Summer Vaca 2022: Stop 1 - Minneapolis, MN

To say that our summer vacation was a little up in the air this year would be kind.  At first, we talked about heading West, considering locations like Glacier National Park or Yellowstone.  We realized that in the window of time we were supposed to have (ten days), neither of those locations, at a two-day drive, would allow us time to enjoy all there was to see.  We then thought we should drive South, giving ourselves less drive time, only to discover how BLAZING hot it is in the summer down South.  I know - duh.  So, weeks before we thought we would be heading South, we looked East.  We quickly realized that the drive would still kill so much of our trip, (have I mentioned we live in the middle of the US?) that we bailed on that idea quickly.  That left us North, in the cooler, but still quite picturesque, state of Minnesota.  If you missed it, I blogged last time about how the highlight of this trip to me was that we were going to get to stop in Iowa and see the Bridges of Madison County.  Outside of that, neither my husband nor I really knew what we were getting into.  But, getting away for a bit sounded lovely and we already had a hotel (nope, we booked that on the drive), so we were in.

We decided our first stop should be Minneapolis.  We hit up the Mall of America, but sadly, like most malls in America, it was fairly low-key.  We saw most of the same stores we see at home, very few people for a 4-floor mall, and a small-scale indoor amusement park - all of which faded quickly.  Our next stop was Minnehaha Falls.  Minnesota, state motto: Land of 10,000 Lakes, also had its fair share of waterfalls, so we had a few on our list.  This one was a good starter.  It wasn't too big, nor was it too far of a walk, so Nani got to come along.

Jason and Emma enjoyed walking the creek that comes off the falls, and then we headed to the park close by to see a few historic spots.  When we saw that our friend's last name (Stevens) was shared with one of the historic markers, we had to take a picture and stop.  The house was closed due to the heat, but it was neat to think about the history of the space.  And also cool to see the garden and outhouse (what a fun conversation that was).

The next evening, we hit up the Stone Arch Bridge in downtown Minneapolis, where we got to have a beautiful view of St. Anthony Falls.  The light on the bridge and under the arches was lovely - and clearly, a photographer's dream, as gobs of them flocked to the area.  We enjoyed a walk & scooter across as we watched the sun begin to set.

Most of our stops were only a few days, but I loved watching my family do the simple things here: walks and talks and just being together.  It's the little things that later become the big things that you miss.  I'm excited to share the next leg of our trip and some new things that we got to try!

Until Next Time,