10/03/03’s illustrious band:

Park & Writhe

Brought to you by downtown St. Paul.

I ventured into downtown St. Paul this afternoon to pick up my race packet. I'm entered in the 10-mile event connected with the Twin Cities Marathon, both of which will be run on Sunday. Or, in my case, both run and walked.

So first I had to make sure I was heading to the correct large arena-type venue; I made it all the way to St. Paul before realizing I wasn't sure whether I needed to be there or in downtown Minneapolis. This required a phone call back to the office, where El Queso Grande graciously looked it up for me. I was in the right town. So far, so good.

As I was pulling into the parking ramp across from the hockey shrine, I saw the sign that demanded $10 just for entry. Whoa! I had $2 and some pennies. I had to 'fess up to the attendant, who allowed me to turn around and go right back out, despite signage to the contrary. Again, a lucky break.

Well, that's where my luck ran out. I don't get to the downtowns much, so I don't know where the ATMs are. I drove a few blocks and pulled over, figuring I'd have a better chance on foot. (Since it was just after 4:30, I didn't have to plug the parking meter, so I suppose that was lucky, too, given my lack of change.) One of the first stores I passed was a non-chain coffee shop that had an ATM right in the front window. What luck!

It turned out to be bad luck; the machine wasn't working. However, I got a fantastic oatmeal cookie just when I needed it most, so I guess that's OK. The coffee shop lady directed me to a nearby convenience store.

Convenience stores aren't quite as convenient in downtown StP as they are in the suburbs, I'm sorry to say. For one thing, the twisting one-way streets don't lead right to them. You have to go around a few blocks. But finally I found the store and went in . . . where the ATM rejected my card. "Your transaction is not available at this time."

So it was off to the next C-store, across the bridge. But that ATM rejected my card, too. It was turning out to be a rather rotten afternoon . . . until I realized I'd been swiping the wrong card, which explained the problem at the first store. Lucky I saw that, or I might have tried to check out a library book with my Visa.

Exiting the C-store in heavy traffic was a tricky affair, made simpler by the fact that only right turns were allowed. I, of course, wanted to go left. But what the heck. Up the hill, across two lanes, and a Burger King turnaround later, I was back on track. A few more one-way streets and I was back in the shadow of the hockey temple.

It was only then that I noticed another parking ramp right next to the $10-or-die ramp. This one offered hourly rates, so after waiting 5 minutes to make yet another left turn, I finally got in. Parked, made it across the street to race HQ, picked up my materials, and was back in the car in about 23 minutes flat. Which was lucky, because it took me a full 5 minutes just to wend my way down and around and down and around and down and around and finally OUT of the parking structure.

Total charge for 28 minutes of parking: $1. Had I noticed the alternative ramp first, I could have accomplished my mission in a quarter of the time. Luckily, I still had plenty of time to get home before my friends arrived to meet me for dinner. And I needed every minute of it, because if you think parking in downtown St. Paul is tough, you should try getting out.

The 10-mile run will be a piece of cake after this. Wish me luck!

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