Hello again, Minnesota!

Nearly 14 years ago, my dad and I flew to Minnesota for the first time, visiting the Mayo Clinic in Rochester where I was first officially diagnosed with dystonia. A lot has changed since then, but my second trip to Minnesota is also tied to my medical condition.

Medtronic, the medical technology company based in Minneapolis that has made both of my medical implants, asked me to come speak about some of my experiences after my treatment. In fact, they already flew me to San Francisco in September to film an educational video. I will get to see part of it tomorrow, so if I can share it, I will.

So I suppose this trip could probably be officially considered a medical business trip? In any case, I am happy my mother could come along with me, and in preparation for the three-day trip, I asked my fellow Fulbrighter, Natalie, what we should do in Minneapolis. She gave her expert advice, and so our first stop after arriving at the airport was Minnehaha Falls. 

As Natalie had told me, Minnehaha Falls half-frozen is beautiful. Yup, it is.

My mom's picture turned out better than mine.

But I did get a picture in front of the Science Museum of Minnesota, which we visited after checking in at the hotel and grabbing a bite to eat at the Irish pub next door.

Natalie had also suggested checking out the museum, so it seemed like a great idea to go visit. Plus, it turns out my mentor, Stan, and his wife, Julie, both used to work there in grad school. Julie actually helped put together some of the exhibits then too.

This fish seemed cool as all the pieces are basically scrap metal. Awesome.

Despite the rain, you can see the Mississippi River. Cool, huh?

This little guy was actually a giant beaver that would've weighed about 250 lbs!

This section was sponsored by Medtronic. The whole place reminded me of visiting OMSI in Portland as a kid.

There was one exhibit where you could measure how many pints of blood you have based on your weight and gender. I apparently have a little over 11 pints of blood. Yup.

This giant triceratops skeleton is the most complete one known. Cool, huh?

I didn't exactly read what this was, but it's like spider webs.

This thing seemed cool too. Like a little tornado of steam.

This sounded like a giant xylophone and would ring for every seismic reading in the world. Pretty neat.

After the museum, our driver (yes, Medtronic got us another limo/sedan/towncar) took us on a little tour around St. Paul. Despite the darkness outside, I got a pretty good shot of the Cathedral of St. Paul. Reminded me of the Frauenkirche in Dresden.

After chatting with Stan for a bit this afternoon, he told me that he and Julie had gotten married fairly close to the museum. So I told our driver, and he drove us by it. Check it out! It's dark, but that's where Stan and Julie got married!

We drove further down Summit Avenue, which is lined with all kinds of cool houses. We saw the governor's mansion and lots of historic-looking houses with festive Christmas lights and all. Further along, we saw Macalaster College, which a few of my fellow HIA Fellows attended.

Then we drove through the University of Minnesota campus, and here's their new football stadium.

We headed to dinner after this, and per Natalie's suggestion (thanks again, Natalie!), we went to a place along the water near St. Anthony Main. We ended up going to Vic's, which was quite good.

I had breaded Walleye, and it was quite good.

My friend, Josh, who is also another HIA Fellow whom I had met in Berlin this summer and is from Minnesota, came along to join us for dinner. It was great to catch up, Josh!

After dinner, we headed home, and I've been catching up on all my emails and work. This blog took a while too. But here are a few pictures from my room. It's pretty nuts...

There is a TV in the bathroom!

All in all, today was a successful day, despite crying babies on the plane, sleeping two hours last night, and forgetting my scarf and gloves at home. The rain we had today reminded me of Seattle, and it was a lot of fun exploring with my mom. Oh, and the Target Center (where the Timberwolves play) is right across the street from us. That's literally all I see from my window. Just beyond it is Target Field (where the Twins play). Awesome.

Ok, time for bed. Tomorrow's another busy day. I'll post another blog tomorrow night.

Sam