Exploring the Mill City

Here at Miles and Laurel, Tuesday brings a recap of my family's field trip over the weekend to the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis.

First, it's important to outline how this field trip took shape. We had been throwing around the idea of the museum ever since my dad went there and recommended it highly for a family field trip.  Then, one day, I went into yoga class and came out an hour later to find, like, 600 texts on my cell phone.  The entire event had been settled via text.  Who are you, and what have you done with my family!?

What's even more extraordinary: this all happened, like, 72 hours before our field trip. It appeared that a free block of time had magically floated onto six adults' schedules on Sunday afternoon.

Josh and I hosted brunch at our place first, to celebrate my mom's upcoming birthday and kick off the festivities, and then we all went over to the museum.

Here it is!!
 

I'd like to host a caption contest for this next photo. My best guess is that my sister is blissfully dreaming about what the museum might have in store for us. (I also think, in the background, that Josh is pounding the parking meter, which was being difficult.)

The museum is in the city's warehouse district has loads of beautiful historic buildings that have been restored and renovated into condos and lofts. I love the big windows and the stone.  I would definitely love to have those windows, so I like to look at the buildings, and sometimes I like to take pictures of them. 

Until Josh reminds me that I am essentially taking photos into peoples' homes.

I have definitely posted pictures on M&L of the Washburn A Mill, which forms the back side of the museum, because I think it's one of the most striking views I see on a run along the Mississippi Riverfront.  But I never really knew anything about it!

You are used to seeing it from this vantage point, taken from the river road by the Stone Arch Bridge:

What do you think the view looks like from way up there, on the eighth floor?

I'll show you!  (Cue sighs of relief.)

That view is courtesy of one of my favorite parts of our trip to museum: the Flour Tower, a multimedia elevator tour to the eighth floor that took about 15 minutes. It was beautifully done snapshot of the mill's history. The elevator would stop intermittently at different floors, and the doors would open to show various scenes from around the mill. Sometimes footage or audio interviews about working in the mill would play. I learned a ton during the Flour Tower.

I should back up! Minneapolis, as I mentioned earlier this month, was known as the Flour Milling Capital of the World for about 50 years around the turn of the 20th century because of the milling industry, thanks to the water power generated by the nearby Mississippi River. The city's population grew exponentially during that time, but after World War I, the use of electricity became more widespread and applicable in mills and factories, and the river's proximity wasn't so special anymore. The Washburn A Mill, which is where the museum is today, closed in 1965 and nearly wrecked by fire in 1991. (I definitely didn't know that the mill's ruins were caused by such a recent fire.) Later, we went into another room and watched a 19-minute video about the history of Minneapolis, narrated by local playwright Kevin Kling. That was fabulous, too. Every Minnesotan should visit this place.

There are big, big views on the eighth floor (see my mom doing her best ape impression below) and it looks down on the skeleton of the mill, now part of the museum's event space. There are large windows and lots of brick above ground, and in the lower levels, there are loads of exhibits about the river, the history of the people who settled there, food, flour, baking, milling, and water power. There's also a wonderful gift shop.

Okay, here are some more pictures of the things I just described:

I definitely don't remember the last time my family and I went to a museum together, let alone one that none of us (except for my dad) had ever visited. And let alone one that focused on such an integral part of the history of the urban area I call my home. Like the Desert Museum in Tucson, this struck the jackpot of being appealing for all kinds of audiences: families, all ages, solo travelers, and so on.  That's the mark of a fantastic museum.

My family loves our birthday celebrations and dinners, but over the last year or so, we've started striving to go on more adventures together.  (Kayaking and bowling - check!) You may also recall (actually, you probably won't, unless you've memorized my list, which would be odd) that this field trip fell into two 101 in 1,001 list items:

• #65 Do a new activity with my family
•  #39 Go to three new-to-me museums

After we left the museum, my dad mentioned that I must have checked at least one item off my list that day, and I said I actually had covered two but had to decide which one to count it toward. (My family advocated for checking off both!  Non!  Guys, we have until Sept. 28, 2014!)

I decided that I enjoy my family's newfound adventurous spirit so much that I have faith we'll find another field trip before the 1,001 days are done (and hopefully more than one!). Thus, let the Google document show: I have visited a new-to-me museum!
Kudos to my dad for this great idea. You must check this place out!

P.S. Does your family have any adventures that we could try? Anything you'd love to do with your family but haven't had the chance yet?  Comment away!