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Connecting people, animals and the natural world to save wildlife!
You can provide a meaningful gift that also supports your Minnesota Zoo.
Be a Force for Nature and Support the Minnesota Zoo
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Como Park Zoo & Conservatory: The Holiday Flower Show Opens – St. Paul, MN
Each year, Ice Castles brings fairy tales to life for hundreds of thousands of families across North America. Our goal is to make people smile.
Ice Castles is an award-winning frozen attraction. The experience is built using hundreds of thousands of icicles hand-placed by professional ice artists. The castles include breathtaking LED-lit sculptures, frozen thrones, ice-carved tunnels, slides, fountains and much more.
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Since 2011, Ice Castles has been dedicated to creating an experience that will live on long after the ice melts. For all who enter through our icicle-adorned archways, we hope the time spent at Ice Castles is a source of joy and inspiration.
Bringing joy to others has been our mission since the company’s inception. Founder, Brent Christensen, crafted his first icy creation in the front yard of his home to bring happiness and joy to his children. After moving from sunny California to snowy Utah, Christensen did what any father of six stir-crazy kids with cabin fever would do. He built an ice cave in his yard to get his kids out of the house. His stroke of genius worked!
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Littlearth Unisex-Adult NHL Minnesota Wild Plaid Crinkle Scarf, Team Color
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His icy invention wasn’t just a hit with his own children. Kids from all over the neighborhood – and eventually from all across town — got wind of his creation, bundled up, and headed outside to play at Christensen’s wintry wonderland. The kids affectionately called this winter playground an “ice castle”. And that is exactly what it is today.
Although Ice Castles has grown significantly since then, our mission remains the same – to create happiness, laughter, and unforgettable winter memories.
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Opening January 2022
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Free parking is available throughout Long Lake Regional Park. Parking directly adjacent to Ice Castles is limited. Guests will be directed to nearest available parking by Ice Castles event staff. During peak hours a complimentary shuttle will run from all available Ice Castles parking lots in Long Lake Regional Park.
Fashions’s Ever-Growing Obsession with Skiing Shows No Sign of Slowing Down
People don’t visit Minnesota to eat “spam”, but when they find fresh Sushi, they devour it like locals!
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There are ninety-nine different ways to write “sushi” in the Japanese script of kanji. Each with its own unique interpretation and meaning. It was with great deliberation that our founder, Billy, chose 寿司 to best represent his personal interpretation of the word – Celebration of Fish!
That’s exactly how Billy feels about the art of making sushi and the atmosphere that surrounds it – it should be a celebration! Which is why Billy Sushi is more than just a restaurant, it is an experience for anyone who allows themselves to take part.
A three-ring performance of sorts – sushi bar, sake bar and dining room – brought to life by the performances of sushi chefs, bartenders and servers. And the Ring Master and your host, Billy.
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A national-renowned sushi chef in his own right, Billy was a Global Sushi Challenge contender two years running, representing the U.S. as one of the nine best sushi chefs in America.
Most likely Minnesota’s only Mongolian-born, Russian-Influenced, Japanese-trained restaurateur, Billy is the founder of Sushi Fix, the metro’s first sushi food truck which eventually evolved into a brick and mortar location in downtown Wayzata.
Billy went on to open a Mexican restaurant as well as start a poke burrito food truck that also evolved into a downtown Minneapolis location. But his “Sushi a-BILLY-Te” eventually led him back to his roots and the North Loop.
If Billy is here when you visit, and he usually is, you’ll know it. His love of life and people will be obvious as he greets guests at the door, table hops, and laughs his way into your hearts.
The dome of the Minnesota State Capitol building in St. Paul, designed by Cass Gilbert. It is the second largest self-supported marble dome in the world, behind Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome on which Gilbert based his design.The dome electrolier is lit every Statehood Day on May 11 when Minnesota became the 32nd state in the union (May 11, 1858).
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Built: 1896–1905
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Inspired by the Beaux-Arts architecture of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, architect Cass Gilbert was determined to design a building in the classical style, but with all the modern conveniences of the time. The stunning result is a towering white marble dome, fluted columns, graceful arches and commanding statuary.
The current state Capitol building has been the center of Minnesota’s government since 1905. To construct a building of this scale was an ambitious undertaking for Minnesota, which had only become a state in 1858.
Construction of the current Capitol began on May 6, 1896 and was led by architect Cass Gilbert, who would go on to design the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington D.C. After nine years and a cost of $4.5 million, the Renaissance Revival-style building opened to the public on Jan. 2, 1905.
The exterior of the State Capitol is made of white Georgia marble and St. Cloud granite. Six marble statues above the main entrance greet visitors. Daniel Chester French collaborated with Edward Potter to create the golden sculpture group at the base of the dome titled “The Progress of the State,” commonly referred to as the Quadriga. The copper sculpture, like the ball on top of the dome, is covered with gold leaf. Below the Quadriga are six colossal figures representing “the Virtues” sculpted in white marble from designs by French (actually, the statues in place today are replicas carved in 1975-79 to replace the deteriorating originals). Twelve stone eagles stand guard around the dome, and the exterior is enlivened by classical wreaths, plaques, and a rich variety of carvings.
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An American Renaissance: Beaux-Arts Architecture
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Cass Gilbert’s design echoes a famous marble-dome building — the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican, designed by Michelangelo more than 350 years earlier. The dome has three layers:
The gleaming gold sculpture is the Quadriga, the Latin word for a four-horse chariot. It was designed by Daniel Chester French and Edward C. Potter, and it is made of sheets of gilded copper hammered around a steel frame.
Six heroic-sized “Virtues” — classical figures representing Courage, Bounty, Integrity, Prudence, Truth, and Wisdom — are below the Quadriga, sculpted in marble from designs by Daniel Chester French.
Cass Gilbert insisted on using Georgia white marble, saying that the use of a darker color would make it look “glooming and forbidding.” Gilbert won out over those who objected that Minnesotans would lose stone-cutting and carving jobs if stone from out-of-state was used. As a compromise, the general contractor, Butler-Ryan Co., leased the Georgia quarry and shipped the rough-cut marble to St. Paul to allow local craftsmen to do the work on-site. He also specified Minnesota-quarried granite for the ground floor level, steps, and terraces, and sandstone and limestone for the foundation and interior walls to fully represent the various stones from the state.
The Capitol is more than 430 feet long, from east to west. From ground level to the top of the dome’s lantern measures 220 feet — about the height of a 20-story building. Inside, the building has more than 300,000 square feet of floor space, or about 5 million cubic feet of space.
The stunning building quickly drew acclaim from around the country. Architects and artists praised its exterior, its huge marble dome, its self-supporting stairways and its magnificently decorated interior.
When the new Capitol opened, all the executive offices and the three branches of state government, state agencies and commissions, and the Minnesota Historical Society were located in the building. But as government needs expanded, state agencies and commissions, and over half of the executive offices moved out. The building evolved as well. Although the main public spaces were left mostly intact, remodeling and enlargement of offices and meeting rooms, renovation of chambers and partitioning corridors began occurring as early as the 1930s.
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Minnesota Historical Society
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155
statecapitol@mnhs.org
Orchestra Hall – Friday Dec 31, 2021 – Saturday Jan 1, 2022
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The 8 Hottest New Restaurants in Minneapolis and St. Paul Right Now
