Minneapolis

When given the opportunity to take a free trip, one should never turn it down. There's a caveat in there somewhere, but this is not a trip it would apply to. So off we went, the three of us: 2 researchers and a photobug. Floodwaters have been threatening Fargo for the last three weeks, and they've been sandbagging and building mud dikes for the last while, so needless to say, we ended up taking highway 59 down. Those that have ever done any southward travel know that getting into the U.S. is always a fun time. Luckily, we had a nice border security man who was very reasonable and informed us that next time we were crossing over and were taking plant specimens, they must be accompanied by the proper paperwork. Also, passports are going to be mandatory as of this summer, so if you don't have one, it's time to get on that. The "I'm just along for the ride" reason for entering the States didn't even faze him, although, what else is a person supposed to say? I'm going shopping? Pfff! Who'd believe that?

The terrain through Minnesota is beautiful. The road winds around lakes, there are hawks everywhere, and at one point close to the Mississippi, we must have seen between 6 and 8 bald eagles flying.






They also have very strange rest stop names.

Eight hours of driving went by quickly, and we got to Minneapolis just in time for rush hour on a Friday afternoon. Now, I drove the freeways in Europe during high-traffic times, and contrary to what I heard about them, the system there made sense. Speed limits of 130km/h were rarely followed, which made the average speed probably closer to 140km/h and I never saw one traffic officer. The big difference however, is all highway exits are on the right-hand side of the highway. All overtaking is done to the left-hand side of the slower vehicle. This system ensures that you are never crossing into the path of a faster moving vehicle as you are slowing down. Not so in Minnesota. Some turn-offs are on the right, some are on the left, and you have people overtaking from all sides because of it. Speed limits are 10km/h slower and traffic enforcement is prominent. North America has it all mixed up, methinks. Nevertheless, thanks to some great driving and great navigating, we got to our place of rest.


The Historic Faculty House is right near the U of M campus and Dinkytown. It's a gorgeous, huge, old sorority house used frequently by professors from other universities. The welcome was more than friendly and our host was very helpful. He recommended we try the Kafe421 four blocks away for a meal. The food was delicious, it had a great atmosphere, and catered very well to a vegan diet. Sleep came quickly that night - tomorrow was going to be busy.

Breakfast was provided in the morning, and we all got off to an early start. My sister and her colleague booked off to their conference, and I set out to traipse around Minneapolis.


It is interesting how walking around a place with a camera will attract certain people. Usually it's other photographers, and usually the ice-breaker line is, "Get any good shots?" It's fantastic. This also usually allows the foreigner to ask the native if there's anything photo worthy around. This particular fellow pointed out that I was walking to the Walker (hahaa) and wondered if I had any clue how far it actually was. Oh yes - I had every intention of making the four mile trek on foot. It was worth every step.





The architecture in downtown Minneapolis is wonderful and the area is totally walkable.
It's also interesting to see how different cities work from street level.

If I had to choose one place downtown as a favourite, oddly enough, it would be the Hennepin County Law Courts building and grounds. Brilliant!

The one thing I had my heart set on seeing this time around was the spoon bridge in the sculpture garden. Well, wouldn't you know it, they had taken the cherry off the spoon for restoration. However, that didn't make the rest of the park any less enjoyable. There are some great sculptures.

I quickly popped into the Walker Art Center gift
shop to check things out and warm up a little bit. Had I more time, I would have taken in the
exhibits, but light fades fast and I didn't want to waste daylight hanging around inside. On the way back, I found myself in Loring Park. The squirrels seemed friendly enough, but I was told by a passing man to be careful - they eat photographers. Vicious things!

What used to be the old flour mills and the like near the river are slowly being turned into condos and lofts. It's an interesting concept and it looks like it has the potential to be a very successful project.

After eight hours or so, I decided to call it a day and head back to the B&B. A couple hours later, I was back out the door, joining a few of the presenters for a beer or two at a nearby pub. It's always enjoyable to talk to people who live and work in the city a person is visiting. Sometimes the outsider's view of the city's workings clash with the reality of the whole thing. A person hears what works and what doesn't and just where good intentions end and short-sightedness begins. After some very interesting conversation, we decided to part. Most headed off to a concert, but my sis and I were completely knackered and decided to call it a night. The rain that had started in the middle of the evening had turned to large flakes of snow, so the run back was actually quite refreshing.
One thing that struck me very odd about the day was just how dead the downtown seemed to be. The streets were next to empty. Maybe everyone goes out to the Mall of America on Saturday afternoons - I don't know. Perhaps the recession has dug its teeth in. I never did bring it up with the locals; I really should have.




The drive back the next day was fairly uneventful until we got near Fargo. It was there we actually got to see the flooding situation and it's not pretty. The I-29 was closed after Grand Forks and water, many feet deep, was flooding fields and ditches as far as the eye could see. All the best to the people in the area.

The crossing back into Canada was very much uneventful, as was the rest of the trip. It was a whirlwind, but very interesting just the same.