Roaming Minneapolis...

The PLA adventures continue...

After our exciting arrival in Minneapolis the day before, Andrew, my mom and I were eager to jump right in and explore the city on our first full day in the city. The convention actually didn't start until 4 p.m., so we had the whole day to explore the city. We had poured through brochure and identified several places we wanted to visit, and we set out bright and early to begin our adventure.

The first place on our list was the American Swedish Institute. It was housed in a castle! We were really excited to check this place out. It took us a while to find the place, being unfamiliar with the city, but before too long, we found ourselves in front the lovely museum. Just as we were circling the place to find a parking spot, I- the ever observant librarian- happened to look at the brochure we had for the museum and notice when itty bitty little problem. It was 9 a.m., and the museum didn't open until 12 p.m. Whoops!

Quick change of plans! We quickly consulted our list of places to visit, and decided to visit the Minnesota Center of the Book Arts. A place dedicated to books! Perfect! What a way to spend a book-centered vacation. Once more, we navigated our way to the Center, which was on the other side of the city. Once there, we quickly found a parking space and made our way into the Center.

The first thing we noticed when we entered was that the place was quiet- almost too quiet. There was a little cafe in the Center off to the side with only one person working the counter, and one customer sipping a drink inside. Interesting. We looked to the other side of the Center, and saw that the place was dark. It seemed that while the Center's Cafe and Lobby were open, the actual Center was not.

Quick change of plans!

We were quickly realizing that exploring Minneapolis might best be a thing done on a weekend, not a weekday morning. But we were out and about, and we wanted to do something! Once more, I scoured our list of things we wanted to see and do in the city. This time, I paid attention to the opening times of places we wanted to see (Third time's a charm!). Everything we were interested in opened late except one place, so we decided that it would be our destination.

The place: The Cathedral of Saint Paul.

In a word, the Cathedral was beautiful. It stood high atop Summit Hill in Saint Paul, with breathtaking views of the city all around. It's Renaissance inspired architecture took my breath away. Inside was a peace and calm that truly did make one feel closer to heaven. I found the place so lovely that honestly, I don't think my words only can describe what I felt, and only my pictures can provide a half way adequate description of what I saw. Please enjoy!

When we were finished enjoy the enchanting Cathedral, we decided that rather than try our luck at another attraction, we were in need of some retail therapy. We went downtown and started to explore the area.







Of course, book lovers that we are, we did manage to find the city's bookstores, including a delightful used and antique bookstore. There, despite the fact that we would soon be scouring the aisles of the convention center for free books, we did find one gem of a book we couldn't live without: the special edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Andrew and I are huge fans of the series and have taken to collecting various versions of all seven novels, from special editions to foreign volumes.All along the shopping district were sculptures that really brought life to the street.

I was particularly captivated by this one:




















Andrew, however, really was inspired by this statue of Minneapolis's own Mary Tyler Moore:

















After shopping, all three of us were starved! So, we looked around for a place to eat. One place in particular called out to us, or rather to Andrew: The NBA City Restaurant. Andrew is a huge basketball fan, so this place was like nirvana to him. My mom and I could care less about sports- particularly basketball- but seeing Andrew's face when he saw that NBA City was a restaurant was too much to resist, so we decided to check it out.

It was a fun place that really embraced its theme, but not in an over the top way, as a matter of fact, it was quiet tastefully decorated and had a gourmet menu. I was particularly enthralled with the actual menu from the place- it's cover was made from a basketball! Even though I'm not a fan of basketball, I couldn't help but enjoy myself!

After our tasty meal, it was time to hit the convention center. The exhibits were opening, and we wanted to be there when the doors opened! We weren't the only ones, however, the place was swarming with librarians eager to hit the stacks as the exhibit hall was called. To keep us occupied, there was an om pah band playing which created a, shall we say, interesting, atmosphere.



When the doors opened, the stampede began! Librarians literally swarmed in the doors, rushing to get to their favorite booths. Some booths had sent out fliers and coupons, offering special prizes and giveaways to the first 50 people who showed up to their booth, so there was a lot of mad rushing to the desired booth. Not one to be left out, I, too, had a desired booth to hit, craving to be one of the first 50, and I was! My reward for my efforts? A nifty little tote bag filled with candy, a paperweight, and a slinky! Yes- it was definitely worth it!

After that, the floor passed by in a blur. There were so many booths! Among my favorites was Harper Collins, a publisher that really goes all out for librarians. They always have fantastic authors visiting and lots of free books! I also really loved the Romance Writers of America's booth. Although I am not always a fan of romance novels, this association goes all out for librarians and always has the nicest and friendly booth in the stacks. No matter when you stop by there is always an author there, signing books for free, and lots of other books- signed as well- for the taking. You are always assured of a warm welcome and a fun conversation. And you know what? The books they were giving away? They were awesome! Romance novels have come a long way from the days of Fabio covers.

The stacks were only open for 2 hours, but we sure made those most of those two hours! We had bags of books and made many trips out to the car to drop them off! By the time the stacks closed, we were wiped, but there was still more to do!Andrew has an aunt and uncle who live near the Twin Cities, and we went to meet them for a lovely meal out. I absolutely adore Andrew's family, so it was a fun time. They took us around the city and showed us some places we might not have otherwise seen, like a beautiful park with waterfalls! Andrew and I could have spent hours gazing at the beautiful surroundings.

We had such a delightful time with Andrew's family, that we were reluctant to say good night and goodbye, but the time was swiftly passing us by, and it was almost 11 p.m. by the time we got back to our hotel. Whew! We were tired.... but we still had another long day ahead of us! The very next day, the convention started in full swing! Stay tuned for more details.

Book Count of the Day: 100