Midwest 2022: Minneapolis and St Paul

Posted on by Ian C.

We began (and ended) our “midwest” vacation in Minneapolis, flying in and staying a couple nights in the city before heading further west. Our hotel had nice views but the city center was weird with almost no people or cars, and pretty well all businesses shut either all day or by the evening!

We took a walk down the the Missouri River with a dam and railroad bridge now converted for pedestrians; a nice area to spend time! We also toured a (no longer in use) lock there, and the mill museum with a great high view of the river!

Nearer the hotel we found this wonderful collection of busy sculptures!

Next day we headed out to more sculptures including an amazing “spoonbridge and cherry”:

Once we got our rental car, we headed over to St Pauls and toured the State Capitol which was quite magnificent!

And James Hill House, the home of a railroad tycoon:

Finally, the falls in Minnehaha park:

All American Kids Parade 2022

Posted on by Ian C.

Independence Day, we walked into town for the mornings All American Kids Parade here in Winter Garden – a well attended event with many families, kids on bikes, scooters, etc all decorated for the holiday; they walk through downtown in both directions and it’s fun and impressive how much work some have put into their decorations! Here’s some photos, and at the end of the post is a video …