Falling for Minnehaha and Love Lounges!

If you've ever been to the Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis, you know that all weather seasons are beautiful there! Fall you have the change in the leaves, to the crunch of  them under your shoes. Winter the cascading ice caps that form around the falls to create an ice cave only lite by the streams of light coming through the trees. In spring it’s a sanctuary for bird song and new life. For summer the falls are a perfect spot to cool off, step away from hot cars, honking horns and tire squeals and listen to the sound of rushing water and fluttering leaves. For Wynne and I it was a chance to create new memories.


One of my favorite childhood places, the Falls holds memories of bike trips, dog walks, family photos and more, but today It was a chance to show Wynne the natural side of Minneapolis. Our adventure started with us trying to find a parking spot. Because... turns out June 24th was Swedish Heritage Days at the park, so parking meant two/ three blocks away. 

And if you know the neighborhood, you know that the side streets are tiny and are really only meant to fit one car at a time. So, after a grandma nearly side swiped the car from taking up the whole road we find on the opposite side of the street an open spot (enter hallelujah choir)! Wynne promptly stops, turns to me and says, “would you mind jumping out and just standing in that spot while I turn the car around?” Now imagine me standing in the middle of the road blocking traffic from taking that spot! Yep you guessed it ,I sure did! Wynne did the parallel parking in 4/5 swift moves. Now that we’ve parked Wynne becomes giddy with excitement about the Swedish Days and of course we venture through the booths and almost stop to make flower hair wreaths for ourselves only to move on. 

Wynne and I venture down the treacherous, but historic steps only to turn and meet the sound and sight of the rushing falls! What a beautiful sight to see. I am still amazed to this day. Granted today it was a little blocked by the large amount of people at the park, seeing it never gets old. Wynne snapped a few pictures of the falls and a very nice, patient gentleman snapped a picture of the two of us. It was such a treat to stand in one of my favorite spots of Minneapolis with a best friend. 

 We cross the bridge to the other side, while being serenaded by a guitarist and walk along the sandy bank. Down the creek about 100ft, is a little off shoot where you can swim, so naturally we stop and put our feet in, to cool off from the hot, humid weather. Afterwards we cross the wide, green field, walk up the huge valley hill (where we were followed for about 10 steps by a cute 2 or 3 year old boy, who had gone rogue from his parents) to see the Mississippi River and Ford Parkway. Here we realized just how incredibly hot, hungry and tired we were from this adventure. We quickly walk back to the car, which is about 7 blocks away at this point. Once in the car we blast the air conditioning, drink water and drive into the Longfellow neighborhood.
    

Slowly melting from the heat we make it to 38th street and 42nd avenue, where two sandwiches, a ginger lemonade and a pomegranate tea spritzer awaited us at the Riverview Cafe. In the years I have lived in Minneapolis and gone to the Riverview Cafe, I have never known the name until that Sunday Adventure. It is literally a blink you miss it kind of place from the outside, but once inside it is a relaxed and sumptuous environment, filled with a mash up of infant to senior, crayon to business, and we fell right in the middle. Most people after being out in the heat would sit and savor their food and drink, well not us! Wynne and I completely devoured ours in about 10 minutes. Only to have an hour and a half left before the movie at the Riverview theater started. 

 So we fill 30 minutes with looking at the City Pages and then shimmy over to Mother Earth Gardens. A nursery, where we fed our appetite for beauty with flowers and rubbed our hands with the different herbs grown there.
 

Inside the 60's Flash-back Awaited

 Finally we were fed up with being in the heat and decided it was time to get our tickets and sit in more air conditioning. Upon entering the theater we were hit with a wave of butter and 1960’s remake of Art Deco style or as Wynne called it ,”60’s Love Lounge.” The Riverview Theater is a mom and pop, one screen cheap theater, that holds the history of Minneapolis in it’s walls and I’m sure in some of it’s customers. After sitting for 10 minutes Wynne and I splurged on extra buttery popcorn, Reese's Pieces, Sour Patch Kids and a soda. Needless to say we left our movie (Fishing for Salmon in the Yemen) in a sugar coma and wanting to brush our teeth. We ended our day with skyline photo’s of Hiawatha Ave and Downtown Minneapolis, blasting Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe, with our windows down and hair blowing, singing at the top of our lungs. What better way to create new memories than with good food, good company and good conversation.

Minneapolis

- Katrina

Rainy Sunday

At the meeting of John Ireland, Summit, and Selby sits the highest point in Saint Paul – The St. Paul’s Catholic Cathedral.Minnesota’s ledge says that when they built the capital the top was a few feet higher than that of the Cathedral. The Church viewing this completely unacceptable commissioned a new cross to be added to the very top of the dome. Thus making the Cathedral the Tallest structure in Saint Paul and one of my favorite sights in Saint Paul.

Sunday Adventure in the Twin Cities: June 14^th
Which Twin: Saint Paul
Neighborhood: Cathedral Hill and Selby Ave
Player: Katrina Rae and Gwynn

Heading out with our usual excitement we found ourselves blessed with a sunny and warm morning. Finding that it was still technically in the a.m. I led us down Selby to one of those great city coffee shops, Nina’s Coffee Café. Pronouncing it Neenah’s instead of Nine-ah’s is a surefire way to be recognized as a new costumer but rewards you with a gentle smile and a correction from one of the baristas as well as the local patrons. There are tables and overstuffed chairs scattered everywhere in this single floor coffee house that use to sit right on top of Common Good’s Book Store, owned by Mr. Garrison Keillor (Which that day we figured out CGB moved to Snelling and Grand so… Next Time Saint Paul!). So there we were sitting on in some old church pews Katrina and I sipped our wonderful Thai Ice Coffee (highly recommend) and talking about our previous week when the first few rain drops fell.

Not to be deterred by a little rain – and with the wonderful addition of Katrina’s umbrella – we took on our stroll to take an up close look at the Cathedral. No matter the weather, this is one of the best views of Saint Paul. It is a gorgeous spot and just as we cross the street to get our full view of the church the bells start to toll. There was something magical about being there, the right time, the right place, and the right weather created a feeling of being wonderful. With giddy excitement Katrina turns and exclaims “That has to go in the blog”

Hopping back in the car and only slightly wet we drove further down Selby back towards Dale to visit a little Thai place for a quick bit to eat. Mango greets its costumers with big wide open doors and windows for natural lighting. As well as a unique inside colored with greens and oranges. Splitting some pot stickers and spring rolls we simply spent our luncheon watching the rain through the open doors, missing the downpour by only a few moments.   

Luckily it cleared up enough for a walk outside and to stop at a few stores along the way. BlackBlue: a males clothing store was like walking into Duluth. Packs and Maps lined the walls and there was literally a canoe sitting in there. The clothing was fantastic – defiantly a Minnesotan/Outdoors Feel there. Following next door is Primp: a women’s clothing store that Katrina and I both agreed should just be out closet.

Selby Ave is a unique area lined with beautiful homes both old and new. One of these renovated old Victorian homes is now none other than the Chocolate Chateau. What more could two girls ask for? Everything inside the Shoppe was chocolate themed; towels folded to look like desserts, chocolate scented candles and a Chocolate Version of Monopoly. After about 15 minuets of simply looking at the cases of decadent desserts we choose our treats and settled in to sip a glass of red wine with them.

We left the Chateau with the smells still lingering on us but quickly jumped into the car to make a quick shopping stop on Grand before heading home. I love that about Saint Paul, everything is just a few blocks away from each other. We drove away down Selby Ave just as the rain began to pour again – what a wonderful way to end our Sunday.

Saint Paul

Wait... Saint Peter isn't in the Twin Cities

Correct - instead we took a little roadtrip.

Our Jolly Green Friend

This was my first official Sunday Adventure (given I missed last week’s trip to MIA with Katrina and Emily). The excitement dripped like the sweat on my face driving through downtown Minneapolis to pick up the first roommate. This Sunday Katrina and I were going to have our first Mini Roommate Reunion down at Gustavus Adolphus College (GAC). For the past nine months of our lives we lived as roommates with Jennifer and Mary down at GAC. Living with these ladies was probably one of the best choices I have made at college and not seeing the three of them every day for the past three weeks was kind of rough. So with Mary living down at GAC teaching at Tennis and Life Camp (TLC) we took this as a perfect opportunity to road trip down and spend the night together. And so Jenn, Katrina and I took off, windows down and music rocking, cruising down 169 to Saint Peter, Minnesota. Being recent grads this hour and a half drive seemed a little bitter sweet, for we were returning to the river valley that has been our home for the last four years. After stopping for a tiny detour in Le Sueur to see Mr. Jolly Green Giant. We finally arrived at our destination- St. Peter!

How cute is she?

You know just hanging out in Le Sueur

Miss Jennifer and Miss Katrina Rae

Driving up the main drag (College Avenue) will always bring back those memories of Greeters, of move in Days, of midnight trips to taco bell and walks home from Patrick’s Bar but arriving Sunday had a little different feel. It was defiantly a feel of coming back but not one of coming ‘home.’

Picking up our Camper!

However, the moment that we saw Miss Mary Francis Roop coming out of College View dormitory I know that all of my anxieties flew out the window. Here we were – the four of us together again! It was wonderful to see how all four of us just clicked back into our relationships. It was not as if we were estranged friends but instead we still carried a depth to our relationship that will last for years.






Here however, at the request of Katrina, I will insert this little story entitled

  “How I almost killed everyone, destroyed not only my car but also a strangers, and ruined our entire day.”
So- I love driving but I would defiantly not be someone you could or even should consider the ‘best of drivers’. However, being that I have the use of the ‘chAudi’ for a few more weeks – I drove down to GAC with Katrina and Jenn. As you know, it’s a fair drive down there and by the time we pulled in I was pretty antsy from being stuck in a car, having a medium cold press coffee, and seeing Mary burst through the dorm doors to outside. I pull the car along side the curb and hastily through the car into park and swing open the door. BUT WAIT – when I look to get out of the car I see that the road is still moving beneath me, and I am halfway out of the car with the squeals and giggles from Jenn and Katrina and Mary telling me to get back in the ‘freaking car!’ All I can think is that ‘Oh My Goodness- I’m going to kill my best friends’. So I go and jump back into the car and slam on the breaks. Heart pounding and beyond frazzled I just sit and apologize to everyone since all I could think is that ‘No one will ever drive with me again.’ Thankfully – everyone is alive, I didn’t hit the car that was next to me, and people still drove in my car back to the cities. Now back to the post…

 So I know you all must be reading and asking – what, pray tell, did you four do for dinner that evening? No, we did not cook something amazing as Miss Mary didn’t have pots or pans, but simply a few mugs that were to be saved for wine later. Instead we chose to relive our college days and ended up with a burrito in front of each of us on top of those stainless steal tables found only at none other than Chipotle. We braved the thunderstorm that was sweeping through the valley and drove the twenty minuets to Mankato and back, singing Ed Sheeran the entire way.

Dinner

Katrina and Mary - Roommate Love

Jenn and I - Love

Getting Mary ready for TLC

Our rockin' awesome new sunglasses

Visiting Matt

Mary's Creepin' Outfi

Majority of our evening turned into us sitting on the floor of Mary’s living room, catching each other up on what has been happening in our lives for the last three weeks. Talking over some rather disappointing Cherry Beer from Door County (sorry Ladies my bad) we covered everything from boys, to Jenn’s wedding dress, to our job searching (which if you hear any openings anywhere – let us know ☺), and my moving to Portland. After our life debriefing, our phones reminded us that there were ‘surprisingly’ other people on campus that we needed to go and renew friendships with as well. Venturing to the ‘student worker’ side of College View we went to go see (and bother only a little) our friend Matt. We chatted and watched a part of this terrifying movie The Departed. Well, Jenn and Katrina chatted with Matt, Mary and I ran around the dorm and tried to scare the other three. We weren’t that successful, as we lagged behind and lost them along the way walking through College View on one of Matt’s rounds.

Living room sleepovers - getting Tangled Ready!

Getting back to Mary’s room we settled in for our night of wine and Tangled. Now, Tangled has been our room’s movie all year long. Mock all you want but this is a GREAT DINSEY MOVIE! Mandy Moore? Come on- how can you not love her? We could probably quote the entire movie to you, sing every lyric and most likely will laugh at Pascal or Maximus before they even do something. And in true sleep-over fashion one by one we each fell asleep while we sat and talked after the movie. 

Fro-Yo brunch

 We had a lazy start to our Monday Morning, which we all agreed was the best way to start it. Its that kind of sleep where you know everyone around you is awake, but you are just still tired enough that you want to keep your eyes close. So you sit and talk while each person drifts in and out of consciousness. We pulled ourselves finally together in order to get Katrina her hearts desire –FROYO. Together we had our not so nutritious, but oh so delicious brunch at Frozen Creations in Mankato.


The Summer after college is about finding out what we want, about searching our souls for who we are and who we were created to be, but for us four, post-grad life is for solidifying relationships with our friends who have become our family.

Among the Art

The week after graduation I decided that a day at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) was a must. At first this adventure was turning out to be by myself as my partner , Wynne was in Dorr County for the weekend. Later that week I invited a dear friend Emily to venture with me, as she had never been to the MIA.

So come Sunday morning I was awake dressed and ready to roll and excited at the possibility of learning and jamming my mind full of information. Emily is dropped at my house and we proceed to zoom through Minneapolis traffic to the museum. Once at the museum, our trip led us through a time warp. We started in Asian art, was plopped into the middle of Africa, where "tribal" masks could be seen in action through the MIA's interactive learning kiosks. We drifted across the Mediterranean Sea landing in Pompeii among the Roman and Greek artwork. Once here Emily began to explain her knowledge of Roman and Greek myths. From there we saw Native American apparel only to find ourselves in the midst of modern Asian art. Emily and I instantly asked each other our opinions on modern artwork. Me with my fancy Art History Minor proceeded to say "I am open to it, but I don't like it all"(your normal cliche answer, as not to completely dis any particular style). Emily simply stated that she doesn't understand it. As we curiously looked through this section of the museum, we turned to find a piece titled "Sunset on the Ocean" or something like that. Now, to me this piece looks like a brick shaved down to appeal smooth and curved on the top to have a slight hump. To Emily, the true creative genius of the two of us, proceeds to say, that the "Sunset on the Ocean" looks like an old toaster cover she use to own and then wondered where the cover is now. Instantly the once quiet MIA irrupts with laughter from the two of us! Kackling for almost 2 minutes straight I pull it together, wipe my eyes, take a deep breathe and state, how about moving on to impressionism. I still laugh and every once in a while text Emily about the toaster cover, just to make her day.

As we wind down our tour of the museum, over the intercom a nice voice states that the museum is closing in 10 minutes. We scamper through the entire modern art section of the museum, walk through the courtyard that connects both the old section of the MIA to the new Target Wing and realize how intellectually exhausted we are. The drive to my house was filled with conversation on how starving we both are and wanting to watch 500 Days of Summer. Once home orange chicken and fried rice is served with a side of relaxation and laughs with a wonderful friend.

Our Sunday adventure at the MIA was not just to observe the art and be intellectually stimulated, but to knit together a friendship over good conversation, good food and a simple Sunday adventure!