Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Minneapolis. One of the twin cities with St. Paul, MN Minneapolis did not offer much in the entertainment department, but fortunately did offer some welcome respite for a weary traveler. I couldn't be satisfied with just lazing around for two days, so I pushed off in search of small adventures.

The Nickleodeon amusement park inside the MOA

First, I visited the world famous mall of America (MOA), which stands as the physical embodiment of America's love affair with always having more. I'm sure you have heard that it is so big that it contains an indoor roller coaster, but that fact alone does not quite capture the immense magnitude of the place. Here are some fun facts about the mall of America I stole from wikipedia to help illustrate my point. The mall of america has a total area over 4,200,000 (that's M for million) square feet. It is so big that you can fit over 7 Yankee stadiums inside of it. Four full size department stores anchor the mall at its corners and it contains over 520 individual retail stores. The first floor alone fits an entire amusement park and the basement holds a large aquarium. The mall is buttressed by two seven story parking garages which provide over 12,000 parking spots for shoppers. Because of the sheer amount of human bodies and electrical use in the building, no heating is ever needed, even in the dead of winter. Ridiculous....

Blue (of Blue's Clues and I) striking a pose

Initially in the MOA, I was blown away by its incredible size as I walked around, mouth slightly agape, snapping shots of the different stores and attractions. Once the initial awe wore off, I realized that the MOA is really just the same as any other mall, but bigger. The same stores, with the same rude staff chasing away the same ratty teenagers looking for plastic wrapped love. I had a Banana Republic gift card that had been burning a hole in pocket for a little while, so I decided to actually participate in the great American shopping manifest. I embraced my sense of adventure and bought my first pair of white pants.

My favorite sculpture

Later I trotted around town with my camera taking pictures and enjoying the scenery. I began to melt rather quickly in the sun even though I dressed lightly and brought a full nalgene of water. On the way back to my hostel to watch the latest Euro cup soccer game, I passed through the Minneapolis sculpture garden where I meandered through the tall hedge maze stumbling upon the large installations and pieces.


That evening, feeling somewhat isolated from being on the road alone and chronically staying in hostels I walked in the direction of the highest rated bar on yelp.com. On arrival, I was pleasantly surprised that the bar was hosting bingo night and I picked up a board before finding the only remaining seat at the end of the bar. After ordering a beer with the bartender, I started chatting with the person sitting in the next bar stool over. They didn't seem too interested in conversation, so I kept to myself and watched the NBA finals game on the big screen. However, 10 minutes later, without warning the girl I had been talking to previously, turned to me and asked my name. Caught off guard, I awkwardly blurted out JP. Suddenly, four seats down another girl hopped off her stool and came bounding over with her arms open. After a few seconds, I recognized her as Kinsley, one of my fellow 2006 Exeter classmates. She happened to be in Minneapolis from St. Louis for a couple of days visiting friends after completing her two year Teach for America stint. We talked for over three hours reminiscing about our individual Exeter experiences and before we knew it, the clock showed 2 AM and we had to leave as the bar was closing. Kinsley and I parted ways that night and I walked home feeling refreshed and optimistic about the rest of my trip.