Damkier's Travels: Minneapolis

After a week of touring the Midwestern grain belt, I finally arrived in Minneapolis, MN. This large, hip town is located in southern Minnesota doncha no. Most people do not talk with an accent in the city, but bless those that still have that strong accent! Unfortunately, the weather returned to hot and muggy by the time I arrived in the Twin Cities, but my apartment was waiting with A/C in each room. I stayed in the near the university and the old Polish Nordeast neighborhood, so I could not resist a dinner of kielbasa and pierogi. Yum.

My first stop was the Walker Art Center near downtown. They are an avant guard modern art museum that offers free extended hours admission on Thursday nights. It also happened to be the 2014 Internet Cat Video Festival which packed the gardens full of people wanting to watch YouTube on a big screen with strangers. The museum art was complimented by visitors wearing cat tails and ears and meowing all over the place. As expected, the videos were cute and funny.

After a long cat nap, it was time to continue my explorations. A sunny day brought me to the American Swedish Institute which is located in an old mansion built by a wealthy Swedish immigrant. They display many Scandinavian artifacts and art. I have extensive Scandinavian heritage, so it was cool to see some of my ancestral roots. Their cafe also serves pretty good meatballs and salmon. No lutefisk though. Uffda!

I have been to the Mall of America before as a child; it is still massive, but a bit smaller than I remember. The massive monument to capitalism has nearly every store you can imagine, including several Caribou Coffees. Pity all my west coast friends who do not have the Campfire Mochas. Nevertheless, Friday night means fish fry, and the Red Stag Supperclub has one every week. I chose the local Walleye with a Grain Belt beer. Very awesome and very authentic. It was time to walk off that grease near the Mississippi River and disappear into an old Polka bar for a Friday night Manhattan. Fortunately the apartment was close.

Minneapolis owes its start to the St. Anthony Falls and the hydropower which drew lumber and flour mills to the city. Grain and trees from the Midwest made their way to the city to be transformed into product for the East Coast and beyond. The Mill City Museum chronicles this growth in an abandoned mill partially destroyed by fire. This place tells a rich history of the region and is just a cool facility to escape the hot afternoon. The history lesson is interesting and funny. They even have an onsite demonstration kitchen baking treats all day long so the place smells like grandma's kitchen. We all use and eat flour on a daily basis, so it is good to know how it came about.

Finally, it was time to end my journey with a visit to Target Field - my 25th MLB ballpark. The Minnesota Twins decided to play in San Francisco this year, so I was unable to see my team play, but the Kansas City Royals were in town following me of course! I saw the Royals play all week, and it was great to see them lose to the Twins. Target Field is very modern and wedged into a tight downtown spot. It works well with the parking garage built into the Interstate and the light rail stop directly in the outfield. The beer was cold and cheap. The cheese curds were warm and golden. We root, root, rooted for the home team and won. The perfect end to a long and enjoyable trip.