September 4 (THE MAGIC DAY)

OMG!!!  70!?!?

[Saved by . . . ]

An unplanned, great part of the trip was throughout the whole 3-day weekend, the Sirius XM Beatles channel played the Top 100 Beatles songs, as determined by a fan vote.  So, whenever we were on the road, the Super and I enjoyed the playing of the 100, several times over:

Beatles Countdown 1. A Day In The Life 2. In My Life 3. Hey Jude 4. Abbey Road Melody 5. While My Guitar Gently Weeps 6. Here Comes The Sun 7. Strawberry Fields Forever 8. Something 9. Let It Be 10. Yesterday 11. Eleanor Rigby 12. Blackbird 13. Hey Bulldog 14. I Am The Walrus 15. Norwegian Wood 16. Across The Universe 17. Here, There And Everywhere 18. Penny Lane 19. Dear Prudence 20. Sgt. Pepper’s… 21. I Saw Her Standing There 22. Help! 23. Tomorrow Never Knows 24. Nowhere Man 25. All You Need Is Love 26. Revolution 27. Don’t Let Me Down 28. If I Fell 29. The Long And Winding Road 30. A Hard Day’s Night 31. Rain 32. All My Loving 33. Come Together 34. For No One 35. Get Back 36. You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away 37. Ticket To Ride 38. I Want To Hold Your Hand 39. And Your Bird Can Sing 40. And I Love Her 41. Day Tripper 42. I’ve Just Seen A Face 43. Paperback Writer 44. Oh! Darling 45. She Loves You 46. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 47. Two Of Us 48. Eight Days A Wheel 49. Twist and Shout 50. Heater Skelter 51. We Can Work It Out 52. I Feel Fine 53. I Want You (She’s So Heavy) 54. This Boy 55. Back in the USSR 56. Hello, Goodbye 57. Things We Said Today 58. I Will 59. You’re Going to Lose That Girl 60. When I’m Sixty-Four 61. The Night Before 62. The Fool on the Hill 63. I Should Have Known Better 64. You Never Give Me Your Money 65. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da 66. Got to Get You Into My Life 67. Taxman 68. Within You Without You 69. Do You Want to Know a Secret 70. Can’t Buy Me Love 71. Please Please Me 72. Michelle 73. Girl 74. Ballad of John and Yoko 75. Drive My Car 76. Lady Madonna 77. You Can’t Do That 78. Yellow Submarine 79. Birthday 80. I’m Happy Just to Dance With You 81. Octopus’s Garden 82. Good Day Sunshine 83. You Won’t See Me 84. Anna (Go To Him) 85. Magical Mystery Tour 86. P.S. I Love You 87. I’m A Loser 88. From Me To You 89. Love Me Do 90. Happiness Is A Warm Gun 91. Please Mister Postman 92. She’s A Woman 93. Roll Over Beethoven 94. You Really Got A Hold On Me 95. I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party 96. She’s Leaving Home 97. I’m Only Sleeping 98. Rock And Roll Music 99. Thank You Girl 100. Boys

The planned, ungreat part of the trip is that I thought when I got home I’d do a selfie holding my unwrapped, still totally cellophaned, Beatles LP, “The White Album.”  But I couldn’t find it – lost in the ether after 40+ years?  It’s probably worth $2 – 3 million by now!!

[We had morning time in New Ulm – it was a short drive to Glencoe, our next destination.]

[An older gentleman (look who’s saying “older”) passed by as I was taking the photo.  He said I should have seen the place in its heyday.  I said if only I had that capability . . . ]

[The place did have a rathskeller!]

[Some sort of government building . . . ]

[Yup, that’s what it was . . . ]

[My guess, at one time the high school, or the combined junior and senior highs.]

[On the middle school boulevard . . . ]

[And now going up the hill to visit Hermann the German . . . ]

[There he is, in all his splendor.  We had stopped by the previous day on our way into town, but half the population of Germany was there.  We were first visitors this time on an early holiday morning . . . ]

[The last time we were here, he had just completed a major makeover – kinda like Big Ole in Alex.]

[Nice overlook of the city . . . ]

[More historic buildings . . . ]

[And back at the German mall – no shopping desired by the Super?]

[And this is the historical society museum – cool building!]

[No doubt containing Wally Pickle and the Dill Pickles and Whoopee John Wilfahrt . . . ]

[Hermann from a different angle . . . ]

[We’re heading to the high school . . . ]

[Brand, spanking new as of 2016 . . . ]

[Cathedral of the Holy Trinity from afar . . . ]

[Where “Weakie” went to school . . .  yeah, I thought the same thing, the school looks too new!]

[Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, close up . . . ]

[Apparently there are two sheets of ice in here . . . ]

[One of them Olympic size.]

[I thought it looked like an old football stadium.  Upon further review, I’m pretty sure gladiators fought here.]

[On the road out of town heading to Glencoe . . . ]

[Not really sure . . . ]

[Lafayette, we are here!  Population 504.]

[Population 1,399]

[From the beginning, the final destination for my birthday lunch . . . ]

[“The Bumpster” is 2nd from the left and the founder of Bump’s.  He always said the Fat Boys had to go to Glencoe someday for a Bump Burger. So, I did.  The restaurant is now run by his daughter and son-in-law, and in statewide voting by a Minneapolis TV station, its beef commerical was voted best in the state.]

[The award-winning beef commercial, borrowed from Yelp . . . ]

[We stopped in town for directions and were told the place is always packed.  It was.]

[The Super made me do it . . . ]

[The Super also decided I should have a Bump’s caramel roll for my birthday cake . . . ]

[And the Bump Burger, worthy of its pre-game buildup!]

[It was a half-pounder, so we split it . . . ]

[And from the exterior, just off Highway 212 . . . ]

[Good-bye, Glencoe . . . ]

[And then on the road for home, with all the places betwixt and between . . . ]

[Population 14,178]

[Hometown of Alexandria’s internationally-renowned, Deb Trumm . . . ]

[Population 2,432]

[Brooten has an airport?]

[Next stop – Alexandria . . . ]

If you survive long enough, you’re revered – rather like an old building.  ~  Katherine Hepburn

Up Next: The aftermath . . .