When we crossed the Minnesota line from Wisconsin on our way in, it was like a zen thing. The longitude and latitudes were in harmony. The magnetic pull from the north was just right. I was home. Like a migrating bird, I felt I was back to my birthplace…and I was!

Blogs from Minnesota always sparked my interest. I liked reading about the areas that I have childhood memories. My favorite blog from Minnesota is Hasty Brook. When we found out we would be going to Minneapolis, we decided to add a week’s vacation to the trip and see Duluth and the UP (Upper Michigan,) visit Da Yuppers.

Lynne from Hasty Brook lives in the Minneapolis area and I left her a message to see if we could meet for coffee while I was in Minneapolis. She said, “yes” and I was so excited to meet her. She drove all the way into downtown Minneapolis to pick me up so we could go out birding at the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and then out for coffee at Starbucks. Other than the really bad, bad, bad mosquitos, I had just a wonderful time. Lynne is so nice, so sweet and just a genuine person that I had a lot in common with. Lynne took a picture of me in front of the Wildflower Garden but I don’t have a picture of her there. What was wrong with me! Maybe it was the mosquitos? I can’t believe I didn’t take her picture there! While at Starbucks, Lynne had some neighboring patrons take our picture. People were so nice and friendly there. Here is a photo of us at Starbucks.

Lynne wrote a really nice blog entry about our day and she wrote it much better than I could have so please read her entry here. I think we could have talked all day but she had to get ready for work. I so enjoyed the day. As a bonus, she has a bit of that Minnesota accent that I find so wonderful. I hope she’ll come to Erie to see Presque Isle and into NY Allegany State Park sometime. Wouldn’t that be neat!
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The convention had its reception at the Ruins of the Flour Mill. What a great piece of history on the river. The meal was awesome. We toured the ruins of the mill turned museum and took the elevator to the tower where you could see way out over Minneapolis.

The next two days involved shopping and walking the skywalk in downtown Minneapolis. You never have to get out in the weather which would be quite a bonus in the winter. But when the weather was nice, I enjoyed walking the sidewalks outside. I found a nice pair of sandals to buy, had plenty of “treats” and saw a movie, all in the skywalks. I found a Godiva Chocolate store and pointed to a few pieces of chocolate for a “treat” before I had my lunch. They rang it up at $13! I couldn’t believe it and thought it must be a mistake. But then I saw a tiny sign that the tiny peanut butter cup (about the size of a Reeces) was $4. I should have said, sorry, I didn’t realize it was so much and had them put it back but I was too embarrassed. I paid and took it back to my room and made it my lunch. The HUGE peanut butter cups at Stefanelli’s in Erie are so much better and you get so much more for your money.

View from our room.

stay tuned for part 3