Day 20 and 21: Traveling to Minneapolis and Seeing the Sites: 1,749 miles
Monday was a simple day: woke, showered, packed the car, had a bite to eat and headed out to Minneapolis. The drive through Minnesota was beautiful. The countryside, the green of nature, the blue sky were all nice scenery. Entering the Twin Cities area, it quickly turned into city and before I knew it, I was at my friend, Steven's house.
It's been a few years since I have seen him, so we sat around and played catch-up. He had to leave after a while for a meeting, so I relaxed a bit. When he returned, we chatted a bit more, planned my next day, and headed to bed. He was very helpful in pointing out the highlights of the area.
The first part of the day, I went to Como Park Zoo and Conservatory. I began in the Conservatory, seeing indoor gardens of all types. It was quite interesting. They even had a special exhibit, a butterfly garden, filled with many different species of butterflies. They were beautiful.
I then headed to the Zoo area. It didn't quite hold my attention as the Conservatory had, but I walked around for a while. Steven and I joined up afterward for a sandwich at the house, before heading to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. This massive building contains all sorts of art, paintings, sculptures, and even memorabilia from the early 20th century such as cars, furniture, and toys. It was definitely a most enjoyable museum.
Returning home, Steven had some work to do, so I headed out solo to the Mall of America. Now, everyone has heard of its reputation: over-sized, too much, overwhelming... I thought it was wonderful. Inside this mammoth structure, there was every type of store you would or could want. They even had a full sized Best Buy, Marshall's, and a two story Old Navy. The only repeat store that I noticed was Lids. I think I counted 3, but there might have been a 4th.
I ate dinner in the mall food court and walked around for several hours. The mall is divided into 4 floors, though the fourth is mostly closed, due to the economy. Essentially a rectangle shape, the center contains a mini amusement park, primarily for kids, though some of the rides looked fun. I bought a couple of small things and headed home before closing time. Yes, I actually saw the entire mall in under 4 hours. Though, i didn't spend a lot of time in stores, very little time in fact. Most of the stores are chains and not as interesting. But I still highly recommend it to anyone.
I got home and soon headed to bed. Walking all day tired me out. I awoke this morning and have been planning the next stage of my trip, the Black Hills of South Dakota. I found out some cool info that is going to make the trip even more interesting.
It's been a few years since I have seen him, so we sat around and played catch-up. He had to leave after a while for a meeting, so I relaxed a bit. When he returned, we chatted a bit more, planned my next day, and headed to bed. He was very helpful in pointing out the highlights of the area.
The first part of the day, I went to Como Park Zoo and Conservatory. I began in the Conservatory, seeing indoor gardens of all types. It was quite interesting. They even had a special exhibit, a butterfly garden, filled with many different species of butterflies. They were beautiful.
I then headed to the Zoo area. It didn't quite hold my attention as the Conservatory had, but I walked around for a while. Steven and I joined up afterward for a sandwich at the house, before heading to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. This massive building contains all sorts of art, paintings, sculptures, and even memorabilia from the early 20th century such as cars, furniture, and toys. It was definitely a most enjoyable museum.
Returning home, Steven had some work to do, so I headed out solo to the Mall of America. Now, everyone has heard of its reputation: over-sized, too much, overwhelming... I thought it was wonderful. Inside this mammoth structure, there was every type of store you would or could want. They even had a full sized Best Buy, Marshall's, and a two story Old Navy. The only repeat store that I noticed was Lids. I think I counted 3, but there might have been a 4th.
I ate dinner in the mall food court and walked around for several hours. The mall is divided into 4 floors, though the fourth is mostly closed, due to the economy. Essentially a rectangle shape, the center contains a mini amusement park, primarily for kids, though some of the rides looked fun. I bought a couple of small things and headed home before closing time. Yes, I actually saw the entire mall in under 4 hours. Though, i didn't spend a lot of time in stores, very little time in fact. Most of the stores are chains and not as interesting. But I still highly recommend it to anyone.
I got home and soon headed to bed. Walking all day tired me out. I awoke this morning and have been planning the next stage of my trip, the Black Hills of South Dakota. I found out some cool info that is going to make the trip even more interesting.