Minnesota Tourists

On Monday we became full-on tourists for a day.  I love, love, love being a tourist!  

The main stop for our day was to visit some Minneapolis ruins.  What?  You didn't know there were ruins to tour in Minneapolis?  Well, it wasn't like the Mayan ruins we'd toured in Mexico, or Greek or Roman ruins overseas, but it was quite interesting.

What we were touring was Mill City Museum, known as "the Most Explosive Museum in the World". It is a museum built right into the burned out shell of an old flour mill.  The flour mill had experienced two disasters in it's past, a fire and a huge explosion caused by flour dust.  It turns out that flour dust is more explosive than gunpowder!  I bet you didn't know that!

The mill was right along the Mississippi River.  The area now is a mix of old, deserted mills as well as trendy restaurants and upscale condos, some built right into the old, old buildings.  The tour included a ride up to an observation deck where we could look out over the river, the city and down into the ruins.

After our tour of the mill, we crossed the Mississippi on the Stone Arch Bridge, open only to pedestrians and bicyclists.  We enjoyed a nice lunch, just happy to be together.  

I hope you enjoy the photos of our day as Minnesota Tourists...

The outside of the flour mill.  The observation deck is the top floor of that section above the ruins.

The sign was still mounted on top.

 Looking down from the observation deck.

 Our brother-in-law, Joe, looking very, very interested in the view.

 My very beautiful sister-in-law, Sue, reluctantly letting me take her photograph for my blog.

 Another mill across the river.  Parts of it are being made into upscale apartments and lofts.

 The Stone Arch Bridge across the Mississippi was quite charming.

 The weather was absolutely perfect for our lunch outdoors.