Friday the 13th found us still in downtown Minneapolis. Our first stop was the Minneapolis Sculpture Gardens, one of the largest urban sculpture gardens in the country. The centerpiece of the garden is the Spoonbridge and Cherry fountain as well as the Cowles Conservatory, which has more flora and sculpture inside.
Leaving downtown we went to an area of older neighborhoods surrounding Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriot, even stopping at an estate sale in a great old house. The views across the lakes towards downtown were nice, as was the residential and commercial districts of the area.
Going back to the center of downtown we spent a few hours wandering through all of the buildings and walkways that allow you to go between them in the wintertime without freezing your ass off.
Of all the public art in Minneapolis the most unusual must be the statue of Mary Tyler Moore, doing her signature move that was in the opening of a 1970s TV show set in Minneapolis.
A work colleague of mine has lived in Minneapolis, and invited us meet with them when we were in town. We decided to go out to dinner, then attend a Minnesota Twins baseball game at Target Field. They chose a restaurant called Bar La Grassa in a restored warehouse district just north of the stadium. Clearly Minneapolis is a very trendy city.
After dinner we walked over to the stadium for the game. Target Field was completed in 2010. The architectural design firm, tried to avoid creating a replica of the old-style brick Camden Yards or modern urban design of the new Nationals Park, instead, the design for the stadium employs local limestone, heated viewing areas and a heated field. The stadium is integrated with a light rail train station.
While the stadium faces some of downtown, and you have views of skyscrapers it does not have the same dramatic view as stadiums like PNC Park in Pittsburgh Nevertheless it is a nice stadium, it was a comfortable night, and we enjoyed spending the evening with them.
RDZ Photography 