Surveying the Hinterlands – pt1

posted in: Life, Travel | 0

First, I have to apologize for not writing for awhile. Two months is unsat. Back to the topic at hand… I’m currently on a seven day jaunt through Minnesota and North Dakota (the great hinterland). This will be a daily(?) log of my trials and tribulations of this trip. Part one covers from Norfolk to Rochester, MN. I had a layover in Philadelphia, PA. I encountered three employees that just shouldn’t have come into work today. They were rude and obnoxious to the passengers they were responsible for. Very unsettling.

Large Bronze entry doors to the Plummer Building at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
Mayo Clinic, bronze entry doors

Rochester, MN is a lovely city. It is the home of the Mayo Clinic. At the front of the Plummer Building, there are these two huge bronze doors. While originally intended to be main entrance doors, the doors are more symbolic now, and have only been closed a few times since the buildings construction in 1926.  My father has told me stories of my Grandmother dropping off my Grandfather for work in front of these two massive doors. A tornado devastated Rochester in 1883.  Dr. W.W. Mayo treated many of the wounded, as did his son Will.  After the trouble subsided, The elder Mayo was asked by a group of Nuns to open a hospital (St. Mary’s Hospital) and his son’s soon joined him.  The real innovation of the “Dr’s Mayo” was teamwork, a shifting from an individual doctor to a system of integrated care.

One of the pretty cool things about the Mayo is that the Mayo Clinic is connected to the hospitals via tunnels under the city.  These tunnels have stores and are pretty neat in their own right.

While I was in Rochester, I visited my mother and visited the chapel in St. Mary’s Hospital. It is beautiful. If you ever get to Rochester, you have to visit it. The chapel is very traditional looking, something completely unexpected In a hospital. Later in the day, I met up with new friends. Cousins that I hadn’t met before. They took me around the Mayo complex and we all had a good time (not to mention a fantastic meal!).

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