Gallivanting Grandma

Saturday – September 6, 2014    Sunny, Clear & Crisp Morning – 56 degrees

It was early in the morning when we drove out of Minneapolis. We had enjoyed our time in the city and it was time to move on. After a mediocre breakfast in Menomonie, Wisconsin and some discussion, we decided not to stop in Milwaukee. Perhaps save it for another trip. Wisconsin was another green agricultural state with corn and soybean fields along all the roads. We had abandoned the slower routes and continued eastward on Interstate 90.

Speeding Along

By nightfall, we rolled into Elgin, Illinois for the evening. This was the former home of Elgin Watches and about an hour west of Chicago. We planned to stay near Chicago so we could visit Oak Park, Illinois the next day and visit the Frank Lloyd Wright House and Studio.  We decided to save the big city of Chicago for another future trip. We were tired of traveling and we preferred to see ‘The Windy City’ when we had more energy.

I had noticed the industrial flashlights at the check-in desk in Elgin. The hotel receptionist informed us they had experienced a “micro burst” tornado the evening before which caused power losses and many fallen trees.

Elgin seemed like a pleasant suburban town with attractive houses but the tornado left many large trees broken and scattered on neatly trimmed lawns. Using Tripadvisor, we discovered a gem of a restaurant for dinner: Francesca’s Campagna located in the next town of West Dundee. We had an amazing Italian meal which might have been the best meal of this entire trip. Ah, the joys of civilization….

Friday – September 5, 2014

Today is my oldest granddaughter’s 14th birthday! From a thousand miles away, I wish her a wonderful celebration and much happiness!

Shopping

Since we had two full days in Minneapolis, we had to choose what we wanted to do among a long list of possibilities. We visited the Art Institute and the Mill Museum yesterday and the next two items on our list were: The Mall of America and the Walker Art Center.

Indoor Amusement Park

The Mall of America received a lot of press when it open and was billed as the largest shopping mall in the United States. Jeff need a new suitcase because the handle on his old one broke a few days ago.  We saw the huge building and adjoining parking lots from a distance as it loomed above the flat prairie at the intersection of several highways. Not being a shopper, it’s difficult for me to get too excited about a mall, but I was curious.

Interior

The Mall of America had a large amusement park in the center with four sections of stores along the sides and four large department stores in the corners. Yes it’s big, but I could have been in any mall anywhere in the country. The smaller stores were all the same ones that are found everywhere. I’ve been to the West Ed Mall in Edmonton, Alberta and I would recommend that one over this smaller imitation. Someone could spend their life (and money) at the West Ed because it had several hotels, casino, restaurants, a huge water park with beach, a replica of the Santa Maria ship in an Adventure Lake, theme streets, regulation ice skating rink, as well as shopping.

The Walker Art Center

After the mall we drove to the Walker Art Center which is a well known museum of contemporary art. The building was also an amazing work of architecture.

Entrance

Below is a photo of a visitor-participation exhibit which we really enjoyed. Old turntables and crates of old 33 rpm records were placed on four tables in a large room. The records were a mix of  jazz, Doo-Wop, Elvis, Don Ho, classical, comedy, folk, John Denver, Mo-Town, etc. etc. People chose a record and set it on the record players at the same time as other people. It was wonderful! I walked around the room listening to a cacophony of music. Great fun!

Great Vinyl Exhibit

Jeff said it was a ‘depressing’ exhibit because he owned many of the records in the crates. One of the museum guards told me she tells children that they can ‘touch the music’ when they participate in this exhibit and play the records. “Most of the kids never saw records before this,” she stated. “They love this exhibit.”

Interesting Building

My Favorite Exhibit

Lutheran Church at Night

Thursday – September 4, 2014

I have always loved cities – and the bigger, the better. I didn’t realize I was city-deprived on this trip until we arrived in Minneapolis. I could feel the excitement and my heart beat quickly, with the promise of new things to see and discover as we drove down the streets.

A Couple of Skyways

One of the most unusual (and interesting) characteristics of Minneapolis are the Skyways. These are second-story glass bridges over the streets which connect most of the downtown buildings. There are supposed to be eight miles of interconnecting walkways. Winters must be bitterly cold here.

Long Skyway

Different Design

Outdoor Dining on Nicolette Mall

Parking Lot Wall

City-Bikes

Minneapolis Institute of Arts Entrance

Grand Lobby

Framed Skyline

Art Object

Mill City Museum

Top of the Mill

Inside Gold Medal Mill

Display in Museum

Burned Ruins of Mill

Stone Arch Bridge Across the Mississippi

Old Sign on the Mill

September 3,2014    sunny and 54 degrees

We stayed at the recently finished Hilton Home-2-Suites last night. It was a new brand name to us and a bit different from the other Hilton Hotels. It was a modern IKEA decorated place with bright colors and whimsical simple touches. One good feature was the free breakfast had “healthy” choices.

Home 2 Suites – Fargo, ND

Lobby of the Home-2

Old Fargo Railroad Station

After we checked out, we drove to downtown Fargo to look around. It was a typical hundred year old American city. We took pictures of some interesting sights.

Ghost Sign on Building

Downtown Fargo

The city still used their old neon signs which most cities had torn down years ago. They gave Fargo a retro-atmosphere. They reminded me of a museum we had visited in San Francisco that collected neon signs.

Empire Tavern Sign

Fargo Movie Theater

Neon Sign

Back to the Corn Fields

Rain Clouds Rolling In

By the time we were hungry for lunch rain started to fall. We got off Interstate 94 in Alexandria, Minnesota to hunt for a lunch place. We stopped at a Pizza Ranch (an incomprehensible concept) for a light bite. We did not have the apple pizza for dessert. It grated on our New York City sensibilities of real Italian tomato sauce & cheese pizza with olive oil. No apple strudel pizza for us!

Dessert Pizza!

Clearing Skies

Approaching Minneapolis

Minneapolis, Minnesota Skyline

View From the Hotel Window