PTFC v MNUFC in MLPS

It was a beautiful day for flying, but it turned into a dark and stormy night. Hello Minneapolis!   

30 minutes after we were on the ground, this started.  What's a Cubit?

We spent the evening watching the lightning storm out our hotel window and getting tornado updates from the local TV weatherman.

The storm from our hotel window.  The stadium is out there somewhere

The next day the weather was much improved.  It was time for some exploring and site seeing. Sites, where are you? We googled a few places, including Prince’s Paisley Park. Hmm, an industrial-type setting, very carefully guarded. That’s okay. The guard at the gate would not let us on the grounds unless we had already purchased a tour.

Closest we got to The Paisley Palace

Mind blowing Mall of America (MoA). Quite large, kinda cool. Maybe we saw a third of it.

World's Largest, Bloomington Minnesota

Three floors of everything you could ever possibly want.

An entire carnival inside the Mall of America

Fort Snelling, where the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers meet, was on guard protecting the area from Indian attack.  Too bad we didn’t get to see the inside because it’s only open one day a week – wrong day.

Fort Snelling.  "Sorry, the moose out front should have told you we're closed today."

We found the Minnehaha house from “Rehab Addict” (love that show.) What a gorgeous house, and the neighborhood was so beautiful.

Nicole Curtis was here

While driving around, we accidentally came to the state capitol building. It really was breath taking.  Minnesota and Oregon became states at about the same time, so we imagine that this is what the old Oregon capital must have looked like before it burned down.

Minnesota State Capital Building, St. Paul

Sculpture in front of the dome

Above the rotunda

Stairway to the Senate Chamber

We cruised past the Fitzgerald Theater, home of The Prairie Home Companion. 

"Where the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and the children are above average."

Of course, the real reason for the trip was to watch the Portland Timbers, the team we love so much. We stayed within walking distance of the stadium, in the University of Minnesota district. Before the match we went downtown for meet up with the Heartland Brigade of the Timbers Army.

Many mixed emotions about how we lost the game, but we can say we had fun! 

View of the U of M Stadium from our room with a lot nicer weather.

Marching into the stadium with our new friends

We don't always root, but when we root, we Root for the Timbers

Bad first half, good second half

"Get up amigo! There's No Pity in the Rose City"

Better second half.  Still not the result we were hoping for.

Next day, we were back out there, in Minnehaha Park. Dee-lightful!  Suggestion for the city:  maps, trail locations, signage would go a long way to assist the out of town visitors.  The creek flows into the Mississippi (I just realized that the old sing-song approach for spelling comes in handy.) Eventually, we found our way to a spot where we could marvel and be thrilled to once again see this river. Let’s hear it for history!

Minnehaha Depot in Minnehaha Park

Minnehaha Falls

Minnehaha Bridge #2 over Minnehaha Creek

The river that Minnehaha Creek runs into (we think it's called the Mississippi)

Downtown was sleepy on a Sunday (all the Vikings fans were already in the stadium), but we did enjoy the Midtown Exchange. Like a trip around the world. 

Alternative to MOA in the old Sears Building

Lots of quaint shopping

We couldn't decide between Camel on a Stick and Roast Goat, so we had neither.

We highly recommend Minneapolis to friends and family. Similar in many ways to Portland, but a much more multi-cultural city. So different from our rather homogeneous existence. We had a good time. T&J

Thanks for the hospitality Minneapolis

Tasty Travel Tunes

Theme from "Twister" - Marc Mancina

Purple Rain - Prince

Sabu Visits the Twin Cities Alone - John Prine