After a nearly 5 1/2 hour drive that should have been 4 hours, we arrived in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We hit stretch of rain again that slowed things considerably. It also seems every street in Minneapolis was torn up for construction–Including I-94 West just before the bridge crossing the Mississippi. Our GPS kept trying to send us backward so we could cross the bridge. Once in downtown, we had to wend our war around one-way streets to find our hotel.
Our first tourist stop after dumping luggage at the hotel was a to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. To our surprise, everybody in town was also there. We hit town during the annual Rock The Garden event. The sculpture garden and Walker Museum were closed but for &$75 each, we could roam the grounds listening to various bands and drinking an assortment of beverages. We passed after accidentally finding a parking spot within about 30 feet of one of the entrances. The next closest parking space was probably a mile away. We walked around the outer edge of the garden and saw what we could see. It was still quite nice–and we could hear all the music.
Since we could get into the gardens, we walked over the what is billed as the first Basilica built in America. It was impressive, but a church service was starting as we arrived, so we didn’t sightsee for long.
Our next stop was to the Minnehaha Falls. It was an interesting cross-section of America today. But, we learned that Minneapolis was a very diverse city. It showed here. Then back for some dinner and sleep before another long drive.