Minneapolis Day Three

{Somehow this post disappeared from my drafts! Here's to hoping all of the pictures are still on here! I think there are about fifty-one pictures in this post if I remember correctly from when I drafted this the first time. Because I have to rewrite this, that means there will be a lot less words than the first time!}

4 March 2014

I brought along an extra extra tote bag {from World Market} to take thrift shopping with me.

The rugs in the four elevators get changed multiple times a day, which made me laugh.

Here's the outside of the W Minneapolis - Foshay Tower where I stayed!

For breakfast, I went to Bob's Java Hut and I had a blueberry muffin and a mocha. They have a motorcycle theme, and I first heard about them because when my uncle was out here once, he brought me back a shirt from here. I sat in front of the window that faces Lyndale, and then I realized that it wasn't a window - it was a garage door! I'm pretty sure that Bob the owner came in while I was there, and he seemed amused that I was taking pictures.

I took a walk around the block, and then I drove over to this little church that I wanted to look at. Their doors were really cute. I drove over to the Salvation Army on 4th next, which I heard had a basement that was practically a Target clearance. It was, and I was able to score three of my favorite tank tops, two of my favorite cardigans, a sequined skirt, and a book for $22. Everything except the book is brand new, so I would say that that is a pretty good deal. That day all orange tickets were half off, and all of the things I found had orange tickets except the skirt, so I guess that helped.

My next stop was the Mill City Museum. I love exposed brick, so I really enjoyed the Mill Quarter!

The museum is located in the ruins of a flour mill, and the guided tour part of the museum takes you on an elevator to go up eight floors while watching and listening about the mill and the explosion. When you get up to the eighth floor, you talk to another tour guide before going to the observation deck (where these two pictures were taken). Not only is everyone at the museum really nice, but they all know a lot about the history of the building and surrounding areas. You can see the Hennepin Falls to the left of the center of the photo above.

Before and after my 12:20 guided tour (which took about twenty minutes), I walked around the self-guided tour area. There were a few classes on field trips, and one of them designed this box of cereal (on a giant stack of pancakes next to a gigantic box of Bisquik).

Every half hour, the museum shows the movie "Minneapolis in 19 Minutes Flat." I went to watch that at one o'clock, and right before it was about to start, I was the only one in the amphitheater. I took this picture in my solidarity, and then one of the classes poured into the theater. One of the little boys asked, "Why is one of the parents already in here?" I asked one of the teachers if I should move (I was dead center in the second row from the back), and she said that I just became an honorary chaperone. Two little girls came and sat right next to me, and the little boys behind me were playing with my hair. haha.

After the movie, I went back to the self-guided area since all of the kids left and it was much easier to get around and look at stuff. There was a kitchen there where the first graders made biscuits (which smelled like mac and cheese). The three other pictures are from this display that showed what a meal for all of the millworkers looked like.

Before I left, I checked out the gift shop, where I bought a postcard for my mom and a book about the creation of Betty Crocker for myself. I forgot how much I liked using this bag! (Vera Bradley's Saddle Up in Java Blue - both the style and pattern are retired now.)

I walked around the Mill Quarter for a little while and took some pictures, and then I went and moved my car out of the parking garage and into the Mill Ruins Park, because I wanted to switch from my 10-24 mm lens to my 55-200 mm lens to get some better pictures of the signs.

Unfortunately, the sky was kind of drab when I was out taking these pictures.

I wanted to go to the Old Spaghetti Factory for lunch, but they only serve lunch on the weekends, so I was out of luck.

I ended up going to Cupcake, where I had a cookies and cream cupcake and a raspberry dark chocolate macaron (my first macaron ever!). The shop was so adorable! They had whisks for door handles, and lots of really cute decorations, like a vintage Easy Bake Oven. I also checked out the antique store next door, but I didn't find anything that I wanted that was going to travel five hours back to Wisconsin in the Beetle with me.

I dropped off the postcard for my mom, and I got to drive through the University of Minnesota a couple times.

I went back down to Lyndale to check out a thrift store, but they didn't have anything that I liked in my size. I did find a cool sign though.

I went to Galactic Pizza, which is superhero themed, for dinner. I had a simple pizza, with tomato sauce (which was fantastically chunky), mozzarella cheese, and Canadian bacon. It was delicious. I liked being the only person in here, because I felt a lot more comfortable taking pictures. The guy working was super nice as well. And their menu is in 3D!

I took half of my pizza with me, and I went back to the hotel to relax for the evening.

xoxo.