Mayo Clinic

Rain began falling last night about 6 pm and continued all night.  The rain was so heavy at times and the wind was blowing so strong that had the tornado sirens gone off we probably wouldn't have heard them.  The news has reported about 2 inches or rain overnight, with more in outlying areas.  Evidently there was a very close lighting strike about 5:30 this morning, because the neighbors said their motorhome lit up like the lights were on.  Somehow, Donna and I didn't hear a thing…..

The tornado shelter is at the local airport, a short distance away, but I doubt that we would have time to get up, get dressed, and find the airport in time.  We'll hope for the best.  Weather reports show improving weather over the next day or so, but this is the midwest, so who knows?

The clouds over the rv park this morning were awesome.

Another brief but heavy downpour came through about 11, so after it cleared up we decided to go into town and check it out.

The Mayo Clinic is one of the main reasons for the existence of Rochester.  The Mayo brothers were asked by a Catholic Sister to help after a tornado went through, and never left.  The first Mayo Clinic building was built in 1927, and is on the National Registry of Historic Places.

Complete with gargoyles on top, and intricate brick work, the building is a great example of early twentieth century building techniques. In the photo above, notice the corners of the building that appear to be "twirly" columns; they are made of brick and must of required years of labor.

The building was locked as it is now used as an office building, but we were able to get a few photos of the entry through the ornate copper-clad doors.

This is a shot of the ceiling in the entryway.  Pretty nice for a hospital!

We knew that the campus would be minimally staffed on a holiday, but decided to walk around and see what we could.

Our introduction to the Clinic was the parking garage.

A 10 story structure with a glass facade, it covers most of a city block. Directly across the street is the main entrance to the Gonda Building.

And the main entrance to the Mayo Clinic.

The building is some 20 stories tall, with multiple floors below ground level. Due to the harsh weather in winter, all the buildings on campus are interconnected both below ground and with skyways over the surrounding streets.

It also has a large covered patient loading and unloading area.

There are two complete hospitals on campus, St Mary's, and Methodist, each specializing in different types of care.

The center of campus is noted by a nicely landscaped park with sculptures and water features.

And on one side of the square, flags honor our country, the state of Minnesota, and the city of Rochester.

Down the block we found University Square shopping mall.

Our first stop was at Mac's for alfresco dining.  Orders of gyros, patty melts with strawberry shakes, and Chili Cheeseburgers satisfied all of us!

Most of the stores in the mall were closed for the holiday, so we took the skyway to an adjacent Barnes and Noble Bookstore that is housed in the old Chateau movie theater.  Nicely remodeled, the second floor retains the flavor of Saturday Movies!

As we approach the end of our stay in Rochester, MN, we reflect on the highlights of our stay.  The arrival of our friends and traveling companions is at the top, the rain just about every day is on the list also, but a bit farther down! We've passed the half-way point of our summer trip, so we're a bit sad about that, but we still have lots to see, and can't wait to peek around the next bend in the road.

Hopefully, you'll join us!