Western USA and Canada Adventures – Part Seven: Minneapolis

After a week in California, I flew across the country to Minneapolis. On arrival in Minneapolis I checked into my hotel and then headed straight to the Mall of America. A few hours later I left with a few new pieces of clothes that I had picked up for some really good prices.

The following morning I headed into downtown Minneapolis which unfortunately was filled with construction around the main shopping area and much of the shops were closed. As I had the entire day to myself I decided to walk across from the downtown area to the Walker Art Museum.

After a few hours I then headed back across the city to the Store Arch Bridge which crosses the Mississippi River.

As evening approached I then caught up with a childhood friend who now lives in Minneapolis and we headed out for a night at Mystic Lake Casino. I don’t often visit casinos and was rather surprised by the environment. First, almost everyone inside was smoking and second the venue was full of young adults which is unlike other casinos I have visited. At the casino my friend arranged for us to play bingo, which surprisingly I won twice.

On my second day in Minneapolis I headed out with my friend and her husband to Medicine Lake where we hired a paddle boat and went out on the lake. After getting far too much exercise we headed back to shore and drove to Minnesota’s state capital, St Paul. At St Paul, we visited the Capital Building, and walked around the deserted downtown area of the city.

Although we were exhausted we wrapped up the day by heading across to the Como Park Zoo & Conservatory.