FAILURES!
Snatching Victory from the Jaws of Defeat
Believe it or not, I have actually had a couple blog mission that were complete FAILURES! Despite what I may have been told by phone call or by website…the place was closed. No amount of argument or negotiation was going to change the situation. The mission was just a total bust. That is…until now. In an attempt to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, I decided to start a series of posts based on my painful, blog mission failures. So, despite having advanced, PRE-PAID reservations, these blog missions were still complete FAILURES!
Curling Anyone?
Every 4 years when I watch the Winter Olympics, I vow to go curling. Until they started putting every event on TV, no one had even heard of curling. Then, they put curling on TV…and you see it. What an odd and interesting event! Beyond that, its a sport that aging, has-been athletes can actually play…and maybe even get to the Olympics. What’s not to like? So, I gathered my curling team (i.e. my 9th grade English Teacher and the Game Master) and headed to The Barn in Fenton, Michigan. The Barn had curling, food and alcohol. So, all critical elements were met…
So, to be brief, we arrived at The Barn for lunch before our 1pm curling reservation. We were informed that the weather had turned warmer than expected. Consequently, the curling rink closed down on the previous Monday. Sadly, although they had my email…they failed to send me a situational update. Thus, we got to travel 4 hours to a drained curling rink.
The real problem with these situations is that the poor server who breaks the news to you is typically not the responsible party. So, I make a real effort to not be too harsh on the wrong person. But damn, that sucked. Well, I did try to make some lemonade out of lemons. Beyond apologies and groveling, The Barn refunded our money, gave us a gift certificate for curling next winter, and treated us to a big lunch with Bloody Mary’s for all. Oh well, life goes on…
How to Make Things Worse
So, there is one obvious way to surpass my failure at the curling rink. That would be…travel much farther. First, let’s establish the blog target. The Lake Vermillion-Soudan Underground Mine is an old iron mine turned tourist attraction for the Minnesota State Parks. The Soudan mine is the oldest, richest, deepest iron mine in Minnesota. Tourists get to travel to the lowest level of the mine which is about 2,400 feet below ground. This is clearly a must-see. So, my travels started in Columbus, OH, while my friend, a Minor Public Official, started in Atlanta. For this trip, we flew into Minneapolis, rented a car, and drove the 4.5 hours to the remote underground mine in northeast Minnesota.
We took a few moments to enjoy the surface remnants of the mining operation before entering the visitor center. However, once inside, the young lady behind the desk tragically informed us that there would be NO underground mine tours. Apparently, due to extreme rain in the spring, the lower levels of the mine had flooded (this trip was in September). When I first called the state park, the park official informed me of the flooding. But, they said the underground tour would open up by July and I should be fine. They actually sold me ADVANCED TICKETS! Well, they were wrong on their estimate for the receding water. Furthermore, the Minnesota Park System failed to inform their advanced ticket holders of this fact. So, we travel all that way to NOT see any of this…
In summary, that’s about 4 hours of air travel. We followed that up with 4.5 hours of ground travel. Then, NO mine tour 2,341 feet below ground…no ride in the low profile mine car…this mission was just a complete FAILURE!
Wrap It Up
I guess the lesson learned needs to be…call ahead just before leaving. Do not assume advance payment and a confirming email are all you need. If you are putting in significant travel for one event…call ahead. That’s it. I hope you have found some amusement at my expense. By squeezing out this therapeutic, failure post, I feel some small good has come from these failed missions. Have a wonderful day. PT
I hope you have enjoyed “Failures” on Traveling with PugsleyTonks.
Here was another underground trip, but done successfully… https://travelingwithpt.com/germans-and-their-beer/
If you insist on doing these tours anyway, here they are...https://jellogallery.org/ and https://www.coorsbrewerytour.com/
