Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Nicollet Island Adventure!!

Jeff & I have an Anniversary today… we've been best friends for 10 years, and husband & wife for 8, a double-anniversary of sorts… we celebrated this last weekend with a get-away close to home.


Our home base for the weekend was the Nicollet Island Inn, a national historic landmark and cute older hotel…  We arrived early on Friday evening...


For the uninformed, Nicollet Island is a small island in the middle of the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis, this view out the window of our room shows part of the Mississippi flowing by…


Inside our room…


What they make available as a "mini-bar"… items for purchase sitting on a table by the window… we thought this was a bit humorous…


Jeff did some reading about local eateries, after some discussion we picked a place I'd been wanting to try for a while...


Cute little desk in our room...


Nice chair, I enjoyed this spot for doing some reading...


We went to dinner at Sea Change in Minneapolis, we both recommend it highly… lovely & tasty meal, nice portion sizes and served at a nice pace…


After dinner we meandered into the Guthrie, Jeff hadn't been to the new Guthrie Theater, and we spent some time on the outdoor deck there (on the cantilever) that overlooks the Stone arch bridge...


I snapped a few photos from the deck while Jeff took in the views…


The next morning we headed for breakfast to the Wilde Roast cafe, on the bank of the Mississippi just West of Nicollet Island… it was raining lightly, but we figured we wouldn't melt & we had an umbrella with us (it kept the rain off my glasses & my camera)...


Jeff & I both needed to walk off breakfast, and the rain had stopped, so we started along the path across the street from Wilde Roast, heading Southwest...


We passed the 3rd Avenue Bridge which was closed to traffic, they were setting up fireworks for the Aquatennial celebration.


Continuing our way west, in the Saint Anthony Maine area...


Looking down at the trees along the Mississippi...


A park along the way had a very confused little Maple tree already displaying some Fall colors...


Next to the Stone Arch Bridge there was a path leading down to a walkway along the Mississippi...


We decided to explore this path another day as it was wet and slippery Saturday morning...


Looking at the path along the Mississippi from the Stone Arch Bridge...


Minneapolis skyline (background), Mill City Museum (ruin in mid-photo), and a Lock on the Mississippi (foreground) from the Stone Arch Bridge...


Old stone pylon by the Stone Arch Bridge, likely an anchorage for barges & ships as they wait to go through the Locks...


Jeff looking at the river from the Stone Arch Bridge & patiently waiting for his shutterbug wife :)



Looking back at the West bank of the Mississippi from the Stone Arch Bridge… island in front/left of photo houses a power plant of sorts...


Water exiting the power plant...


Looking toward the main part of downtown, on the East side of the Mississippi… yes, Jeff is coming back to fetch me & keep me moving along...


View of Saint Anthony Falls from the Stone Arch Bridge, the natural falls have been covered with a concrete apron to avoid rapid erosion...


A look at the Lock near Saint Anthony Falls...


A look at the next Lock downriver...


Mill city Museum, old Pillsbury Mill ruins, from the Stone Arch Bridge...


A closer look at the Lock just above the Stone Arch Bridge.


Almost all the way across...


Some ruins below the Stone Arch Bridge, a couple was getting photos taken there, an interesting & picturesque spot...


We were almost all the way across the bridge when Jeff noticed a barge was coming into the Lock!  We raced back to watch it go through…


The barge comes into the Lock...


The traffic light below the Lock is flashing red...


The barge ties up...


Water from the Lock gets released into the river below...


The barge disappears from sight...


The doors open...


The barge starts being moved out...


The barge is pushed all the way out of the Lock…  I got startled when the push-boat blasted its horn...


We finally continue our walk… past the Mill City Museum ruins...


Toward the Guthrie (that's the cantilever I mentioned earlier)...

And on to the Mill City Farmer's market that meets on Saturday mornings between the Guthrie Theater & the Mill City Museum.


This is a popular market… I was looking for some fresh fruit (no luck this day), Jeff was looking for a pop...


We weren't going home so there was no point in buying any of the many wonderful goods that were for sale… so we continued on...


Into the Mill City Museum building (yes this train car is in the building) to go to the cafe to get something to drink, we needed something to drink since we'd been walking a while…  While drinking our sodas we decided to do a tour of the museum, Jeff hadn't been before & its just a little museum...


Ruins from inside...


Another wall of the ruins… the lights in the picture were being taken down, an Opera had been staged here recently...


Now that's a big box of Bisquick!!


Jeff finds a new friend...


Some antique milling machinery...


An antique dust collecter for the mill, flour dust is highly explosive...


More milling equipment...


I suggested Jeff put his nose on that thing ;)


An interesting old flour box on display...


An antique tractor...


A display of an old-time meal…


After meandering a bit through the museum displays we went on the Flour Tower tour (sorry no pictures allowed) which was fun… at the end we were up on the Observation deck, on the 8th floor…
this is a picture looking down at the ruins…


Another picture of the ruins from the observation deck...


Me on the observation deck… it was a beautiful warm sunny day at this point...


Jeff on the observation deck… the wind was blowing nice breezes...


Beautiful views could be seen all around… especially across to the East bank...


After the museum we continued our walk… we passed by the Lock under the 3rd Street Bridge...


Continued along the West bank toward the Hennepin Avenue bridge, which at its center is at street level on Nicollet Island… that's right, we were headed back toward the hotel...


Jeff wisely rested in the shade while waiting for me to catch up… (shutterbug handicap)...


Looking back under the 3rd Street Bridge….


This section of walkway along the river was really nice...


Hennepin Avenue Bridge, one of the shortest suspension bridges, where it connects to Nicollet Island…  old Grain Belt Beer sign...


We heard a commotion, then saw its source, there was a Pedal Pub making its way across the bridge...


Walking on the Hennepin Avenue bridge...


I thought the railing on the bridge was pretty...


Getting to the Island...


Our home away from home for the weekend...




The dining has lots of windows all around…


We were peeking into the dining room to see what it was like, considering dinner there that evening...


There was a horse-drawn carriage outside...


Part of the hotel lobby area...


A large private dining room in the hotel, just off the lobby…


Next we took the car, picked up some fruit at a Lunds just a few blocks away.  Then we were off to lunch, a late lunch at that, to a place down the road we'd been wanting to try...


We shared a salad & pizza at Pizza Nea… Yum!!


After lunch we decided to drive around in Minneapolis… we heard the bells ringing like crazy so we drove by the Basilica… a wedding was getting out… awww...


Jeff spotted the IDS tower (blue building with black top) and was wondering if you could still get to an observation deck on the top… we went, you can't, so we wandered through Macy's and the malls a bit… I picked up a couple new Misto's (oil spraying devices for the kitchen) while there...


Its fun to see the old churches in town...


Yet another Pedal Pub was making its way through town...


A bit of the theater district...


I spotted this interesting spiral fire escape… then we headed back to Nicollet Island to put our feet up for a while & arrange dinner.  We finally decided that we wanted to eat at the hotel's restaurant, this ended up being a very wise decision…

We went for another walk, this time on Nicollet Island itself…


If not for the occasional glimpses of larger buildings across the river, you'd never know you were in the middle of the city… ok, you could hear cars & such if you listened for them, but mostly we just heard birds...


This section of the Mississippi is quite calm, its the smaller portion running to the West of Nicollet Island...



3rd Street Bridge as seen from the Island… this would be the area in which we would later watch the fireworks...


Railroad tracks that cross the island, here is where they go across to the West bank.


 Another section going toward the West bank… no railroad tracks on this section...


We meandered along a tree-lined dirt road...


Occasionally a runner or biker would pass by...


Looking at Boom Island (not actually an island) from Nicollet Island...


Jeff waiting for me… again...




A bridge crossing over to Boom Island…


There were some young people jumping off the bridge into the calm portion of the Mississippi...


Jeff is waiting for me, since we're not going to leave Nicollet Island...


When Jeff started coming back for me I decided I'd better catch up… :)


A teepee… this is when we discovered that there is a small neighborhood on the island...


You can tell by the tree its an older neighborhood...






The houses look to be Victorian era...




This garden was overgrowing the walkway...


I spotted this dinner-plate sized Hibiscus...


A funny older building, we decided its either a dorm for the Private School on the island or apartments...


A small boat docked on the island...


Part of the area where the boat was docked...


A horse-drawn carriage, there were at least 3 of these going around the island...


Approaching the Hennepin Ave Bridge & old billboard...


An entrance to the De La Salle High School...


Looking across the river toward the East bank at an old church steeple...


Under the bridge looking at what Jeff believes is a Post Office building...


Under the bridge & into the Nicollet Island Park… a wedding was going on this day at the Nicollet Island Pavilion (a private facility in the park)….


After our walk we still had time before dinner (our reservation was at 8:15) so we put our feet up again for a while in our room…


Finally we're in the dining room & ready to order dinner...


The view out our window at dinner… as people started gathering on the Merriam Street bridge to watch the fireworks…


A silly picture of us waiting for the fireworks… Jeff is excited (can you tell)… it was the Largest, Loudest, Best fireworks display I'd ever seen, and we were VERY CLOSE…. looking straight up almost the whole time…  Phew!  That was a busy day!!


The next morning we decided to venture a bit further away, to find a favorite breakfast spot (the one near where we live closed)… so we packed up & checked out & made our way out of Minneapolis, to the southwest so Saint Louis Park to Pannekoeken Huis… Mega-Yum!!

After another big breakfast we decided to head back to Minneapolis for a walk around Lake Of The Isles, neither of us had walked that lake, so it was a new adventure… the rest of the photos here are from that walk… Its a very high end neighborhood in Minneapolis & quite picturesque… enjoy...







Jeff isn't annoyed… just squinting...






















Jeff thought refurb, I thought new construction, hard to say...








What a wonderful time together… I have so much fun with my dear sweet hubby!!  What a blessing to share our lives together… Thank You Jesus for bringing my best friend & husband Jeff into my life!!


Finally… a picture of us having dinner on our actual anniversary (July 24th), at Benihana… Fun & Yummy!!

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