My First Minnesota Visitors

It took nearly 2 years to get someone out to visit me in the frozen tundra so it was fitting that my first visitors were my parents! I'm sure they thought that I forgot to post about their visit, but in true Natalie form, it took me a long time to get the pictures finally on my computer. And a visit really isn't a visit without pictures to prove that it really happened.

I failed to get pictures the first day, but after finally getting home around 2am Friday morning, they slept in while I worked for the morning from home. After a late breakfast, we went out to an apple orchard so they could see the countryside and taste different apple varieties than they have at home. Later that day, we went to the one attraction that everyone outside of MN can name - Mall of America. Yes, we wandered around MOA for a few hours. And even more amazing, my dad can now say he's been to Mall of America. I'm pretty sure that mall's aren't his thing. Afterwards, we made it to Mickey's diner for dinner. You can never go wrong with some greasy fish and chips with a chocolate shake on the side.

Saturday, we spent the day out and about in the Twin Cities.

We spent the first part of the day going on a tour of the state capitol, which was amazing. This is the MN governor's reception room where he makes speeches to the press and stuff like that.

The MN House Chambers

The Quad... something. The statue on the top of the capitol building.

A view of St. Paul's Cathedral from the top of the capitol building.

After the capitol tour, we headed to the conservatory at Como Zoo. It is very cool with lots of rooms with plants from all over the world.

The lilly pads in bloom inside the conservatory.
Our final stop for the afternoon was the Mill City Museum which chronicles the milling and flour industry in Minneapolis, which I didn't know was called the Mill City until I went on the tour. The museum is built on the remains of one of the four mills that burned down.
View of the stone bridge, a foot bridge across the Mississippi River.

On the final day we packed up and headed on a drive around lake Minnetonka on our way to the airport. It was a great trip and I'm so glad they came to visit!