Minneapolis, MN
My first visit to an American city outside of the top 20. And depending on when you read this, Minneapolis is ranked in position 46. My draw to visit this city was a conference. And this is how I would summarise Minneapolis, a conference city.
Located along the Mississippi River at mile marker 854. Which is also the location of the only naturally occurring water falls along the Mississippi River, the Saint Anthony Falls. This then meant I had the ability to see the Mississippi from (almost) both ends. Our trip to New Orleans in March means we saw the Mississippi from mile marker 90.3. To mix up the sights we would see we stayed in Dinky Town and in Downtown.
Dinky Town
This is a university town, so not really geared towards a young family. But we still powered on. The area isn’t exactly walker friendly, nor is it public transit friendly. This explains why everyone was riding those annoying lime scooters everywhere. A few notable places we ate at were Kramarczuk’s Sausage Company, Alma and, Land’s End Pasty Company. We tried to visit Al’s Breakfast one morning, but we were too late to avoid the long wait for a seat and moved on to elsewhere.
Stone Arch Bridge is the only stone arch bridge, and the second oldest bridge, along the Mississippi River. It is located almost on top of Saint Anthony Falls and begun life as a railroad bridge in 1883. Today it is a shared pedestrian and bike bridge. There are good views of Saint Anthony Falls, Mill Ruins Park and the general area, and of course the Mississippi River. No matter which end you start from, be sure to have a reward at Alma, on the Dinky Town end of the bridge. IT is located about three blocks from the end of the Stone Arch Bridge.
Downtown
The first thing I noticed here was the sheer number of hotels in this city. Every corner seems to be a hotel. The second thing you’ll notice is the number of Lime Scooters randomly abandoned everywhere. These things are the modern equivalent of plague of locusts. But onto more exciting things. I was here for a conference at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
The convention center itself is pretty usual for a convention center, it’s big and confusing to get around. But no one wants to read about a convention center. Made it to a number of bars, restaurants and sights here such as, Seven Steakhouse, Mill Ruins Park, Hell’s Kitchen, Angel Food Bakery, Hen House, Brit’s Pub, Guthrie Theater and, Bushel and Peck.
Minneaplois has a long history with flour mills. The Mill Ruins Park is the remains of the Washborn “A” Mill, constructed in 1876. Flour, it turns out, is a very volitile substance when it is airbourne as a fine dust cloud. And in 1878 a spark caused an explosion, destroying the mill and killing 18 people. The Ruins became the park that can be seen today in 2003.
Maybe I went to the wrong places, maybe my taste buds are too fancy for Minneapolis, maybe Downtown isn’t the place to be, but everywhere I went to eat was nothing exciting. Hell’s Kitchen is a typical pub, it is located in a basement. Not a dive bar, but plenty of TVs to watch some sports. Upstairs is Angel Food Bakery, and this place I liked. This is a little bakery with the usual suspects such as donuts and cakes. Hen House is pretty much a diner that specialises in egg dishes. Brit’s Pub was like a confused Irish/English pub fusion. It has a good range of beer, and it’s been years since I’ve had Old Speckled Hen. Bushel and Peck is within the Mill Ruins Museum lobby. This is a simple place to get some food and drink.
The Guthrie Theater is an interesting architectual sight. I would recommend going up to the third and sixth floors for the viewing decks. The third floor viewing area extends outdoors to a small stadium seating area with prime views of the Mississippi River. Up on the sixth floor is a bit of a optical mind bender. The windows are a heavy yellow colour. Once you eyes have adjusted to the shade of yellow it becomes easier to take in the view. But once you leave be ready for everything to look a very cool shade of white.
September, 2019
