that we wanted we could always return next week.  So, we left around 10:00 am (ok, so 10:30).

Our first stop was the new cafeteria.  Hans and I both worked in the old cafeteria, and the new one was built our senior year, but wasn't finished until after we were gone.  The new one is beautiful.  Plus, added bonus, most of the cafeteria ladies are still there.  It was wonderful visiting old friends.  Not to mention, it was so heart-warming to have all the old foods I used to eat.  Cafeteria food is sometimes good and sometimes terrible.  Yesterday, I had a little of both.  Sorry, though, I forgot I had my camera, so there aren't any pictures to document this part of the trip.

After we ate and chatted with the caf ladies, we decided to head on over to the Benedicta Arts Center (BAC), which is where we spent the majority of our time in college...Hans as a theater major and me as a music major.  We were hoping to visit some old professors, but we hadn't let them know we were coming, and apparently they were all in faculty workshops.  C'est la vie!  I did avoid going to the practice rooms.  I spent way too much time in college in those, and I didn't have much of a desire to return (not this time anyway).

Since we couldn't find any teachers at St. Ben's, we drove on over to St. Johns and headed straight for the music building (the SBH).  It was pretty much a ghost town.  Lights were off, nobody was there.  We went up to the second floor and heard some kid practicing piano.  Then, we looked down the hallway, and who should we see but my old voice teacher, Axel Theimer.  Axel can be quite intimidating when he wants to be, but it was great seeing him.  He even came down to the car to see Cody.  Plus, he told me that Mens' Chorus would probably be coming to Richmond this year!  HURRAY!!!  I'll post the dates as soon as I have them, but I encourage anyone who can come to come.  They're a truly amazing vocal group.  Again, though, no picutres. :(

We then headed on over to the Abbey Church, which is where we were married.  I finally remembered I had a camera!




This is just a fraction of the window in the Abbey Church.  The picture isn't great, but you get the idea.  The big black thing in the center is the balcony.

It was nice spending some time in the church we were married in.  I've always loved how quiet and peaceful the Abbey Church can be.  Still, though, we had a lot of other things to visit.  Next stop, the Great Hall!

The Great Hall was the original church at St. John's.  Now, it is where most of the choral concerts are held.  The acoustics are great, and the art work is better.  I have lots of great memories of the Great Hall.

Isn't it beautiful?

Next, it was on the Refectory just to see the changes.  They've made quite a few changes, but it's still not as awesome as the Caf.  The most exciting thing was that they were doing work on the elevator.  Hans and I got to see the elevator shaft!
Awesome!

We then went to the bookstore and bought some Johnnie Bread and some mix for Blazer Bread...both absolutely amazing.  However, as much as I would have loved to have stayed and explored some more, it was getting late and we had to go.

Before we left town, though, we stopped back in St. Joe.  Our one mission for this trip was to acquire some brats.  We loaded a cooler with about 50 packages of brats!  Is it sad I don't think we got enough?

Now that's a lot of brats!

We also stopped at the Barnes and Noble I used to study at all the time, and we briefly visited the mall, just to see any changes.  We were smart, though, and didn't take our wallets in.  No money was spent!

After that, it really was time to leave.  We were tired!  We finally arrived home shortly after 8:00, had dinner at 9:00 and were in bed by 11:00.  Good times!


A view of the Sacred Heart Chapel from the Highway.  Oh, what a familiar sight!

I'm still not certain if we'll return next week.  I'd kind of like to, but students will be on campus next week, and it won't be nearly as quiet.  I guess we'll just see how it fits in our schedule.  I'm also wondering if we could fit another cooler in our car and get more brats.  Hmmmm.

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