The Royce Files

Last time we looked at Hamm's and this time we'll look at a rival beer brewed just a few miles away from the Hamm's brewery- Schmidt. I forgot where I discovered this sign, but I think that it was on Wabasha St S in St. Paul just before it collides with Ceasar Chavez St. Note the ghost sign that this Schmidt sign covers. I think it looks like Hamm's. Schmidt was brewed out West 7th Street, not far from where I spent the earlier years of my life. The brewery is sort of a landmark these days. Some of my relatives lived in the neighborhood behind it on the Mississippi river. My father claims beer used to be stored in the caves by the river. The beer is still around but it is brewed in Wisconsin.

At long last the final installment of the bike trip I took in July. N ot sure when I awoke in the Hunter park, but I did and embarked to points north. Points north, you ask? Yes. North is not the way home, but I wanted to add more mileage and the world's tallest structure was just along the way south of Blanchard. The tough part about seeking this tower out is that it is pencil on the horizon and only a few miles removed from the 2nd tallest mast in the world. Yep. The 2nd tallest tops off at 2060. So the masts can be hard to identify especially if you don't know where Galesburg is compared to Blanchard. (answer: Galesburg is SW of Blanchard.) I snapped a few photos and road onward. Moreover, as I now discover, the KVLY mast no longer holds that distinction of tallest structure. Some skyscraper in Dubai beat the tower's 2063 feet by a little over 600 feet recently. So now it is just the tallest mast I guess. However, when I saw the tower it may have still been the tallest s...

I was at the St. Cloud Saver's just perusing the stock on hand. In particular I was looking at golf clubs when I saw a blue tent bag. I picked it up and noticed it had embroidered on it - Sierra Designs Meteor Light CD. Hmmm. I checked the price. $4.99!!!! I took it immediately. It set it up back at home and the tent proved to be a championship purchase. Nothing missing and practically new. Moosejaw has the new redesigned one for $269. I think this is one of the best deals I've had this year. It also increases my the number of tents I own. So if there are any interested campers for this fall- I've got plenty of tents to share.

Martin Luther thought the brewed beverage was a way God showed us he loves us. Not sure of the accuracy of the quote. Here's an historical account of beer which Martin Luther would have imbibed. Here's a new feature for the blog- which I think Phil would wholeheartedly approved of- Signs of Beer. I hope to use this to display some odd or unusual or other stuff pertaining to the marketing of beer. Our first installment comes from an antique store in Hastings, MN. It is a a Hamm's Beer Sign. I remember seeing plenty of these as child before the demise of Hamm's. These type of signs have become highly collectible. This one was around $800. The one next to it was even more expensive and had the ever rare moving background. Hamm's tended to use woodsy type scenery to promote the brew. There was even a Hamm's song which intoned-"From the land of sky blue waters...."

It has been about 2 weeks since I last updated you on what's happening in my part of the world. With such a full August, September should be reserved for resting. It could be a great national mandate to go to a 25 hour work week. But, alas, the government is more interested in paying for our health care which mean we need to work, and work possibly more. A State Fair post is in the future. And the long promised finale to the bike adventure should go up soon. For now enjoy what I have to say in this digest. In this digest- The Place Where Dylan Slept, BisonTurf Soccer, Melrose Place, Deal Update, Gardening. The Place Where Dylan Slept Bob probably slept many places in his journeys around the globe. Those of us in the northland know the place where he grew up was not Poughkeepsie but Hibbing, Minnesota. I last stopped in Hibbing over a decade ago and found it a decent place. Last month I had the opportunity to stop through the city on Minnesota's Iron Range a month ago. Although ...

Haven't found time to write about the last leg of the bike trip but I did manage to take in a baseball game. The Red Hawks took on the Goldeyes at Newman Outdoor Field in the Northern League Playoffs. The RedHawks didn't do so good. It was a well fought game and there was even a point where it looked like both teams would be fighting in the middle of the field. Jeremiah Piepkorn and Carlo Cota both hit solo homers but it wasn't enough to erase Winnipeg's powerful 7th inning. With a little more offense and some consistant pitching the RedHawk could have won. Eventually the Goldeyes won 7-3. On and there was a condiment race, too! Ketchup won by a whisker. It appears Hawkeye, the RedHawks' mascot has tackled mustard.