Aug 8 - Trip to MN - Going Out With Dad

Dad got tickets yesterday to see Movin' Out, a Broadway show. It wasn't as much a musical as a dance performance. There was no dialogue, no singing, just ultra-athletic dance. We sat in the second row - so close we could feel the sweat spray ;). The dancing was incredible. The main guy was so athletic. I danced for 11 years so I can't help being awed in admiration.

Then we went over to Loring Park, where there is an art fair going on. We got tacos at an open-air booth (mmmmm, something I never get in Paris!) and ate them next to the basketball courts where we watched some guys play a heated match of basketball. We then walked in the warm sun over to the newly-renovated Walker Art Center. On the way we crossed a vast span of green tree-dotted park, then a lovely pond. Living in Paris there are almost no green spaces, and for the first time I was able to appreciated how much green space there is in the Twin Cities - even the heart of downtown. Growing up I had never paid attention.

After briefly stopping at the Walker Center, we drove back to St. Paul. Dad suggested taking River Road along the Mississippi. Again, I was amazed here by the green space in the cities. On our left were the mansions of the Twin Cities (and a number of modest homes) and on our right these homes overlooked the wide Mississippi river from high up on the bluffs. The view was vast and the river's banks were covered in lush green forest. There were natural sandy beaches down below, and the water even looked clean. I thought of the cement-lined Seine river passing through Paris. There is a great move to restore and de-industrialize the Twin Cities and it seems to be going very well.

Then Dad and I went through downtown St. Paul, looked at Harriet Island from the shores of the river and headed back home. After I dropped him off I drove home on the backroads into the Lake Elmo countryside. So green. So lovely. There are still a few farms left wth old red barns.