My Three... er, Four Day Roadtrip to the Twin Cities

nocarolina


By 11 AM, I was westbound on US 12, heading towards the Twin Cities.  

ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL pic, thanks.

As Davydd said, downtown Minneapolis is the destination. Here we go....

Entering the subway underneath the airport...

... and exiting same. 

  Geeze Bob, now you've done it! my demon child is now DEMANDING that we go for a choo-choo ride....I'm thinking that Andy house is just a wee bit creepy, Greg Brady's groovy attic room is more my style.

Well then, Dawn, take the demon child for a choo-choo ride ( there... wasn't that simple? )   ;~)    

I just love your Trip Reports!!! Are we still on for Mayberry Days??

Here the train climbs the ramp up to the only elevated station on the line.

Arriving at the northern terminal in downtown Minneapolis...

... and here's my train back to Bloomington.

After the return trip to Bloomington, I was ready for the Mall of America. Since I was still full from breakfast, I decided to skip lunch and just head for the one thing at the Mall that I really wanted to see.

You didn't check out the new Target Field Twins ballpark under construction another block down the street where they will extend the light rail?

I don't know if you noticed but no two stations were identical. They were all individually design by various Twin Cities architectural firms and they were coveted as commissions.

Now when you get back to the Mall of America you ought to know I put a solid three years in on that project as the architectural technical director for the two design firms that put it together. It is holding up pretty well after 17 years open if I say so myself.

Davydd, I'm not a sports fan ( I know... heresy! ) so, frankly, a new stadium wouldn't really be of interest to me. At the downtown light rail terminal, I could see that there's an extention of the line under construction. And the Mall of America is very impressive; you and your associates did a great job. 

As I said before, there is one thing at the Mall of America that I really wanted to see. And here it, or rather he is....

Yeah, I can hear y'all laughing your arses off out there, but I don't care. I'm a big SpongeBob SquarePants fan. I love this show. It is one of the best-written and funniest cartoon series I've ever seen. Much of the humor is aimed at adults, and goes right over the kiddies' heads. The various characters are very well-concieved, too. At age 56, I may possibly be the oldest SpongeBob fan around, but, then again, maybe not.   

Nickolodean just took over the amusement park and made some great improvements in the rides just this year. I still think of the original Camp Snoopy as more appropriate for the Mall because Charles Schulz was a native of St. Paul. So, it was kind of sad for many when it changed over.

GREAT trip report!  Wonderful pictures.  I am the second oldest SpongeBob fan. 

Here's the undersea pineapple that SpongeBob calls home.

SpongeBob and Patrick react to the news that Applebee's is coming to Bikini Bottom...

Hi, Wabbit! Yep, we're still on for Mayberry Days. I'm all set for it too. I've got my room reservation ( I was warned that those need to be made a year in advance for the festival ), and my ticket for the Dillards concert ( the bluegrass group that played Briscoe Darling's "talkative" boys on Andy's show. ) See you in Mount Airy.           

When I entered the Mall, I promised myself that I wasn't going to be tempted by any of the eateries there, as I'm all too familiar with the "quality" of mall foodcourt edibles. However, that promise flew right out the window when I spotted this... 

What can I say? I love fried dough. What I got here at the Mall wasn't quite as good as ones I've had at traveling carnivals, but I still enjoyed it. My only problem with this stand is that they don't have milk among their available beverages. To me, pastry without cold milk is simply unthinkable ( like a Beacon's chili cheeseburger without sweet tea! )  

Here's a couple of shots of the SpongeBob roller coaster ( the name escapes me. )