Greg Luce hit a subject close to my heart, kids. He wonders "why downtown Minneapolis has nothing specifically FOR kids. It's a real deficit."
After a couple of years discovering every twig and rolling down every hill in Powderhorn Park, my now 13-year-old and I used the bus (the always educational #5) to explore downtown (his favorite place). There were, and still are, general places to visit and specific places to explore. General The River - especially the amphitheater below the Federal Reserve Bank building, skip rocks, throw sticks, watch the river flow, listen to cars on the bridge, discuss why some people sleep on benches, run up and down the steps Construction sites - always a hit, especially on Sunday morning when few people are around. The not-needed enormous parking ramps north of the loop were being finished with big holes and heavy equipment to attract climbers young and old. He learned about why we rode the bus and if more people did these big ramps wouldn't be necessary and an obscure verse of "This Land is Your Land" that came in handy quite often: As (we) went walking we saw a sign there, And on the sign it said, "No Trespassing" But on the other side it didn't say nothin' That side was meant for you and me. Specific The bridges to and from Nicollet Island Nicollet Island Nicollet Mall, early Sunday a.m. on bicycle Stretch of Nicollet Mall from 13th Street to Loring Park Peavy Plaza Gateway Fountain at 1st Street and Hennepin Stairwells in parking ramps, especially the really old ones - before or after looking over the edge at the top and throwing paper airplanes to catch updrafts Farmer's Market Father of Waters sculpture in City Hall Skybridges inside atrium of Government Center Municipal Library in City Hall - oh, that the public could ride the tiny elevator up to the bell tower and see the clock mechanism like in the old, old days Inside the armory Lock and Dam #1, in a canoe when older All of these places can be enriched and revisited adding a little more history each time while fine tuning observational skills watching people and things as age determines. I'll (we'll) take these experiences over repeat visits to the Science Museum or Children's Museum anytime. There are some cool places in St. Paul too, but I'll respect the List Manager's request to keep this post focused on Mpls. Happy exploring! Steve Jevning Leonardo's Basement, in Kingfield Where many years ago King Park had a shallow lake for wading _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
