Minneapolis Memories

"Minnesota Gothic" Our hosts for the weekend, Matt, Jenny, and Shiloh Berglund

The Berglund Residence

Minnehaha Falls

The Mississippi River

Super on the Patio. Friday evening, July 13, 2007

While the drive up to and back from Minneapolis was. . .character-building. . .for me, the weekend itself was wonderfully relaxing. Jenny and Matt were gracious hosts in spite of the fact that we were barging in for a visit only a few weeks after they'd moved in. They live in a charming little Tudor style home in a quiet, leafy neighborhood of small, beautifully kept homes, most between 70 and 80 years old. Inside, the house was nothing less than what I would expect from Jenny: Simple elegance, tasteful decor, rich wood floors and rustic tile, and lots of chic but homey touches. Being in their neighborhood, walking the tree-lined boulevards, resting in their quaint home, you could feel your heart rate slow, your breathing deepen, and your muscles relax.

At least until a jumbo jet screamed right over your head.

They live 10 minutes from Minneapolis's International Airport. Fortunately, we got used to the pretty regular roar of jets coming and going after awhile.

We arrived about 10:30 P.M. Thursday night, July 12.

On Friday we lolled about the house all morning before heading over to the Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota. Anyone who knows Barbara at all, knows she loves art and art musuems, and she always makes sure we visit whatever art museum(s) they have in ANY city we visit. The slide show below has a photo of one of the many fascinating displays at the Weisman.

We came back from our artistic excursion in the late afternoon and enjoyed a lovely dinner on the patio. In the slide show below, there's a bunch of photos of some of our other activites during the weekend including visiting Minnehaha Falls and Old Man River himself--the mighty Mississippi.


Berries. Fresh Berries! Oh, it was heaven. As all my Saipan readers know, fresh berries are rare in Saipan. When we do get them, they're often of dubious quality and exorbitant price. I had to take a picture of these beauties in my bowl before I gobbled them down. Plump, ripe rasberries, blueberries, and blackberries. Yes, that's right, I said blackberries. MMMMM!

At church on Sabbath we ran into one of our former teachers from Saipan, Rachel (L.) C. She had been at the earlier service and had just come back because she forgot her purse and we happened to bump into each other. Her husband Irwin was with her as well. It was nice to see them. Unfortunately, we didn't have our camera with us, so there's no photographic record of this meeting.

It was a pretty quiet weekend really. We didn't do much. But it was nice to be together as a family and I know I really treasured our time together. I think everyone did.



Matt and Jenny on Matt's bike. Sabbath afternoon, July 14 we drove around a bit. We went to Minnehaha Falls and the locks along the Upper Mississippi as you saw in the slide show, and also toured some of the neighborhoods and lakes in the area looking at some of the places the Berglund's almost lived in. I drove the Leens, Babs and Shiloh in the Corolla while Matt and Jenny wrote the motorcycle.

The Minneapolis/St. Paul area is a nice town. Lots of trees, a lot of nice older neighborhoods. There's a distinctly bohemian vibe about the place. I liked it a lot. On Sunday, July 15, we ate a great breakfast joint downtown called Hell's Kitchen. It was literally, a hell-themed restaurant complete with dark red walls, models of crows resting on dead branches, and Gary Larson "Far Side" cartoons about hell lining the walls. The wait staff all wore pajamas for some reason--I'm not sure what that had to do with hell, but it was interesting. The food most definitely did NOT taste like hell, though. Everything I had was delicious, and they made all their condiments from scratch--we're talking homemade peanut butter, jam, marmalade and even ketchup. I've never seen that before, but let me tell you, made-from-scratch is always a hundred times better.

After breakfast we headed out to Ikea where we shopped for several hours. Shopped out, Matt and I broke with the pack, and headed home for much needed laying around and doing nothing, while the others went on the Mall of America.

Monday morning, July 16, early, we said our goodbyes, loaded up our little Toyota and began the looooong journey home.

It was a wonderful weekend! Thanks to Matt and Jenny for hosting us, feeding us, and taking good care of us. Maybe we can do it again next summer!


Babs with Shiloh, Jenny's English Cocker Spaniel, getting her "dog fix."

Last Photos: Monday, July 16

Matt, Jenny, and the Leens.

The young couples: Matt & Jenny Berglund, Barbara and Sean Maycock