Minneapolis and Lambeau Field

What a difference a state makes!  The drive through Minnesota to Minneapolis was definitely not as scenic as our previous drives.  It got very flat and looked very much like driving on the 401!.  We made it to Minneapolis in a couple of hours from St. James.  Our first stop was the Mall of America.  Oh my!!!!!  I knew it was big, but who knew it would be that big!  An amusement park in the centre of it!

They also have a mini golf area, an aquarium, a casino, an entire level dedicated to restaurants (and I'm not talking about food court type ones), 3 levels of shopping and at least 3 Starbucks!  We walked around for an hour and a half or so before heading out to find our hotel in downtown Minneapolis.  We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Northstar for the night.  I know I said that Super 8's were pretty good to us, but this was such a nice change.  It was nice to be in a real hotel again!  We had a great corner room with a great view of the city.

 

And they had a great fitness room!  We headed out for a walk around downtown.  I can't believe what a real "big" city feel it had, even though the population is only just a bit more than London, Ontario.  We found ourselves on a patio on Nicollet Mall for happy hour.  Had some great appetizers and wine!  The place was packed.  We realized that we hadn't been to a city in a long time - just hanging out in little cowboy towns for the past week or so!

Statue of Mary Tyler Moore

The pub we had our happy hour at!

We sadly left our little perch at The Local and walked the streets for a while.  Some neat buildings were found. 

We went back to the hotel to have a glass of wine and relax before dinner.  The Minnesota Basketball State Championships were going on at the Target Center (a few blocks from our hotel) so there were a lot of kids around the area.  We walked down to the Target Center.  Amazing building.  Again, right in the middle of town.  This is where the NBA Timberwolves and MLB Twins play their home games.

The city itself is really quite beautiful.  When we left this morning we drove out to the Whole Foods Market so I could get some food that I can't get in Belleville.  We drove by a beautiful area that had a lake surrounded by a walking/running/bike path.  Right in the middle of the city!!!!!!  I think it would be a great city to go back to and spend a lot more time exploring!

We drove for a couple of hours this morning before getting to Lambeau Field in Green Bay!  What football fan would not want to see this place?????  It was really cool to see.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the field, but we were able to walk around the atrium and see the statues out front!

When we left the stadium, we were on a hunt for a Cheese Factory.  We couldn't go to Wisconsin without getting some cheese!  Found a place just as we were about to cross the border to Michigan.!!!!!

So now we are in Escanaba, Michigan.  It is a cute town in the Upper Penisula of Michigan.  We are finally back to the Eastern Time Zone!  And, more importantly, we are sitting in our hotel room (not quite ready for dinner because of the hour time zone change) sipping on wine (because we are always ready for wine, regardless of what time zone we are in) watching HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA!!!!!!  Good thing they aren't showing us the Leafs though!

Tomorrow we will be in Elliot Lake (as long as the border patrol doesn't detain us)!  And back in Belleville on Tuesday.  I'm looking forward to so many things about being back home - my bed, friends, Newman, home cooking - but I'm going to miss seeing so many different places.  I think I might do one more post on this little blog of mine once I get back to Belleville.  Sort of a reflection of things on our trip.

Until then....

Enjoy!