minneapolis - volume 2

Hello everyone!

Here’s part two of my wonderful trip to Minneapolis. Wednesday I entertained myself by walking the few blocks to the Global Market in the newly remodeled Midtown building. There’s lots of great shops and restaurants and I had a fabulous meal of middle eastern food from Holy Land. Later that evening Erin picked me up. We were roommates for a year in Madison and met when we both worked at the plasma center in college. We ate yummy Mexican food then headed to the rooftop bar at Stella’s Fish Café for beers, views and talktalktalking. It was pretty warm so it was nice to catch the breeze high up.

Thursday I spent the day with Betsy and Eliza. They picked me up and first we headed to Ross’ work downtown, as Betsy needed to pick up some money from her husband. It’s a long story that involves a forgotten wallet ending up in Arkansas. We then drove to the Birchwood Café where I had a great lunch (turkey burger with brie and strawberries!). Betsy and I talked and talked and it was so wonderful to get a chunk of time with her. Eliza had slept almost the whole time at the restaurant. When we left she realized she wanted lunch too. We stopped at a park along the Mississippi River and I fed Eliza her bottle (breast milk to go!). It was lovely under the shady trees and Betsy and I laughed at the odd and possibly drunk woman in the park with us. Now that everyone was fed we went to the Mill City Museum that recently opened. Minneapolis was a mill town for a long time, with flour being ground using the power of waterfalls on the Mississippi River. The museum has an amazing courtyard that was an old flour mill. The broken windows and rusty beam remain but the ceiling is gone opening the whole space to breezes and sunshine. We then walked out onto the Stone Arch Bridge above the river and looked at St Anthony Falls (now a spillway over concrete rather than a wild waterfall) and the amazing locks allowing river traffic to bypass the falls. It was unbelievably hot in the sun and we all began wilting.

We hightailed it back to Betsy & Ross’ house which I had yet to see. Eliza hung out on her beautiful hand made quilt blowing spit bubbles and kicking her legs while Betsy and I drank giant glasses of ice water. Eliza had a rice cereal snack while Betsy and I shared yummy blueberries and cherries. After Eliza laid down for a nap we went to the shady, green backyard and drank beers and hoped for the heat to break. Greta came over with Valentine once she got off work. Ross came home too and we all hung out for a bit before I left to back to Greta’s house. We fed Valentine some dinner and played for a bit before she went down for the night. Adam came home and then Greta and I took off for sushi dinner at Midori’s Floating World Café. We have shared a love for sushi for a long time. It was great to go with Greta to one of her favorite sushi restaurants and savor the amazing salmon and yellowtail nigiri. Mmmmm sushi heaven! After dinner we drove a to a wine bar for flites of wine. We were talking and enjoying the cooler breezes outside as a storm began approaching. Suddenly there was a huge blast of wind and the umbrella for our table lifted up and began flying away. I stuck my arm out and grabbed it. The waitstaff came out and apologized for my Mary Poppins moment. The umbrellas were all taken down but we remained outside until the cold rain began pelting us. I was so happy to see the lightning and hear the booming thunder. Such storms in Portland are rare and the few that we have had recently have all been when I was out of town.

Friday Greta had the day off work. In the morning I fed Valentine in her high chair then we had a little dance party to some Madonna songs. It was hilarious and so much fun. Valentine curtseied and pull out some great dance moves. We thought she was done but she went to grab one of her baby dolls and made the doll dance too. Greta took Valentine to daycare and then the two of us went shopping at Marshall’s. We each scored a few great items and then we were off to the beach. The water at Lake Nokomis was unbelievably warm and we swam and floated under the blazing sun. The lifeguards were in fine form with their regular barking into the bullhorn. We laughed and drank our sangria and read our books. We searched the beach for pretty rocks and I miraculously even found a small piece of worn,white beach glass. After several hours we had our fill of hot sunshine and swimming and we went home. I showered while Greta went to pick up V. Adam’s brother, Tony, came over with his girlfriend to babysit Valentine for the night.

Greta, Adam and I piled in the minivan and headed for Wisconsin. It’s about 45 minutes from Minneapolis to Hudson just on the other side of the St Croix River. We stopped first at a liquor store where I bought $60 worth of New Glarus beer. It’s my favorite and is not distributed outside of the state of Wisconsin. From there we went to Bob Smith’s Sports Club. There was a group of 12 of us so we were seated in the NFL Room, at a long table with huge Packers & Vikings helmets painted on the wall. We got drinks and the $6.95 all you can fish fry (both perch and cod) along with fries and coleslaw. The perch was especially good and it was oh so Wisconsin. After dinner we went out on the rickety balcony and watched the band playing down on the riverfront for the local festival that was going on. Wisconsin people LOVE festivals! Erin, Kevin and I played a quick round of darts (Kevin won) before we headed down to the waterfront to join everyone else. A funny cover band, The Dweebs, were playing. We drank beer out of plastic cups and laughed and sang along. Greta and I walked down to the beach and walked in the warm waters of the St Croix River. Cheese curds were for sale and I knew I was home.
We made the quick drive back to Minneapolis and unloaded my New Glarus bounty.

Saturday we woke up and the four of us walked to the Mayday Café near Adam and Greta’s house. We got Vietnamese iced coffees and breakfast. Valentine was a hit in her Yoshitomo Nara evil bunny jumper. Greta bought it at the Walker 5 years earlier when we saw a Nara art exhibit. Babies were just a far-off thought at that time and now Valentine was walking around wearing it! We stopped at Powderhorn Park to play on the swings and the slide. V especially loves the slide but always tries to climb back up it rather than going around to the stairs. Back at home we began getting ready for that evening’s bbq. Greta & Adam were hosting a bbq send off party for me. Adam mowed the lawn and I swept the patio area while Greta put Valentine down for a nap and picked up inside. We spent the day alternately lounging about, cleaning the house and prepping food. It was very warm out so Valentine got a bath to help cool her down before her afternoon nap. We all showered and changed our clothes.

Friends began showing up around 5 pm. There was tons of great food: Erin’s guacamole, Kevin’s spicy rice & beans, grilled pineapple and veggies, chicken wings and fantastic burgers. Adam is a fine grill master and has lots of food pride, much to my belly’s delight. Juniper’s dad, Ryan, blew up their little kiddie pool and filled it with water. Juniper and Valentine both splashed around in it though the abundance of toys threatened to overtake all available space. After everyone had eaten the bocce ball game came out. I bounced around holding baby Eliza and drinking my spotted cow beers that I miss so much. Two year old Nina somehow scored both an ice cream cone AND a popsicle before her dad had to take her home to bed. Ross held Eliza in the little pool and splashed around. Her diaper was breached so it was a pool of naked little girls. Oh so adorable. I ate ice cream straight out of the carton in the hot, hot kitchen with Betsy and Erin. I talked about mountains and music with Dan. I killed a few mosquitoes that bit me. I took lots and lots of pictures. People with babies cleared out first, needing to lay down the little ones. After dark a small group of us circled our chairs around and drank beers. We talked about hot springs and sturgeon and brainstormed some inventions (I wouldn’t want to give away any of their great ideas here). Finally sleepiness took over and the last few party goers went home and I went to sleep.

Sunday morning was rainy and stormy. Adam had turned on the air conditioning in the middle of the night when Valentine couldn’t sleep because of the crazy heat. We were all grateful for the cooler air. Walking outside Sunday was like walking into a swamp. The horrid humidity that made me flee the Midwest was in full force. We drank coffee and I fed Valentine her breakfast. I packed up my stuff and showered. We read books to V and played with her new toys (trucks!) and Adam made some sweet rolls. It’s so hard to say goodbye to Greta. We’re so far away from each other but have maintained our friendship over the many miles and years. I love her so and feel so lucky to have her in my life. I can’t wait for Valentine’s first visit to Oregon. I’ll show her starfish and glaciers and waterfalls and a hundred different kinds of moss.

So I’m home now! We’re getting set for our own heatwave here with 100’s expected for the weekend. Wowza! Please let me know how you are and what you’ve been up to!

Xoxox,
carolyn