Drive by Shooting

After the open house, Spike took us for a tour of Minneapolis and St. Paul in his Prius. I've heard of these cars but never saw one that I know. It had a pretty impressive array on the dashboard, complete with a camera for reversing as you can't actually see out the back window apparently.


When we weren't snapping pictures through the window -- I never seem to learn that this doesn't really work -- I was scribbling notes furiously as Spike reeled of facts and figures, names and dates, all about the history of Minneapolis. I'd say he was pretty proud of his hometown and rightly so. The only trouble is that my notes don't make a great deal of sense to me now. I'd have to do a great deal of internet research to pull it all together, and I will, but not now.


In the meantime, did you know that -

Minneapolis grew up around St Anthony Falls, the only waterfall on the Mississippi River?

Initially a lumber mill town, grain mills took over in the late 19th Century (Think General Mills and Pillsbury)

Never let a man who owns a bus company get on the City Council; you'll lose your streetcars!

That person formerly known as Prince is originally from Minneapolis, also Dear Abby and Ann Landers, also Target stores and Sears started there.


There are some seriously big and beautiful houses in some amazing neighbourhoods around Minneapolis. Spike repeatedly offered to


stop so we could take proper pictures, but it didn't seem to me a


good use of time so we just aimed, fired and hoped for for the best.



Fortunately, I jotted down "Swedish Institute" and Googling that took me to the Minneapolis Historic Homeowner Association. I could spend hours drooling over the houses there.