Pictures of Winona

In an attempt to keep people coming back before all the construction starts, and since a lot of you reading this have never been to Winona - or even heard of it before us - I thought I would give some insight to our fair city. These photos were taken from a place called Garvin Heights - a nice park on top of the bluffs with this amazing overlook. Of course if you were up there now, all this would be buried under a bit of snow! The lake in the foreground is man-made and the water barely visible in the back is the Mississippi. Yes, it does freeze in the winter - this shocked and amazed Jon. Even after months of winter he is still amazed at the northern sport of "ice fishing."

In the top photo you can see Highway 61 running just under the bluff - for the Dylan fans out there. Although it's difficult in these photos to see much of the city, our pub will be located closer to the Mississippi (2 blocks away) and off to the right in the bottom photo. It's a city with a lot of history and its fair share of oddities. Apparently Winona is considered to be the "stained glass capital of the US." I never knew ....

This area was originally called "Wapasha's Prairie" after the Dakota Sioux Chief Wapasha. The city was founded in 1851 by a riverboat captain who named the settlement Montezuma. Later the name was changed to Winona, which is derived from the Dakota Indian word We-No-Nah (eldest daughter). Legend says that We-No-Nah jumped to her death from the bluffs above Winona when she was told she could not marry the brave she loved.

What you can't tell from these photos is the beauty of the bluffs we're standing on when we took these pictures. Bluffs are akin to the foothills in East Tennessee, but carved by the Mississippi River and create the river valley Winona sits in. Heading north on Highway 61 is one of the most beautiful drives I've seen. It's also not unusual to see eagles flying near the river - they are beautiful to see in the wild.

Here are some websites to check out if you want more info:
http://www.rhometown.com/about/about.cfm?city_id=CI00001276
Visitors and Convention Bureau: www.visitwinona.com

A family link to Titanic

You may ask "Why an Irish Pub?" One reason is my family's Irish roots.
At right is a picture of my great (step) grandmother Bertha Noon. She boarded the Titanic at Queenstown, Ireland (now known as Cobh just outside Cork). Although she was sailing third class, she did survive the sinking. The story I've always been told is that she was one of the last passengers off the ship. Apparently she was urged by a clergyman on the deck to jump over the side into a life boat that was already being lowered into the Atlantic, which she did. She landed hard on her back and suffered serious pain for the rest of her life. She was returning to Rhode Island after visiting family in Ireland. (Incidentally, she sailed to Ireland on the Lusitania.)

I've seen the Titanic exhibit twice now, once when it was originally shown in London and again in Memphis. Both times I was able to find her name on the passenger list. I have also seen her name listed on display at the Cobh Heritage Center about 200 yards from the dock passengers disembarked from. Though now derelict and unusable, it is still standing. Because she sailed before she was married, she is listed in both places as Bertha Mulvihill.

The History Channel is showing a program called "Titanic's Final Moments" on Sunday, February 26. If you miss the program, there is also information on their website - I've posted a link in the Links section of this blog.

For more information on Bertha Mulvihill:
http://library.thinkquest.org/C0119483/bertha.htm http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/biography/1052/

For information on Titanic places in Cobh:
http://www.titanic-trail.com/index.htm
http://www.cobhheritage.com/

Special Thanks to my father who confirmed some of this information and found additional links.

Keeping our eyes on the prize

It has been kind of a big week here in Winona - One of the bars I used to work at has closed its doors and auctioned off all its belongings. It was sort of surreal to be standing among hundreds of people bidding on lights I turned on every morning. We didn't buy anything, but it was a good look into what we will eventually be paying for things.

That all said, we are in talks with the bank - they have read my business plan and apparently liked it. I'm not sure why I'm surprised, I've only been working on it for over a year. And of course, I wasn't completely satisfied with it ... but sometimes you just have to let go!

So, now we are still working on buying the building (rather than leasing it) which presents its own set of hoops to jump through. I've never purchased anything in my life more substantial than a pair of leather boots, no house, not really even a car. So, a building with apartments makes us not only property owners but landlords as well. As if opening a bar wasn't enough to deal with - at least we will eventually be able to move out of mom's basement.

Our big challege right now is fundraising - always a fun activity. So if you know anyone that is interested ...

The bar is coming along nicely. For those of you unaware, my step father is building it out of mahogany he has in his shop. It's really beautiful - I'll try to post some photos from our last work session. It's been a labor of love, and we just hope that translates well into the finished product. I don't know how it couldn't.

Off to get things ready for what I'm sure will be another busy and hopefully productive week. So until next time, take care and remember, life is too short to drink crappy beer.