A Free Day of Adventure

 Minneapolis, MN

Couples Skate in the All Skate Direction!

The Walker Art Center

Today we took advantage of our NARM Pass and walked over to The Walker Art Center.  There are a couple of new exhibits that we haven't seen yet.  We also haven't explored their permanent collection recently.  

Donna and I peer into Passing Winter - Yayoi Kusam

Office at Night - Edward Hopper (The Nighthawks guy)

There is a great Stanley Whitney exhibit.  I wasn't aware of him before today but his works are fantastic and it's great seeing them all together.  I liked the reflection of the paintings in the floor.

Holidazzle 2024

After our museum visit we headed home and ate some dinner and then walked the skyway to Holidazzle 2024.  Holidazzle is and was a winter festival in Minneapolis.  It has had a 10 year hiatus but it's back this year, in part.  There used to be a parade but now it's a closed street with a lot of vendors and things to do as well as things to do indoors.  We took advantage of this free event to celebrate winter in the winteriest place I have ever lived.

They had Minne-Golf set up to play for free.  It's the same course as we played here but in a different place.

We were headed to the FREE ROLLERSKATING AKA Roll-A-Dazzle sponsored by CenterPoint Energy in an unused business in The City Center Shopping Mall.

We arrived just after they opened so it looks pretty deserted in these photos.

You signed an online waiver, gave them your ID, and Twin Cities Skaters gave you rollerskates!

I ran off and got photos while Donna put on her skates.

This is Donna's "I'm having fun" pose that you can also see here in this skating post.

There are a lot of many opportunities for selfies.

They had a nice seating area set up so you could rest, post on Facebook about skating for free, and tighten your skates.

It turns out those toe stoppers are just for posing.

After skating we bundled up and walked Nicolette Mall.

The mall has a giant chess board and they put scarves on the pieces.

There was a beer and drink tent that we didn't make use of.  A $9 can of beer seemed inappropriate for our Free Day of Adventure.

Fake ice carvings are a thing even when it is 10 degrees out and a real ice carving would survive just fine.  After looking at this again it might be real. The Southern California boy in me just assumed it was fake.

I was hyped for this Holidazzle Rollercoaster but it turned out to be a stationary sled.

As we walked we happened across a giant yeti.

They seemed pretty cool to look at but then we found out...

They were a marionette and we could control them!

The animation looks pretty great considering it is like 5 random people just randomly pulling ropes without any organization.

The Yeti was made from recycled mattresses, which is really cool.

This hoop tunnel was stroller and wheelchair accessible.

There were a few large hour glasses that were interactive.  When you started turning the wheel it triggered a light show with music.

This is what it looks like before you started turning the wheel.

It was a fun day of exploration.  Minneapolis has been treating us great so far.  The weather has been getting colder and we are expecting our first major snow storm today (it's happening as I write this).  That's okay, we don't have to drive anywhere anytime soon.

That's it for today.  If you missed, Skating the Stadium, and didn't click the link above, check it out.  We went rollerblading at US Bank Stadium for NOT FREE!

$40 Million Dollars at The Money Museum in Kansas City

 Kansas City, MO

I knew I was a 10!

The Money Museum

This morning we did our morning routine and then headed to the KC Streetcar and rode all the way to Union Station.   On our ride to Union Station there was a little girl, about 6 or 7 years old, and she was very excited to be on the Streetcar.  At every stop she yelled to the people getting on, "COME ON IN PEOPLE!"  I quietly hoped that she represents the future.  After getting off at the end of the line we walked through Penn Valley Park to The Money Museum.  The Money Museum is attached to The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and is free to visit.  You just have to show your ID and go through a metal detector.  

Good news!  They are extending the KC Streetcar!

We entered the WW1 Memorial area but went straight to The Money Museum

Looking back across the fountain to Union Station

The WW1 Museum and Observation Tower

After going through Security you can visit the temporary exhibit highlighting the local Negro League Museum and see the commemorative coins minted.

This was the coolest thing I could think of to do with my arms.  I'm losing my edge I think.

There was a lot of "head sticking through" opportunities

You can try to lift a gold bar.  It's heavy and also gets stuck in the foam used to dampen the drops it probably takes.  

They also have a few augmented reality stations. I made it rain!

More augmented reality that didn't deserve showing the animation

We got to see how much room $40m dollars takes up.  Binion's Las Vegas crows about their $1m on display.  This was 40 times better!

I took some free money on the way out even though we don't have a lot of room for it.

Walking Back to Union Station

We decided to walk back to Union Station after the Money Museum.  It is a good spot to get out of the sun after a 20 minute walk.

We realized we forgot to take a selfie in front of the Museum so we phoned it in and got this one.

We explored the outside of the WW1 Museum.  Our friend Gordon is back in town tomorrow and we will probably be going inside with him.

The iconic Western Auto sign and building

This monument was dedicated by Calvin Coolidge in 1926.  It was supposed to be a monument to the War to End All Wars but we entered another World War just 13 years later.

Union Station

We entered Union Station and enjoyed the air conditioning and then noticed there was a whole historical tour we had missed when we were here earlier this month. There were 3 floors about the history of Union Station and the renovation and there was even a great place to look out over Union Station from above.  I'm glad we went back!

A view of the WW1 Memorial from the 2nd floor of Union Station

We took the stairs and the elevator to see them both

The different types of stone used to build the station.  

An old photo of Union Station

The current version of Union Station

What kind of trophy is this?  Obviously you aren't a golfer.

Not all heroes wear capes, but this one does!

They updated Union Station in the 60s

We were sad we missed the auction by a handful of decades.

For a while the terminal was covered in a dome to reduce heating costs.

Again, put this on a shirt and take my money!

They had a Model Train area too

And Legos

The Freight House Bridge

A couple of weeks ago we went to Grunauer for dinner and I noticed this cool bridge.  Turns out it is The Freight House Bridge that connects Union Station to The Freight House area.  I remembered this bridge and wanted to cross it.  Turns out Donna wanted to go to Grunauer for lunch so our goals were aligned!  The walk over the bridge was everything one could hope for.

Amtrak's Siemens #4611.  I thought it would be easy to figure out where this train was going because I had the train, time, and location but apparently I don't have strong Train Spotting Skills.  There is probably a website out there that will tell me.

A Kansas City Southern Freight Train passed by us too

Lunch at Grunauer was great.  You should really go when you are in town.  Also this beer was refreshing!

After lunch we stopped by Up Down KC because we still had 3 leftover tokens.  Today is the 25th anniversary of Golden Eye for the N64.  I didn't stay for the tournament because my Golden Eye skills are weak now.

They were showing Raiders of the Lost Ark while we were there.

It was another great day in KC.  We are closing out our last week here.  Time is absolutely flying by.  Soon we will be on another camping road trip and we are looking forward to it.

If you missed yesterday's post you can find it here!