Minneapolis Minnesota

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Hello from Minneapolis, Minnesota (For those who are curious, in the native Sioux "minni" means water; "sotah" means "sky tinted" or "cloudy". Therefore Minnesota means cloudy water, based on the color of the river). So along with really murky water, what is Minneapolis known for?? The biggest mall in the United States!! So of course we had to check out the Mall of America, and what a sight. Right in the middle of the mall what would you expect there to be, I don't know shops, stores, kiosks, maybe a food court?? Nope, a full size amusement park. Nickelodeon is the corporate sponsor of the Mall of America and has transformed all the rides to be based on t.v. shows that the company produces, Scooby Doo has a ride, Sponge Bob, even Dora the Explorer. Needless to say we spent an entire day in that place, and I can guarantee you we didn't see it all. Other then that day we spent in the enormous mall we spent the rest of our time in Minneapolis adventuring downtown. We were staying just on the outskirts of Minneapolis, but was only a 15 minute drive from the waterfront, which just so happens to be the downtown area, and the river I spoke of just so happens to be the great Mississippi. As for Minneapolis on the whole... whell it sure is an artsy town. Our first stop down town was the Walker Art Centre and Sculpture Garden. A very large display of modern art, an absolutely fascinating to walk through. The Garden was really something as well, containing some of the biggest sculptures we've ever seen. Downtown Minneapolis follows suit with the art gallery with the architecture and downtown layout being very artsy and modern. We spent a day at the Mill Museum right on the Mississippi river, in the warehouse district where once stood the largest grain milling, and wood milling operation in the world, and is now a haven for wealthy home owners who live in the renovated office buildings and warehouses. The museum was fascinating as it showed exactly how the old mill ran and explained how after the big boom in the 20's how Minneapolis had turned into the mill capital of the world using the great Mississippi to power their machines and run their businesses. Company's such as Gold Medal Flour and Pillsbury made their millions right there on the river between Minneapolis and St. Paul. We also spent a day walking the heritage trail of Minneapolis that goes across a foot bridge that crosses the river and does a full loop around the river. We saw some beautiful sights while we walked along the river. Well that's about it from Minneapolis, we we're hoping that maybe the Twins might be able to beat the Yankee's so we could see a post season game in the brand new ball park, but it was not to be... those Damn Yankees!!

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