Trip to minnesota

We have actually made a number of trips to Minnesota in our 40+ years together. Our first was when we were still in high school (1980-81-ish). My sister and her then-husband had just moved there. My sister still lives there (about an hour from the cities), but not her now-ex.

However, this was our first trip to Minneapolis specifically, as the boy and his wife just moved there in July of this year. She is teaching at a Catholic middle school, and he will be professor of ethics at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. 

We opted to fly on this visit. There is a direct flight on Delta that departs daily from Fort Wayne at 9:45am, and from Minneapolis at 7:45pm. So Saturday morning to Monday night was almost three full days! And the flight is a mere 1 hour 20-ish minutes (but remember the time zone change!). It also helps that we are 10 minutes from our airport, and they are 15 minutes from theirs.

The kids have a nice little house in the residential Seward area of Minneapolis. It is two blocks from the Mississippi river (which then includes miles of paved greenway trail), and there are several coffee shops, restaurants, and things within walking distance. It is much nicer in that regard than either of their homes in the Atlanta area. [This is everything except the kitchen, 2 full baths, main bedroom, and laundry room]

One interesting thing, Minneapolis, and Minnesota in general, is apparently super progressive. As you can see from the picture, apparently hardly anyone - at least in all the neighborhoods we visited - has much grass. It is very natural and "green-conscious."

While there we did take in some sites downtown, as well as the Mississippi River area downtown. We visited a couple of the lakes in the city, and Jane and I also got in a run along the Mississippi. We went from the kids' house down past the University of Minnesota and back (about 4 total miles - the last pic). 

Sunday afternoon we went to this neat little theater and saw Oppenheimer (which I liked). 

Monday (or was it also Sunday) we got a tour of the Luther Seminary campus. It is actually larger than I anticipated. We got to see Isaac's office, some of the classrooms, the chapel area, and they have one of the two known "death masks" Luther had made (you should google it). There is also this large portrait that is either Martin Luther or Jack Black. I couldn't tell.

The first day there we had brunch at a little place we walked to from their house, then lupper at an outdoor place along the Mississippi downtown. On Sunday we went to The Market At Malcolm Yards, which was pretty cool (near the U of M football stadium).

Anyway, I'm sure I am forgetting a ton. It was a very nice trip, we were glad they seem to like the area they are in, and we are looking forward to many more visits over the next few years at least.