Twin Cities

I read about the cherry in the spoon whilst reading a John Sandford “Prey” book.  It was a NSFW throw away line, but it prompted me to give it a goog to see what it looked like.  Couple that with then working with a sister site based in Minneapolis and I knew this was something I couldn’t miss while I as there.  I had a free Saturday before heading to Duluth, and the weather was beautiful so I headed off to the Twin Cities to see the Minneapolis Sculpture Park.

The Minnesota State Fair was happening that weekend as well, and I thought I’d be avoiding the crowds, but it turns out – this parking lot was very near one of the Fair park and ride locations. So… it was crowded.  I can say, that while Utah might have the worst drivers, Minnesota has the worst parkers.  Nary a car was parked between the lines designating their spot.  I managed to squeeze into a spot that was right by the entrance, though. 

Other highlights included 

• Hahn/Cock by Katharina Fritsch

• Black Vessel for a Saint by Theaster French

• Hare on Bell on Portland Stone Piers by Barry Flanagan (I call it Bunny Ballerina)

• For Whom by Kris Martin (really I just think the name is punny)

• Wind Chime (after “Dream”) by Pierre Huyghe

• X with Columns by Sol LeWitt

• Love by Robert Indiana

• Woodrow by Deborah Butterfield

• The Spinner by Alexander Calder

So, obviously I took approximately one million pictures of Spoonbridge and Cherry because it’s my favorite.  I was surprised to discover that it actually sprays a mist out of the cherry stem.

I also stumbled across a community theater in Minnetonka that was running Five Presidents and between figuring out the logistics of going to a Twins’ game and seeing this – I chose this.  The play is set on the day of Richard Nixon’s funeral and takes place in a holding area where the former Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and current President Clinton are waiting before the funeral begins.  Here’s the blurb from the program:

“FIVE PRESIDENTS brings us back 25 years into the Executive Board Room at the Nixon Library on April 27, 1994.  It is the day of Richard Nixon's funeral and an historic occasion that brought the five living presidents, four exes and one current, together to mourn, honor and discuss one of our history’s most controversial political figures.  This is a fictional take of what might Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton have discussed while gathered prior to the service. Maybe some soul searching among great men so rarely together or, would these leaders of the free world prefer banter, small talk, jokes or petty bickering?”

It was really interesting, and while I was easily the youngest person there (by at least a decade) I had a great time.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time in MN and it is beautiful.  If only it didn’t have such a pesky winter.  That will be a recurring theme of my time in MN, WI, and MI.