Saturday, July 22, 2023
It was gentlemen’s weekend, or by another name, a bachelor party. The last of the guys, Erick, is getting married in September and the guys gathered for a day of togetherness. They started by playing golf. Only three of five of them actually play golf, so it was two golfers playing worst ball against the other three playing best ball. Team best ball won by 10 strokes. They came here and had a bit of practice craps on the table before a rib lunch. Then they headed to Iowa to shoot craps. Yes, Iowa. You can’t shoot craps in Minnesota. Apparently, the shooting was the worst worst worst ever. Benjamin watched a man lose $16,000 in 20 minutes. No one could believe how many losing shooters there were in a row – and then the table was empty. They played a little Blackjack. Erick’s dad was up $600 playing slots in the first 4 minutes. He donated half back to the casino. They were home much earlier than I expected.
Meanwhile, Keith and I went to see Forshay! the musical. I saw an ad for it on Facebook last week and it made me laugh. A small theater company in Inver Grove Heights was putting on a musical based the life of Wilber Burton Foshay – the guy who built the eponymous tower in Minneapolis. All I knew about him or it was that it opened on September 1, 1929. I just kept thinking someone in Inver Grove said, “Let’s put on a show!” and Forshay! was born. I had to get tickets.
It was good! So much better than last night’s show! All of the cast were strong singers and good actors. Some of the tunes were a bit repetitive with their lyrics and the whole show could have been trimmed down a bit, but overall, quite a good time. And I learned all about Mr. Foshay. The Foshay Tower (now a hotel) was open during the Open Doors Minnesota and now I wished we had gone. Visiting it is now on my to do list.
Let us know if your visit includes the Prohibition Bar that used to be, and maybe still is, on the 27th floor. We went to the Living Room lounge on the bottom once and liked it a lot, but didn’t have time to go up to the bar. Then COVID happened and shut it down. I hope it’s still in business–great name for a bar. Mr. Foshay must have been an interesting character.
The play told us that he was very much in support of paying people good wages and that he supported unions. He was the ultimate optimist and believed everything would turn out well.
I looked up the Prohibition Bar – still on the 27th floor. I am intrigued. I don’t know when we will get there, but I have it in my mind now