sledding at saints stadium

i made it to the st. paul winter carnival on the final weekend. first event i did was the sledding at the saints baseball stadium. i went down the slide 4 times. i needed to get a feel of it, so the first wasn't as fun as the others. then i said it was like the carpet slide at the state fair. so it meant i do the same thing as at the state fair, scream like lt. dan did in 'forrest gump' during the hurricane. i saw how one concession stand was open, but i didn't buy anything there as i expected plenty of food vendors at the main part of the winter carnival a few blocks away. I saw the ice castle at rice park as well, and went inside the landmark center across the street. i saw plenty of coins on the side of the ice blocks. i got some hot chocolate and a chili dog from a food stand there. after i was done i was walking back to my car, and noticed the signs in the window at rivertown market, a grocery store a few blocks from there. it said they would be closing soon, at the end of the month. so i went inside to see what i could get as i didn't get a dessert item at the carnival. i got some TGI Friday's potato skins, and some german chocolate cake. it was less than two dollars. a panhandler approached me shortly after leaving the store, and i was already eating the cake. but as usual, i said no to them. when another patron was paying for his purchases, i recall an employee trying to assign blame for why the store had to close. saying people forgot how there was a grocery store in downtown st. paul before the lunds and byerly's opened. although those stores are really not that similar. i know when i was working downtown i didn't go into this store much, as i didn't know about it for a while. it kind of blends into the storefronts, next to candyland, a place where i liked getting popcorn every so often. and when i did go in, i said if i was going in during my lunch break, that i would only buy what i could eat right away as it seemed wrong to get a lot of perishables, and grocery stores have plenty of them. in addition, one has to pay for parking to shop there! one doesn't have to do this at most grocery stores. he also spoke of the amount of money that the nearby palace theater got for their renovation, which sounded like jealousy just as much as the 'true' competitor.
    in the evening i went to perform, and did karaoke, '18 and life' by skid row. much like other recent selections, it was inspired by hearing it on the radio. there was a different MC than usual, and i was invited to do more than one song but i said no. i arrived kind of late, had some things to do, so my next time up there would have been near closing time. i usually don't stay that late. so i finished by beer and then i left.