July 7, 2021 - PVD to MSP

We woke up extra early for our flight 6 am flight to Minneapolis. (Huge shout out to our friend, Larry, for bringing us to the airport!) After a brief stop in Chicago, we reached our destination, picked up our rental car and were on our way.  

Chicago

Masked on the plane

First stop: Target Field to see the Twins play the White Sox.  We've been fortunate to attend a few Red Sox games at Fenway this year, and it was super fun to get to visit a stadium in another city.  Target Field is new and absolutely gorgeous.  Every seat in the multi-decker park is great, and the walkways are wide with numerous concessions.  After exploring the family games area, visiting with the dinosaurs, and checking out the field from different viewing points, we treated ourselves to the $1 hotdogs and made our way to our seats to enjoy the game.  

After we had our fill of baseball, we set out to see the sights in Minneapolis and we found our way to the skyway, a system of enclosed bridges that connects 80 blocks of the city.  Aemilia (the girl who prefers the great indoors) really liked the skyway, and I have to admit it was great being able to walk around without having to worry about stop lights or traffic.  We walked through the Nicolet Mall food and shopping area, and then headed to the Basilica of Saint Mary, which turned out to be closed (due to covid) except during mass times.  

From there, we walked over to the Minneapolis Sculpture garden at the Walker Art Center, where we were able to see the famous Spoonbridge and Cherry, as well as several other sculptures.  I also completed a Geocaching Adventure Lab in the sculpture garden, and I also found a few traditional geocaches in the area as well.  

We used Google Maps to find a dinner recommendation, and we ended up at a great restaurant called "Hell's Kitchen".  In addition to tasty BBQ, sandwiches, and lemon ricotta pancakes, they also had creepy photos which changed depending on the angle from which you were viewing them.  

After dinner we once again used the Skyway system to navigate back to our car, and then drove to the Mall of America to see the indoor amusement park at  Nickelodeon Universe.  We are still not used to being indoors and unmasked in public places, or touching shared surfaces, so a walk through was enough and no one felt comfortable enough to go on any rides.  Still, it was pretty fun to walk through the mall, and it is definitely a great place to see in Minneapolis. 

Lastly, we drove through George Floyd Square to pay our respects to those who have lost their lives due to racism and brutality, and to honor those who are fighting against these atrocities. This was a chilling and sobering end to the day, yet a valuable and powerful experience that we will not soon forget.