Minnesota weekend

We took a quick trip to visit the kids in Minneapolis this past weekend. Fortunately there is a direct flight on Delta between Fort Wayne and Minneapolis. We live about 5 minutes from the airport, and Isaac & Ricci are about 20 minutes from theirs. Air time takes roughly 70-80 minutes. It all makes for fairly smooth travel.

We arrived around 9:30am Friday morning and Isaac picked us up while Ricci was still at work. After stopping at the Hi-Lo Diner for breakfast (about a mile from their house), we asked if we could drive by the George Floyd Memorial area at 38th Street & Chicago Ave. It is just a couple blocks from where he gets his hair cut, and was somewhat moving to imagine all that took place there. 

Next up we visited Mia (Minneapolis Museum of Art). It is a very cool place just a couple miles from where they live. It's hard for my brain to wrap around the fact some of these things existed over 4,000 years ago. Though perhaps the coolest exhibit to me was the 'American Gothic' picture story from Gordon Parks. During a yearlong fellowship in Washington D.C. in 1942, Parks photographed government worker Ella Watson across the varied landscape of her daily life as a custodian, head of a household, and a deaconess in her church. I was especially moved by the picture of Ms. Watson reading to the children of her adopted daughter (who is in the background). 

Friday night we all went to a teeny little pizza place for supper and then just hung out at their house. Isaac's 36th birthday was Saturday, and he unfortunately woke up sick. Eventually we made our way to an Art Fair in nearby Edina, but that was about all we did that day.

Sunday we ventured to St. Paul for breakfast and a stroll through a Farmers Market, then we headed to Minnehaha Falls for a bit of a hike.

Mostly this trip was just about spending time with Isaac & Ricci (and the dogs, Tig & Crosby) before the arrival of their first child later this year. They have a nice little rental house in a residential area with a couple bedrooms upstairs, a nice big bedroom and separate bathroom in the basement (where we normally stay), and it's within walking distance to a grocery store, restaurants, and the Mississippi River.

We headed back to the airport around 6-ish Sunday evening for our 7:50 flight. Other than me getting molested by a security guard and having my deodorant confiscated, it was an uneventful (though slightly bumpy) ride and we landed a little after 10pm our time (9 Minnesota time).

So, that's about all there is to say about that. It was a nice relaxing visit as usual, but I wish they weren't so far away.