SDI Educational Events

Crowne Plaza St. Paul - Riverfront Hotel is located in the heart of St. Paul with direct all-season access to the St. Paul Skyway, which makes walking to restaurants and local attractions easy, View St. Paul Skyway map (8 MB). The Crowne Plaza is situated atop the bluffs of the Mississippi River and is within walking distance of many attractions including Kellogg Park, a beautiful green space that runs along the bluff with peaceful fountains and views of the river.

Immerse yourself in the colorful legends, appealing sites, and fascinating events that define the history of St. Paul. Founded near historic Native American settlements as a trading and transportation center, the city rose to prominence when it was named capital of the Minnesota Territory in 1849.

Sacred Sites in St. Paul

Make a pilgrimage to the National Shrine of the Apostle Paul. Modeled after St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican in Rome, the Cathedral of Saint Paul is one of the most distinctive cathedrals in North America, 239 Selby Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. The Cathedral dominates the St. Paul skyline and is situated on the highest point in downtown St. Paul. Just one mile from the Crowne Plaza St. Paul - Riverfront Hotel, the Cathedral is accessible by public transportation or can be reached by walking. For more information call 01-651-228-1766.

Indian Mounds Park (Regional) - City of St. Paul, contains six burial mounds atop the bluff, a reminder of Minnesota's history. “They are remnants of one of mankind's earliest organized civilizations, a civilization that prospered while there were still pharaohs in Egypt and great dynasties in China. So please respect these burial mounds, sacred for over two thousand years, to the first people of Minnesota. They are the graves of their ancestors, not observation decks or playgrounds.” — Kay Woitas. The Indian Mounds Park is located at 10 Mounds Boulevard, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. It is three miles from the Crowne Plaza St. Paul - Riverfront Hotel and can be accessed by public transportation. For more information call 01-651-632-5111.

Indian Mounds Park in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. Photograph credit: McGhiever

 

Do you have a favorite sacred spot in the Twin Cities? Hundreds of participants from many countries will be visiting St. Paul and Minneapolis to attend Cultivating Compassion on the River. Send your favorite ideas to events@sdiworld.org along with a link to the appropriate website. Thank you.

Learn and Explore

The St. Paul Visitors Information Center is located in the Landmark Center, 75 West Fifth Street, Saint Paul, MN, 55102. Landmark Center is just a six-minute walk from the Crowne Plaza St. Paul - Riverfront Hotel. It houses several museums and neighbors the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts and the St. Paul Central Public Library.

The Fitzgerald Theater is St. Paul's oldest theater and celebrated its hundredth anniversary in 2010. Just a ten-minute walk from the Crowne Plaza St. Paul - Riverfront Hotel, it is committed to programming that reflects the audience and mission of Minnesota Public Radio (MPR). This one thousand-seat theater acts as MPR's largest broadcast studio, with airwaves reaching millions of people tuned in to A Prairie Home Companion. The staged productions commission authors, artists, and radio hosts to create intellectually stimulating programs that delight and enlighten Minnesota’s vast public radio community.

Do you enjoy science and learning? Be sure to take some time and visit the Science Museum of Minnesota, less than one mile from the Crowne Plaza St. Paul - Riverfront Hotel. If you have children with you, the Minnesota Children’s Museum is an opportunity for family fun, just a half-mile walk from the hotel. Take a walk in Harriet Island Regional Park located three miles from the Crowne Plaza St. Paul - Riverfront Hotel, or tour the famous Minnesota State Capitol building.

Historic Fort Snelling is a preserved US Army military post featuring costumed guides that portray residents of the 1820s. Up and down Summit Avenue, beautifully restored Victorian mansions offer glimpses into turn-of-the-century life in St. Paul—a few are even said to be haunted.

Visit nearby Grand Avenue Shopping (2 miles), see the Como Park, Zoo and Conservatory (5 miles), or stroll on the University of Minnesota campus (8 miles).

Downtown Minneapolis (10 miles), Mall of America (11.5 miles), and the Minnesota Zoo (17.5 miles) are all accessible by public transportation. Other places of interest in Minneapolis include the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, a free, non-profit museum of visual arts from around the world, and the Walker Art Center which houses an urban sculpture garden with more than forty works on permanent view.

More History

St. Paul’s history as a Prohibition-era hotbed for gangsters, gals, and whiskey runners is well known. The city became a haven for notorious people like John Dillinger, Babyface Nelson, Alvin “Creepy” Karpis, and the Barker gang, whose activities extended to robbing banks, holding up mail trucks and trains, and kidnapping hostages for ransom. St. Paul celebrates this storied past by offering tours of sites where the gangsters once lived as they planned and executed the most notorious crimes perpetrated in the upper Midwest. Gangster tours highlight the sites of nightclubs, kidnappings, and gun battles associated with the lawlessness of the 1930s. The most famous are the Wabasha Caves, actual caves that were transformed into an underground speakeasy known as the “Castle Royal.” Learn more by visiting the Wabasha Street Caves website or by calling 01-651-224-1191.

St. Paul Neighborhoods

St. Paul is known as the “City of Neighborhoods,” each offering a celebration of the city’s long-cherished heritage and diversity. Life in these vibrant neighborhood districts flows deep with tradition, with many of the restaurants and businesses proudly bearing the names of the immigrant families who founded them generations ago.

• The Summit Area, containing both the Summit Hill and Summit-University neighborhoods, boasts the longest stretch of beautifully restored Victorian homes in the United States.

• Como mixes family-friendly activities with the beauty of the outdoors. Visitors can enjoy the gardens, swimming pool, zoo, trails, and lake that Como magically brings to the public.

• Dayton's Bluff brings a storied history to St. Paul and features many recreational sites to capture the spirits of visitors.

• Downtown St. Paul houses some of the city's most thrilling venues, restaurants, festivals and businesses as an entertainment center.

• With its cozy pubs and sidewalk cafés to go along with great shopping, Grand Avenue is where you might grab a newspaper and a cup of coffee and watch the neighborhood come to life.

• The Greater East Side's proximity to the new 3M corporation headquarters and numerous family-friendly areas make it a popular destination for residential living.

• Lying directly between the Downtown districts of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Hamline-Midway boasts a strong sense of community among residents.

• A small town feel within the grasp of a major city can be found in Highland Park.

• Lowertown runs on the upswing, with new bars and attractions that bring young people to the former warehouse district of the city.

• Residential charm combines with secondary education institutions and some of the area's best shopping to form Macalester-Groveland.

• Extensive trails and the famous structure of the State Capitol mark the grounds of the North End.

• Local businesses with the footprint of hardworking immigrant families of the past are sites to see in Payne-Phalen.

• Selby Avenue is an eclectic mix of modern and traditional architecture, with wonderful views of the downtown St. Paul skyline.

• Sitting next to the State Fair Grounds, Saint Anthony Park contains one of the city's finest libraries and truly embodies the "local feel" of St. Paul.

• Sunray-Battle Creek-Highwood is the location of Battle Creek Regional Park, one of St. Paul's more popular outdoor destinations.

• With many local businesses along one of St. Paul's most traveled roads, University Avenue, Thomas-Dale leads into Downtown St. Paul.

• Branching from three former neighborhoods to become one, Union Park has plenty of natural beauty and popular local restaurants to leave smiles on the faces of visitors.

• West Seventh contains many pre-civil war homes and new modern condos.

• The West Side is the location of St. Paul's most active Latino community, with a host of businesses and restaurants within its District del Sol to bring cultural flavor to the city.

Engage in contemplative practices during your journey by listening with compassion wherever you go. Follow what intrigues you and reflect on your experience.

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Cultivating Compassion on the River
April 11:        Leadership Institute
April 11:        Spirituality and Health Care Institute
April 11:        Free Community Event
April 12-14:   Conference
April 13, 14:  Field Trip
April 15:        Pilgrimage
April 16-18:   Contemplative Retreat