MnGCA

georondi · Geocacher Joined: 28 Apr 2012 Posts: 18

How safe is it around the Excel Energy Center at night? My daughters are going to be at a concert there, and I will have about 5 hours of downtime, so I was thinking about doing some caching, but I will be alone; plus it will be dark? Anybody have any thoughts on that?

tonkaMN · MnGCA Board Joined: 10 Jun 2009 Posts: 544

I've cached around there in the dark before and I never felt uncomfortable. I'm sure there are some unsavory characters in that part of St. Paul, but I've never seen them when out caching.

King Boreas · Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:40 am Post subject: Re: Downtown caching

bflentje · Geocacher Joined: 29 May 2006 Posts: 3655

It's probably safer than caching around Target Center after dark.

Rustynails · Geocacher Joined: 27 Oct 2009 Posts: 661

Or north Minneapolis!

Two of Hearts and I were caching in the area last summer and passed through n. Mpls when we heard gun shots. Then saw people running away from that direction.

georondi · Geocacher Joined: 28 Apr 2012 Posts: 18

Turns out I will be able to go to the Jingle Ball with my kids after all, so I will just be grabbing a few before the concert (doors open at 5 p.) Thx. for the posts.

15Tango · Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 1:51 am Post subject:

MN Rollergirls has Surly by the can and on tap, so I have to admit that I don't drive the 2 1/2 miles up West 7th from my house to Roy Wilkins (next to XCel Energy Center) and I have no problem walking there, or taking the bus at around 5-5:30, and walking home at 10-11 (in fact, at that time of night, I actually feel safer walking than taking the bus). Even though St. Paul is a metropolitan area, we still roll the streets up at around 9:30, and usually when I walk to my place, a few blocks from 7th and Randolph, from the XCel/River Center/Roy Wilkins, the only people I see at night are the smokers outside of bars - a little more of them at places like The Liffey, Patrick McGoverns, Tom Reid's, etc. but quite a few less of them the farther from the XCel I get. And if you seek the cache behind the Federal Courthouse, you will be watched by about 15 people on security cameras (at least that was was I was told when I was confronted by a Federal Marshal when I was looking for the cache there), so if you do get stabbed or shot, at least someone will have gotten a good look at the perpetrator Wink

. And with winter approaching, you are less likely to see the less fortunate out panhandling, especially at night, since they also know St. Paul rolls the streets up at night. I might be a little biased since I live only a couple miles from downtown St. Paul, but I grew up in small towns in Montana, and I still have no problem walking around downtown St. Paul in the dark.
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There comes a time in every young boy's life when he gets an irresistible urge to seek buried treasure.--Mark Twain