Saturday

Our flight to Minnesota was via Southwest airlines.  It had been years since we sang our way into the number one priority boarding position in Southwest’s interesting model of non-assigned seating.  It had changed a bit.  They now had rows of pillars with numbers like 1-6, 7-10, etc., where you were supposed to line up in number order according to your boarding group A, B, C.  We did our best to cooperate.  Since our little family of 4 adults had sequential numbers 5, 6, 7, 8, at least that gave us the opportunity to board the plane together and choose the seats we wanted from what was left over after the dozens of people in group A had finished boarding.  I was surprised when a wise-guy interloper comes up to Gil and says, “So, what number you got?” “5,” Gil tells him. Wiseguy doesn’t tell him what number he has. This is probably because he has number 56.  He just uses this ruse to cut in line, stand next to Gil, and board early with us.  So, we walk onto the jetway and there’s me and Gil, Wiseguy, then Seattle and Mary.  This will not do.  Wiseguy did not know he was sandwiching himself in between family members.  I look back and call to my daughters, “Hey, you come up here with me… I want to know where you are.” Mission accomplished.  I don’t know where Wiseguy sat, but, our family boarded together, with our choice of seats unmolested by the interloper.

This flight only got us as far as Chicago’s Midway airport where we had a two-hour layover.  Because we had been up since 4:00 a.m., left without breakfast, and it was now 10:00 our time, we were hungry.  Chicago was serving breakfast and we went to “Miller’s Pub, Serving Chicago Since 1935” in the airport where we ordered a bacon egg and cheese sandwich, French toast, pancakes and an omelet. All looked fabulous, freshly home-cooked.  Too bad there was a rancid taste of some kind of bad cooking oil that pervaded each bite.  I was very grateful later when I realized none of us got sick from it.

The flight into Bloomington, MN arrived early.  It was sunny and uneventful.  It was also hot when we arrived.  Mary rented a Mitsubishi Gallant for us. There’s a first time for everything and this was her first exposure to how damn expensive it can be to rent a car for a week. She was kind of shell-shocked. When we explained that we should check out the body of the car for damage before leaving the parking lot so she didn’t get charged for a pre-existing scratch or something, she took it very seriously, got out of the car, inspected it carefully, and announced that there was indeed a 4 inch scratch on the passenger door.  We waited in the air-conditioned vehicle while she schlepped back into the terminal to tell the rental car people to note this scratch on the record for the car so she didn’t have any trouble when returning it.  It all went well, even though it was a hassle – more glitchy adult stuff she was learning to deal with.

Since more drivers meant more expense, she decided she would be the only driver for the trip.  Which was fine for her because she has just a teeny “control problem” when she is forced to be a passenger in a car driven by either of her parents. And her 18-year old sister is useless since she hasn’t gotten her license, but if she did have one, she would, like the parents, “do everything wrong,” so this was the best arrangement for all.

We brought “Lee” – the Australian voice of our Garmin GPS system.  This was a very good idea, and he guided us nicely to our hotel and then later to Lois & Rich’s elegant townhome in the heart of Minneapolis.  As soon as we pulled into the driveway, it started to rain and we made a happy dash to the garage to the waiting embraces of our hosts.

We spent the next couple hours kibitzing and catching up on life and travels.  They, having just been on a 4 week trip to Europe and us, having just been… well, living, for the past couple years since we’d seen them. They were solicitous about my ravaged knees as we planned our activities.  I was on methylprednisone steroids to calm down the spectacular and debilitating pain that was my surprise visitor a week before.  The doctor also gave me Vicodin, a narcotic, for pain.  I strategically avoided the Vicodin so I would be free to enjoy some alcoholic treat Lois might have.  Good decision, as Lois had a delightful “brandy slush” she made for us.

Dinner is always an adventure with this couple ‘cause they are both very good cooks, well-traveled, well-read and well-experienced in the fine points of nutrition and dining.  For Saturday night, they decided to give us something Rich had with one of his friends in Quebec – make-your-own spring rolls.   So they brought out a bowl of boiling water in which to dip clear paper rice pancakes and then all the stuff you would put on the rice paper before rolling it up: first, what Mary calls “spider web noodles” – these were clear (no color) gummy noodles in a bowl. When you tried to take some with tongs, they clung together like thick spider webs. I am guessing the taste would pretty much match spider webs too, although I am guessing because I haven’t tasted wet spider webs before.  But, Gil said they gave the roll-ups some substance and made them hang together better and he liked them a lot.  Other “stuffings” for the spring rolls were chopped dry-roasted peanuts, bean sprouts, tangy sauces, shrimp, pork, and sliced green onions.  This was a great deal of fun, creative and adventurous. Lois added black cherries and cantaloupe to the table for good measure. And she followed up with a decadent homemade mud pie which she served with steak knives, the better to cut through the chocolate topping and Oreo bottom. In between was maple ice cream, peanuts, and gooey caramel.

After dinner, we went to visit a couple of almost-newlyweds in their new hundred-year-old house. It was charming and well-preserved with lots of wood trim, a few stained glass windows, high ceilings and custom appointments of trim, shelving, countertops and a serene backyard with perennials, an old tree and a small stone patio. They each had rooms for their creative outlets – his extra room held his drawing table and implements for his art; her extra room held her stomping board and dvd sound for her flamenco practice. It was great to see their youthful, progressive, creative values and personalities threaded through the elements of their home as they are building their life there together.

The evening together with fresh made mint tea and catch-up conversation was punctuated by loud sirens.  “What’s that?” we asked. “Oh, that sound is a tornado warning.”  A little later, “And that sound is the one for when it’s actually touched down somewhere.”  Well, heck, guess we’d better turn on the radio.  The radio play-by-play buzzed in the background of our living room conversation while we enjoyed each other’s company, waiting for the words that would send us to the basement, but instead, hearing reports that the activity was far enough North that we would be undisturbed. 

Except for the rain, that is.  When we thought the peril had passed, and that the rains had calmed down, we decided to head to our cars and make our way back to the hotel.  We were wrong about the rains calming down part.  Buckets of fire-hose spraying water tumbled from the dark sky as we dashed to the car.  Sopping and giddy, we headed out.  Lois and Rich had told us “the direct way” to get out of town and back on the road toward the hotel and said they would lead us in their car to Cedar Avenue, at which point we were supposed to turn left and they would turn right. We followed Lois & Rich and got stopped in front of a train crossing.  Everyone bailed and made a U-turn to get out of there. Rich found his way back to the appointed Cedar Avenue turn. We had mounted in the car Lee, our GPS-dude  and programmed in our destination, while still following Rich's car.  Every time Lee said, “Turn right,” Rich would turn left, and vice verse. Monsoon-heavy, downpour rain flooded the  streets.  One ramp had us in water almost as deep as the tires.  Because it was night and covered in water, Mary couldn’t see the lines on road.  There was just glare, like driving on ice. She was driving on the shoulder, careening across the middle and back, all over the place! We made it back to the hotel. The rain stopped.  Inside the hotel, we peeled off wet clothes and collapsed into bed.

Sunday

We went to cousin Rich and Alyssa's for lunch. Time to meet the newest member of the family, baby girl Zoie. Almost-newlyweds Adam and Andrea were there with their vegetarian brats (that's brats as in "bratwurst", not bratty vegetarian children). We also had fabulous home-made salads and burgers, with regular brats. Lois brought lemon bars and Adam brought what tasted like rhubarb chess pie – yum.

'Walked around the lake with the baby in a stroller.  We were all kinda wishing someone was pushing us around in a stroller. 'Sat under old trees next to the lake with a breeze and watched as Zoie and her Gramma toddled all around a playground park.

MarSea stayed behind at Rich’s house to play the Wii. They chose Mario Party. They got through 2 games. Mary won both.

Back at Lois & Rich's house we said we wanted to play games, so Rich rummaged around in old boxes and cupboards.  More brandy slush. Rich slayed Carrie, then Mary, in a game of Twixt. There was Connect Four (Mary always wins) and Scopa! which is the most fun because you get to play it with Italian accents. Then it was time for spaghetti dinner with texas toast and mixed greens salad and red wine.

After dinner was a walk along the GreenWay, a lush stone and treed pedestrian street that wends through the houses. 'Saw the playground, the dandelion fountain, the community pool and herb garden.  While we were walking, sitting and talking, the girls were playing on a sandbox playground, Mary creating obstacle course runs for Seattle and videotaping her antics on a tire swing. It was dark by the time we got home.

Monday

We all went down to the Staybridge breakfast buffet, where, Seattle, who is not a breakfast person because she doesn’t like “breakfast food,” proceeded to get what she does consider to be adequate breakfast fare: Froot Loops and a chocolate muffin. Oh, and for good measure, when she finished those, she ate a hard-boiled egg.  Looks to me like she's ready for college. 


Next was a trip to the Mall of America.  We had no illusions about how much we would be able to do there. The MoM has 2.5 milliion square feet of retail space, over 520 stores on three levels and four zones, each with its own styling, including a Nickelodean Theme Park complete with roller coasters. 

We just wanted to get Seattle’s hair cut.  The Mall staff raved about Progressions Salon, so we went there. We arrived around 11:00 a.m. and were greeted by Danni, the loquacious receptionist and then Tom, who, with practiced pretentiousness meant to convey to us walk-in customers that the salon is booked and in-demand so we should be grateful for any appointment, says, “Let’s see what we have open here…”.

I’m looking at two rows of about 12 empty salon chairs and holding back my comment of, “Gee, what about one of one of those openings there?” Finally, he says, “Ah, yes…". And he “finds” Chris for Seattle and Andy for Mary, who decided to get her hair cut too.  Well, the Mall folks were right, Progressions was great.  The girls each had a personal consultation, followed by the application of oil for a head massage, a shoulder massage, then shampoo, cut, and blow-dry. Chris was personable and kind, and even though Seattle’s bangs ended up too short, they will grow.  Mary enjoyed conversation and styling with Andy, who reminded her of Adam Lambert. Afterwards, they both got a fun complimentary makeup touch-up by Tom. Mary bought some salon products to take with her.

While they were getting their hair done, Gil and I went to Johnston and Murphy and bought him new sandals which were so welcome for this trip.  We found a leather kiosk with a nice purse for Carrie. We bought gourmet doggie cookie treats to take back to Lara as a thank you for keeping Valcor for the week.  The treats are for Kako and Roxie, not for Lara.  And Gil bought Seattle a number 18 Vikings jersey in honor of her 18th birthday this month. 

Mary wanted a little adventure for lunch so we went to the Rainforest Café. Mary asked to get a table next to a fish tank, please and they were able to oblige. While we waited for our food, we watched the fish. There were unicorn/pinnochio fish, puffer fish and other brightly colored types that were mesmerizing to watch.  One we wished we could figure out was the polkadot fish who seemed to be on a never ending repetitive loop.  I wonder if fish can have obsessive-compulsive disorder? This guy would sprint to the upper left corner of the tank, back off, then go back slowly to the right bottom of the tank, turn around and make a running start to lunge toward the top left of the tank again. And again, and so on.  The whole hour we were there, this dude did not change his well-worn path through the tank. We never figured out what was so interesting in the top left corner, or why he did not change his swimming pattern, while all the other fish were swirling around.  Well, actually, several of them seemed to have their own particular paths and obsessions in the tank.  The food was good, and there were two thunderstorms while we were there.

Since we had taken a hotel shuttle to get there, we were stuck with the schedule and had to catch the 2:45 shuttle back.  As we were headed toward the exits, we passed a stage with a long queue of screaming girls and a camera crew.  They were waiting for the appearance of Zac Efron, star of High School Musical, who was promoting his current movie, Charlie St. Cloud.  Zac is the decade’s true teen heart throb, and Seattle, being a true teen, was maintaining a thinly veiled freak-out at the possibility of being so close to him.  The mall police did not let us or anyone else stand around and gawk unless you committed yourself to the roped queue, which of course we couldn’t do because we had to catch the hotel shuttle.  It took the girls hours to calm down and get over the trauma of being so close and yet so far from the fetching Zac.

The big event of the night was the Indians/Twins baseball game.  Gil donned his official Indians jersey, which, thankfully, was the exact same colors as the Twins jerseys so we didn’t stick out too much.  It was a night game and Rich kindly drove us over to the stadium and dropped us off.  Gil had procured tickets for each of the three games that were the Indians’ engagement here in Minneapolis. He got Club Level, which was so cool, because it has tony restaurants and air conditioning and nice bathrooms and a very nice vantage point to the field.  The Minneapolis city skyline was beautiful as a backdrop.  The weather was balmy wiht a little breeze.  Our seats were on the third base line and we could see everything with great clarity – fabulous. 

The four of us enjoyed the game, Mary was particularly appreciative of all the sights, including the nice looking legs of a guy sitting next to us.

Gil says “the pitching was awful” because there were a total of 31 hits for the game which is very high.  For someone like me, it was great because it meant lots of action. There were tons of foul balls in the stands, and Jim Thome, a former beloved Indian now playing for the Twins, hit a crushing 444 foot home run. The Indians continued to rack up the runs, many of which were in the never-ending 5th inning.  I don’t know how long the 5th inning lasted, maybe an hour or more, most of which was played with 2 outs.  Those poor Twins just couldn’t get the third out, and in the meantime the Indians were hitting, and walking and loading bases. The Indians won 10-4, holy cow!  Gil left on cloud 9 and he restrained his rival team gloating so we did not get beat up on the way out of the stadium.

Rich picked us up and took us back to our car, where we fired up Lee, our GPS-dude, who led us to a highway entrance clearly marked 35W, and told us to “take ramp to MN-65.” This confused our driver Mary, who remembers several “recalculating” turns as we made our way home that night.  Turns out 35W is the same as 65-MN. This is apparently a well-kept secret, but we figured it out during the week. We got home after midnight.

Tuesday

We went to the Mall of America to see the Underwater Adventures Aquarium.  We paid for 4 adult all-day passes, the behind-the-scenes tour and “the Plunge” ride. Inside, we walked through a glass tunnel of water with large salt-water fish swimming above and all around us. Then we went for the behind the scenes tour with Heidi. We saw the “deck” which was the work area floor above the “fish tunnel.” Highlights were a batfish, a fish with two mouths and the quarantine tanks. She then took us to kitchen where we saw the detailed feeding schedule, which covered an entire wall, for all the fish in the tunnel tank.  Heidi mentioned that inspectors often rate this kitchen higher for cleanliness than most of Minneapolis’s restaurant kitchens. They spend $1500-$3,000 a month on food, which is restaurant grade.
From this little tour of fish food, we learned that squid are handy food cause they have a little pocket they use to stuff in pills for fish who need meds, or to hide broccoli for the turtles who don’t want to eat their veggies.  As I scanned the pails, I also saw an inhaler labeled “X’s Inhaler.” Apparently one of the shark’s, named X, had a breathing condition that required an inhaler.  So, for those of you who have ever had to put a pill in a pocket just to have your dog eat around it and spit out the pill, or have had to try to stuff meds down a cat’s throat, just think of administering an inhaler to a shark. 

They don’t feed them every day because they wouldn’t normally eat daily in the wild. Octopuses get the most creative diet because otherwise they would get bored.  They also put their food in a jar and make them figure out how to open it for the same reaso - so they don't get bored.

Since sea turtles are a protected species, the government requires them to give them an annual physical.  This involves hoisting the turtle out of the aquarium (the biggest one they have there is 350 pounds, smallest 80) and putting it onto a scale. I assume there’s blood tests and such, just like our physical exams.  Heidi also took us to a jelly fish lab where we learned about what they eat and how deadly they are. Jelly fish that are dead on the shore will still sting you, so don’t touch. 

When we were done we went back to the fish tunnel to watch them feed the rays and the sharks from long tong-like tools. 

We proceeded to their amazing jellyfish exhibit. It was dark in there, and the walls were mirrors.  It had several columns tanks of water; each tank had jelly fish in it and the tank was lit up with different colors of light which made the translucent graceful jelly fish look so beautiful.  The end of the jelly fish exhibit was the gift store and, mercifully, a bench for Carrie and Gil.  We sat there while Seattle and Mary took, oh, 45 minutes looking at all the gift store kitsch and finally buying a box of aquatic puzzles, pretty fish to hang on Mary’s wall and her “free gift with purchase” was a fishy refrigerator magnet.

Then we had to use our Plunge tickets. Plunge is one of those metal pods you get into, with a screen on the front inside.  The pod moves, and jerks and plunges, on hydraulic springs to match up with whatever tormenting, death-defying video you are watching on the screen. You got to choose your “adventure” video. There were rides through canyons of fire, one involving dinosaurs, and one with two happy dolphins in blue water.  The little lady who ran the thing said, “I give you best ride (this would be the way-too-long pit of fire ride)!  We said, “No, no – we want the dolphin one.”  She gave us the dolphin one.  It was not a bucolic romp through the ocean with happy dolphins.  It was a perilous repeated plunge through pirate coves and dangerous places I can’t really describe adequately, because, sitting in the front row as I was, I had my eyes closed, or mostly closed, much of the time, sucking in air and breathing out slowly, so that I would not hurl. There was a red panic STOP button right above me, but I didn’t want to be the one who ruined it for everyone else.  Mercifully, the dolphin ride, one of the mildest and shortest, ended.  When the hatch opened, the little lady apologized for this, saying it was way too short and she was going to let us go again on a “better” one.  “NOOOO!" we all said in unison. And "Uh, thank you so much. That was great.  Buh-bye now.” We all tripped our way out and just wanted fresh air and stable ground.

Next thing on the agenda was the second baseball game.  We wanted to bring Rich, so Mary and Lois went over to take care of Zoie while Rich came to the ball game with Gil, Carrie, and Seattle. This was great fun because this is a new stadium for Minneapolis and Rich was getting out of the house and doing something special on a work night! The guys kibitzed about the game and Seattle and I enjoyed the experience.  Highlights were that during the in-between inning videos of fans, the camera man would frame a man and a woman he thought were “together” and when they saw their face on the huge stadium screen, they were supposed to kiss.  It was fun to read the lips of some of them, like the lady who would say, “Oh, I’m not doing that,” and then the guy would wrestle her into a kiss for the camera.  Oh-so-romantic was one where the camera landed on a young couple, and the guy, Tony, pulled out an engagement ring and asked Edie to marry him.  She gasped and cried and she said “Yes.” Another highlight was that the Indians won, 4-3.  This, after the night before’s 10-3 win, or rather, route.  This second win in a row did not endear us to the rabid Twins fans all around us as we cheered every pick-off and high-fly catch. The Indians after all, are in last place in the league and the Twins are in 4th, so this was just embarrassing. But Gil took it as just great hospitality for his trip to Minneapolis.  While we were enjoying the game, Lois and Mary were playing with Zoie.  Mary taught her twirlyball, and "head, shoulder knees and toes." They fed her dinner of toast and Pedialite, and Lois put her to bed.  Then they watched TV and talked. We were all ready for bed when we finally rolled in at about midnight.

Wednesday

The girls and we split up. Girls went to Valley Fair amusement park. Carrie and Gil went to Target Stadium with Lois & Rich for the third game. Before the game, as I watched him get dressed, I just had to ask Gil, “Dear, is your not showering for 3 days part of, uh, the ritual to make sure the Indians win?” He said "Yes, of course."  But then he realized, I guess, that he would be more pleasant to be near if he showered, so he did.  This was treading on dangerous territory.  He had showered off the winning sweat and grease from the previous two games and even changed his Indians game shirt. Oh, my.  “No, matter.  You are my good luck charm, Carrie.”  No pressure here.

The group for game 3 was the ‘rents: Gil, Carrie, Lois and Rich. This was the noon game, different from the night games.  We got there and our seats on the club level were in row 1.  The club level food was amazing for a ball park. I decided I wanted authentic Minneapolis Polish food, so I got a Polish brat with saurkraut, sauteed onions and yellow peppers and a squirt of deli mustard.  Classic and delicious! 
Moving to our seats, the temperature reported for Minnneapolis on my Droid weather app was only 84, but in the direct noonday sun in it felt at least 88. The flags from the stadium show how much of a breeze there was – almost none. Lois was there in her baseball stylin', very excited to be at a game in her new stadium.  Lois & Rich are not much for baseball, but she thoroughly enjoyed the sites and sounds and knew enough of the game to keep up.  Like any good mom, she liked it when anybody (for either team) hit the ball or made a great catch and clapped and bounced up and down in her seat with glee.  The Twins came out blazing.  They scored in the first inning.

It wasn’t long before it was clear that I was simply going to bake in the sun. In inning two, I asked Gil to go get me a hat or visor and some more sun screen and water. He left and the Twins scored again. Not good.  It was painful for Gil to go spend money on a Twins hat for me. I tried to soften the blow by asking for one that just had "TC" on it, for Twin Cities, pretty neutral. He brought me back the hat and some SPF 30 sunscreen and I was good to go for the next 5 innings.  Unfortunately, so were the Twins.  The damage had been done.  Here was Gil, with his showered body, fluffy clean hair, fresh Indians shirt and me in a Minnesota Twin Cities cap for godsake.  WHAT were we thinking?? The Twins were “stealin’ fools,” and manufactured more runs.  Their hometown hero, catcher Joe Mauer, who the night before had made a devastatingly bad "executive decision" to bunt when he should have been "swinging away," did not even play in this game three.  The Twins ended up winning 6-0.  Lois said she thought she had been a very good Twin Cities Host, arranging for the Indians to win two games already, and this win for the Twins was just being fair.  This was the game she was attending, after all.  I had to agree.

We repaired to their lovely city-center townhome at Yale Place for conversation, more brandy slush, air conditioning, and naps. The girls were getting home from Valley Fair and were totally wrung out from the rides and the heat, so they stayed at the hotel while the ‘rents went to a Minneapolis restaurant in the ‘hood, Manning’s. It was two-for-one burger night, so we feasted on 8 ounce burgers, chips and fries.  Gil and Rich had the mushroom Swiss burger and Lois and I had the California cheeseburger – terrific, all.  After dinner, Rich took us on a driving tour of Minneapolis, meandering through the campus of Minnesota University and to a vantage point where we could see the Weisman Art Museum across the Mississippi River. Minneapolis has a lively and rich combination of buildings, parks and architectures with a lot of history and cache.  It was a treat to get a tour. The girls missed all this.  But then again, we missed all the roller coasters and funky shows at the amusement park. We were all tired and ready for sleep when we got back to our hotel.

Thursday

We slept in, barely making it to the hotel free breakfast buffet in time to choose something to eat before 9:30.  Seattle didn’t even try; we left her in bed with the covers over her head. When we were finished with breakfast, we retrieved the laptop and Mary and I tried to fill in vacation diary details while Gil read USA Today.

Finally, around 1:00, we met up with Lois and Rich at their place for a day of touring more of Minneapolis.  We set out on foot to wander Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis.  This is basically a couple blocks from their back door, which is so cool.  Nicollet is a spicy conglomeration of fresh farm-market produce, flower-sellers and vendors of homemade salsas and pickles and hummus. It runs down the middle of downtown, surrounded by office buildings, including Target, whose headquarters is in Minneapolis. 

We walked past headquarters and to a Target store, which was two stories and whose fun feature was a double escalator, one for you and one for your cart:  when you had your big red Target shopping cart with you and you wanted to go to the second floor, you approached the escalators, put your cart on one and you step on the one next to it.  You both arrive at the second floor together.

While in Target, the girls went off and did girly shopping.  Mary bought Seattle some beautiful tunic sweaters and an unbelievably cute sundress with pockets. What a great sister.   They also bought firecracker lip gloss (which we all sampled, except for the guys), ibuprofen and granola bars. The granola bars were to tide them over till dinner because they were getting hungry.  I figured since we ate so late (9:30) and left to go to Minneapolis and meet up with folks at 1:00, we could just wait till a 6:00 dinner to eat. (Eating on vacation tends to get out of hand, and I figured a little planned fasting wouldn’t hurt us.) Turns out the girls did not agree with my plan and when we got back to Lois & Rich’s at 4:00, sat down and made ham sandwiches for which Lois and Rich kindly provided the makings.  Geez.

The parents took off to see the Guthrie Theater, an inspiring combination of angles and light and ghosts of performances past.  Its observation hall juts way out, suspended over a highway, with views of the river and parks and cityscape.  The windows were cut to frame and reflect scenes outside and all the surfaces were strategically shiny or matte to reflect the surrounding beauty of the building, sky and nature.  Up on the 9th floor was the Amber Room, a “room” affixed to the outside of the building, made of amber glass so that you looked down through the floor to the streets 9 stories below and looked out to the same vistas through the sunny lenses of amber glass. 
 

We went back home, anticipating Adam’s visit for dinner.  He arrived shortly after Lois and Rich came home from Buca de Beppo’s with eggplant parmigiana, roast chicken, and salads.  We feasted together on these plus spaghetti with homemade marinara sauce, fresh warm bread and corn on the cob. Lois likes to spoil her brother so she had also brought home a lemon meringue pie from Perkins.  After dinner, Adam and I messed around on the computer researching honeymoon destinations for him and Andrea.  Then we saw a slide show of Lois & Rich’s 3-week driving tour through France.  We got back to our hotel and were glad to get into PJs and putter around – Mary with a puzzle, Seattle with a good book and a phone call with The Boy, Gil catching up on sports news on the telly and me doing this diary. 

Friday

Our host family gave us four free passes into any of the Minnesota Historical Society museums.  In the late morning we went to the Mill City Museum on 2nd Street.  It was a museum hewn from the shell of a burned out flour mill.  Inside we learned about Minneapolis’s heyday as a flour mill town. We learned about the armies of people who were part of the harvest – the men doing the field and machinery work and the women preparing food for the armies that traveled on trains. It was a pretty amazing life of manual labor back then, and people were so proud of the work they did in the mills. I liked that many of the voices were of people who lived and worked in the mills when they were young, and who were still around to narrate the photos and films. They left a lot of the abandoned machinery around so we could see how it worked, and an elevator took us to see the city from atop the mill, overlooking St. Anthony Falls on the Mississippi, the water that generated the power for the industry that built Minneapolis.  We also learned that the city got its name from the convergence of the Native American word Minnehaha and the Greek word for city, polis.  We saw all the generations of Betty Crocker, different kinds of wheat grains and the flour they produced, a kitchen with all the 1950’s measuring cups and blenders and such that Gil remembered with clarity. The girls played with dough and rolling pins and puzzles.  We watched a great 19 minute history of the city.  In several of these historical narrations, we encountered the Polish immigrants who occupied a ghetto they called Bohemian Flats.  Seattle’s ears perked up because I am always calling her a Bohemian because of the slovenly life she loves.  Now she sees she comes by the title honestly – it must be in her Polish genes.  Unfortunately, that is my side of the family!

From there, we went to the Mall again with the idea to get Seattle’s phone.  We visited the Verizon store on the 2nd floor but “Austin,” the sales guy who was apparently very helpful for 45 seconds last time Seattle went in, wasn’t there. The dude there said Austin was working in the 3rd floor Verizon store (MoM is so big, it has two of many stores).  So, we walked half way around the mall and to the next floor only to be greeted by Patrick who said Austin wasn’t working today.  Patrick was also very helpful, and after explaining our needs of sending the girl off to college with an appropriate phone that wouldn’t break us financially (that meant no data plan) and that would keep peace in the family concerning her ridiculous text messaging overages with The Boy, who is on a different wireless network, found us the right phone with a kicky teal blue skin, fun features, a full texting keyboard, and an unlimited text plan that even includes other wireless networks.  Once I knew everything was on track, I went out to sit on a bench because these things take about as long to purchase as a car.

We next went to see the premier of the movie Salt, the new Angelina Jolie thriller.  We liked it. I for one am glad they changed their minds and re-wrote it for a female heroine, otherwise we would have had to watch Tom Cruise in another one of these. Seeing Angelina as the bad-ass was fun. Very stressful and tense, though.

We all decided that for old times’ sake (memories of our Orlando vacation ) we would eat dinner at Bubba Gump’s.  Gil and I got lemonade with flavored vodka, and we each had a good seafood dinner.  For dessert, we ordered the large warm chocolate chip cookie with ice cream, caramel and whipped cream on top, with four forks.  By the time Chrissy our waitress came by to see if we were enjoying the cookie, it was gone!  We felt like saying, “Excuse me, miss, but there was supposed to be a cookie in this dessert, and as you can see, there is no cookie here.  Please take it back and get us the right dessert.” We don’t think she would have fallen for it though, what with the ice cream and crumbs clinging to the corners of our mouths.

We came back to the hotel where Gil checked his work e-mail and the girls played Phase 10.  Mary won.

Saturday

We got up and Gil went to the business center to print boarding passes. He gave them to Mary for safekeeping because she is the one who brought “the Mama bag,” which denotes a purse that is big enough to carry the various and sundry crap a family might need when traveling together. I myself preferred to travel light with my Cambodian 6x8” cloth bag slung diagonally across my body for security and no-hands convenience. Coincidentally, I bought this bag right here in Minneapolis in Loring Park years ago, the last time I was here.

We proceeded to Lois & Rich’s for Rich’s famous crepes breakfast. “The Boys,” – Adam and Richard – had come too, and though I know they were being kind and thoughtful and indulging us to let us see them one more time and say good-bye, I also know that any old Saturday or Sunday when dad says he’s doing crepes, those boys will show up for the feast.  Lois had set the table in lovely fashion (her Mom Loretta would have been proud).  Rich makes stacks of crepes and Lois provides all manner of building materials for you to create your own delectable wrapped treat.  There was fresh pineapple, cherries, blueberries, bananas and strawberries.  There were scrambled eggs, bacon, peanut butter, maple syrup, cream cheese, jams, jellys, cheese spread and lemon curd. I made one with cream cheese, lemon curd and blueberries.  My second one had peanut butter, bacon, bananas and maple syrup.  Really.  Yum! Fresh coffee too.

After some more visiting, and downloading Minnesota photos from my camera to Lois’s laptop, we set out for the airport.  Lee, the GPS-dude, filled in the necessary details missing from the Enterprise Rent-a-Car Minneapolis-to-airport printed directions. Thank God.  I remember when travel was much more stressful while using folded paper maps with tiny print and colored squiggles representing roads. I could do it, but for someone like me who is somewhat geographically challenged, finding the starting point was always a challenge.  Being sure you had a current-enough map was critical. Finding ways around unexpected detours was an adventure and it was particularly tricky to be reading the tiny map legend icons, labels and roads while at the same time trying to match my spoken directions to the road signs flying by – “I said SOUTH! Not North! There goes the sign...  You just passed it!”  If I looked up, then I couldn't find my place on the map I was juggling on my lap when I looked down again.  Our genteel "Lee" in his amusing Aussie accent tells us exactly where we are going to turn.  He announces it .7 or .5 miles ahead, then 500 feet ahead, then again while you’re on top of the turn, and into the turn.  He stays in control when the lanes are all splitting up and tells you when you need to be in the left or right lane.  When we don’t make a turn or run into a detour he didn’t know about (let’s say, a train crossing for instance) he always keeps his cool and calmly says, “Recalculating.” This is so much more civilized and allows us to enjoy the trip more with him guiding.

We had a couple hours to kill so we had lunch at a dusty restaurant with dusty, soapy food.  Lois had sent with us our dessert – the last of the Keebler fudge stripe cookies and the chocolate frosted choco-cherry cake bars that she made.  The latter made a fairly gooey mess in their plastic bag, but Gil and I were brave and risked ending up looking like a three-year-old with chocolate ice cream on a 90 degree day. It was delicious and they had a rest room to wash up.

On the SouthWest flight things were going along fine, but we were, after all, headed for a connecting flight stop in Chicago, so we knew anything could happen.  We are used to being delayed because of the raucous weather in Chicago. So, no, the flight was not uneventful.  About 20 minutes in, the plane started to pitch hard and a chorus of “WHOA!!” erupted from all the passengers at once. The flight attendant who was collecting trash was there one second, and boom, on the floor the next. The lady to Gil’s right asked if she could hang on to him, cause she “really didn’t like this and didn’t deal with this kind of thing very well.” And I breathed slowly in through the nose and out the mouth trying to keep my stomach from following the pitching and rolling of the plane.  Gil said the clouds out the window were intimidating columns of storm.  Well, we barreled on through, and approached the runway finally, “way too fast,” Gil declared.  It was 4:40 p.m.

At Chicago’s Midway, we had a 7:20 connecting flight that would take us to Dulles. We found out quickly that it had been delayed till 7:35. Eh. 15 minutes, no big deal.  I sent Gil on a hunt for ice cream.  He reported back and I went to a place where he said I could get roasted pecans – mmm! As I headed for that store, Seattle picked up the scent of ice cream and followed right on my heels.  When I got there, the lady said, “No, we don’t have roasted pecans, we don't have peanuts; we don't have any nuts.  We don’t have any of the stuff listed on the board there.  Except sauces.  We got strawberry, caramel and chocolate.” Astonished and disappointed, I looked at her wide-eyed, then looked toward the board where I saw milk shakes listed.  A malted would taste good, I thought.  “Do you have malt for a malted milkshake?” “Malt? No.” As I glanced at the other specialties listed, she said, “And we don’t have the blueberry or raspberry either.” Good God, woman. Seattle, scanning the six tubs of ice cream, undeterred, said, “Is that chocolate?” It was.  “I’ll have two scoops of chocolate with both chocolate and caramel syrups!" Then she added whipped cream, which the lady spritzed on unceremoniously as if it were ribbons of shaving cream or cake icing, not the lovely dolloped mounds of whipped cream you would normally see on top of two scoops of chocolate in a boat-shaped bowl. I had vanilla with some caramel.  Interesting: Seattle and I sat on opposite sides of the terminal, and we commenced eating our ice cream at the same time.  And, although I had one scoop with one syrup and she had two scoops with two syrups, we finished the last lick at precisely the same moment.  Okay, so maybe this observation does not exactly qualify as “interesting.” But you have to consider the boredom of waiting in an airport terminal for hours….

So it turns out that 15 minute delay was to accommodate a Kansas City flight with 15 passengers who needed to make this flight as a connection to D.C. However, after boarding us, they announced the storms were too dangerous and we’d have to wait. At about 8:45 we took off, and after a couple hours of fairly uneventful flight unless you count the surly asshole behind us who abused the flight attendant while demanding more orange juice and gin, we arrived at Dulles around 11:30 p.m. Got home by 1:00 a.m. Sunday.

Great trip! A few miscellaneous items we didn’t mention that we liked about Minneapolis:

Mary liked all the scented soaps she encountered, like Nectarine Mint, Warm Cinnamon Sugar, Kiwi Melon, and Ginseng Wild Mint.

Mary also appreciated that they knew how to stack ladders on their trucks, unlike in Virginia, where she would see this same truck with six ladders all in one lopsided column on the left side of the van roof (at which point, she would literally have to pass the van on the road because she couldn’t drive behind it and look at the asymmetry without having conniptions).

The girls had never seen, and were impressed by, the water conservation in the public toilets – “Push the lever up for ‘number 1’ and down for ‘number 2.’”


We liked the creative and beautiful mix of architecture, old, new, industrial, business, arts.  Also, all the green and water throughout the city.
























And, I decided that Minneapolis had just about the prettiest container gardens anywhere!

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