Yet another person who loves the Mississippi River so much that he lives to share it is Cory Parkos. As a kid growing up in Columbia Heights, Minnesota Cory was drawn to the nearby Mississippi. “Whenever we had free time we’d hop on our bikes and go canoeing and fishing. The River has great energy…
Staying Afloat through the Ups and Downs of 2020
What’s Next? Last year Capt. Gus Gaspardo struggled to keep his tour boat business afloat through a season with record flooding, including three crests. About the time the flood forecasts for this season began to look promising, the COVID-19 pandemic began its surge. Gus operates Padelford Riverboats on Harriet Island, across the Mississippi from downtown…
The Birth of a Museum
Probably few of us ever pause to consider that the people who start museums and the buildings that house them often have their own interesting histories. I learned this lesson last October when I visited the Red Wing Marine Museum with two of the men who created it out of a pure passion for a…
A Tale of Two Showboats
Two iterations of the University of Minnesota Centennial Showboat served as icons on the Twin Cities riverfront. The first was moored in Minneapolis along the river flats below the main campus of the University of Minnesota. Years later, the second was docked directly across the Mississippi River from downtown St. Paul. Then on September 16,…
Flood Stories: Spring Flood of 2019 – Twin Cities
The New, New Normal? By about the third or fourth deep, wet snowstorm in late February and early March, St. Paul river rats began to speak in hushed tones about high water in spring. Even before the ice was off the river here in St. Paul, local river folk were witnessing the terrible flooding on…