Social Ice....

[ctom]

Here in Rochester, home to the Mayo Clinic, there is always something going on. In the summer we have Irish Fest and Rochester Fest and the Med-City Marathon. Right about now in the calendar year we have Winter Fest which has been rolling right along with the Polar Plunge and Ice fishing Derby for kids. Tonight is the opening of Social Ice....an outdoor extravaganza for the boozers of the community to enjoy their beverage of choice at one of, or all of, the six different bars carved completely out of ice. Some of these will have chutes to pour the booze down and into your glass to super chill it and just about everything will have lighting right in the blocks of ice used. There is also an ice sculpture contest. Carole and I are headed that way to look at the ice sculptures this afternoon before the drunks get slopping around. It doesn't take long for the bozos to show up.

I'm planning to take the camera and hope to get a pic or two if anything appears outstanding. The temps are supposed to be up in the lower 40's this afternoon and staying above freezing for the rest of the week into the weekend so its likely to be getting sloppy where this is held. I'll see what I can get for pictures. A couple of the bars last year were absolute knock-outs for lighting and color. And those bar tending babes aren't bad either most of the time....at least now their tats and body piercings are covered. lol

[ctom]

Here's proof that Carole and I went to see the ice sculptures. Just a wee bit disappointed in them this year, fewer hat other years. It was a fun walk in the 40+ degrees even with the wind humming along at about 90 miles an hour. For those who are not aware of it, Rochester's downtown in and around the Mayo Clinic building is windier than downtown Chicago on the list of the Us  top 10 windy cities.



Here's the Incredible Hulk. That building that is all glass is one of the many buildings that make up the Mayo Clinic Complex. This is the Gonda Building and it takes up well over a square city. The Hulk is 10 feet tall.

 

Here are some cartoon characters from the Snoopy Comic strip.



Here's Carole once again with Babe the Blue Ox this time. Paul was a disappointment so he got left out of the picture.

[ctom]

Here's Carole with a dragon caricature done for a Chinese diner and bar. The picture doesn't do the artwork in this animal justice. It was my favorite carving. The gray building to the left of Carole is another Mayo building, the Plummer building. This building is a full block deep and two full blocks long. The main entry to this building has a pair of solid bronze doors which have been closed of 5 times since it was built.



And finally here's a happy-go-lucky crowd from Chester's Kitchen and Bar. As You can see they're having a ball in the Wizard of Oz garb. Chester's has some of the best eats in Rochester's downtown area. This vendor didn't have a whole lot of ice carved this year. The backdrop was carved as were the two bar pedestals. The bar tops are solid ice too.



Everything in this is ice and as we walked thru the different displays we couldn't help but feel bad for the hard work that went into the sculpturing and the ice themed bars as the drops of melt water fell from them. The temp as we walked thru was at 42 degrees with a 30-40 mph wind and its not expected to get under the freezing mark tonight. Many of these will be done by night's end. I'm glad we went while this were still nice. Its not quite 530 right now and if we were to go back we'd have to park a mile away and taking a picture would be near impossible. Try to imagine 5,000 people sucking up suds in two city blocks. Its mayhem that just gets crazier as the evening goes on. The music will get cranked at 7 and then its a mad house.

[Kasilofchrisn]

A few years back we went to the world championship ice carving in Fairbanks.
WOW those guys up there are good.
The world's best carvers show up for that one.
It's amazing what these carvers can do in ice isn't it!
Looks like a good time there Tom!

[ctom]

It was a fun little jaunty. Here today, gone tomorrow sort of rings true though. When we were there the temps were in the 40's. The temps never dropped below freezing overnight and by 11 this morning the ice carvings were no more. BUT, true to Minnesota party standards, the fun continues.

[Muskygary]

Thanks for the pictures Tom, really enjoyed them!