Diary for Daniel Tours America


Lazy day in Minneapolis

2008-06-22

Sunday was spent being very lazy.   I got out of the house at about 1pm and sat in a coffee shop for several hours as I recaffeinated my body and recovered slightly from the exhaustion.

I then wandered around Minneapolis, focusing on the Mississippi river and the interesting features and history there.  There is a waterfall, St Antony`s Falls, right in the middle of the city, but as logging and industry grew the falls were almost destroyed by logs.  Relatively recently they have been reinforced, in fact they have been replaced with an entirely artificial set of dams and raceways that all for hydroelectric energy to be produced there.  Despite being in the Mississippi`s northernmost US state, just a few score miles from the headwaters, the river was still a powerful torrent.

 

I wandered around the ruined mills and the condos that have sprung up around them.  This city is unusual, IMO, in that it seems to take great pride in its old buildings, either leaving them as-is even if they are tumbling down, or restoring them using modern finishes.  The result of this is a series of beautiful old original brick warehouses with steel-and-glass facades or entrances.  Very cool.

I ate a three-course steak dinner for just $9.99 and then retired to a much-craved bed.

 

Minneapolis is one of the few cities where I have felt at home and that I could easily live there.  Its pace is just right, not too sedate (like Olympia) and not too crazy (like Los Angeles).