Minnesota

Minneapolis is a great little town!  At first glance the downtown district can be a little under-whelming on a Sunday afternoon. It's quite barren and most of the shops are closed but head to Uptown which is ironically south of Downtown and you will find a bustling art scene filled with sidewalk cafes, festivals, and joggers running along the trails at Lake Hennepin.

In the morning we headed to the Weisman Art Museum located on the edge of the Mississippi River which has free admission and free parking on sunday. We then walked along the Heritage trail - a two mile trail offering information on the construction of the bridges and hydraulic power in the city. Veer off the trail for a bit and you will find yourself hiking down cliff sides to the Mississippi River where you can enjoy some peace and quiet among the thick foliage.

After taking a two hour stroll we headed to a lesser known part of the city to The Vegetarian - a vegetarian indian joint where we just were in time for the lunch buffet consisting of Southern and Northern Indian cuisine. We filled our plates and stuffed our bellies and talked to the owner about our travel plans and his previous work experience in Manhattan. After lunch we went to the Minneapolis Art Institute which has a great number of artifacts from ancient Egypt. We didn't go through the entire museum as it was a gorgeous day outside and we'd seen enough sculptures for a week. Traveling back outside we drove up to the Nicollet Mall area to take a photograph of the famous Mary Tyler Moore Statue.

The Uptown area of Minneapolis was by far our favorite. It offered a perfect mix of small town friendliness, big city art and fashion and suburban homeliness. We laid in the grass along Lake Hennepin as bikers and joggers went by on the trail and people laid in the shade under trees reading books. We found ourselves talking to an older couple at local eatery Tin Fish, a seafood shack outside on the lake. We talked to them about modern photography, Minneapolis history, and our travels. They were a really nice couple and I wish we had got their contact information before we headed out. As the sun was setting we tried some local beers; Fat Tire and Zommer Ale as we took in the calming views of the lake, dock and skyline.

Pictures to follow later this evening!