Lots of good things to say about Minneapolis, for sure. Let’s start with the housing stock. There are some absolutely wonderful areas just around downtown that really appeal to our Midwestern sensibilities. The houses are lovely and meticulously maintained, and the variety seems just right.
They also appealed to young Mary Richards, as she found her home here. A statue celebrates her iconic moment, and we actually found her house! Remember that balcony on her third-floor apartment? Not sure which was Rhoda’s place, but you can summon up your own memories just by looking at the house. FYI – it’s now for sale for $2.3 million.
It was also our day for art, starting at the Walker Art Center, which is interesting in and of itself. Love all those angles and enjoyed the contents too.
Next was a tour of an historic home – the Purcell-Cutts House – which is an outstanding and completely intact Prairie-school home. You see Frank Lloyd Wright touches everywhere, but this was designed in 1913 by William Gray Purcell and George Grant Elmslie. Purcell designed it for his own family and luckily, the next family lived there for years and didn’t change a thing. This was an extremely livable yet very carefully designed example of the genre. Great storage – even with cupboards in the floor!
The dining room furniture was reproduction, but the real stuff is in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, heavily endowed by our friend from Summit Avenue, James J. Hill. It is a classical structure, as you would expect of that time, but the inside has lots of excitement and modern gems, in addition to a model of the Purcell-Cutts house and its furnishings.
All in all, a great day in a very vibrant city. We admired the sky bridges, the skyline, and dined at a place called Hell’s Kitchen, on a walleye BLT and grilled cheese, with a side of what is evidently a very important Minnesota food group – tater tots. Yum.
Then it was off to the Guthrie Theatre to see The Heidi Chronicles. The theatre itself is amazing, overlooking the Mississippi River, the St. Anthony Falls, and the Stone Arch Bridge built by that ever-present James J. Hill for his railroad. There is something called the Endless Bridge that allows you to hover over it all. The views – and the production – were excellent.
All in all, a great day in Minneapolis.
Love your trip notes. Just FYI Mary Richards’ neighbor was Rhoda, not Rhonda. Keep on truckin!
Janet
Congratulations, Janet! I did that on purpose, of course. You have now won the is-anybody-reading-my-blog? contest. Kudos and consider it corrected.
Of course we are reading your blog. It is great fun and very interesting. It is my bedtime story every night.
I have heard so much about Minneapolis, and why people love it, but now I get it.
There are so many things to admire, not the least of which is that you can’t bring your gun into the Art Institute….