WEEKEND: DAY FOUR - SECTION THREE

THREADING

THE

NICOLLET NEEDLE

RECOMMENDED TIME WINDOW: 10:00am - 12:00pm WALKING DISTANCE: ~ 2 MILES Personal car users: This is where things get a little tricky. If you’re up for a walk through downtown Minneapolis, I’d go as far as the Mary Tyler Moore statue and then pick up an Uber/Lyft on 7th Street to go back to your car so that you’ll have time to make your Hotel Checkout at noon. If you’d rather NOT walk, feel free to spend more time in the Sculpture Garden and head back to your hotel at your leisure.

We’re about to walk from one end of downtown to the other. We’ll get a really awesome and thorough look into a large portion of downtown Minneapolis in the process.

The aforementioned Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge was finished in 1988, designed by Siah Armajani. It connects the Sculpture Garden to Loring Park. Across the span of the bridge is an untitled poem by John Ashbery. A funny little note about this poem: “Walker Art Center staff joke that the Ashbery untitled poem . . . is the ‘longest poem in the world’ since the bridge stretches over 16 lanes of interstate traffic for 375 feet.” (Minneapolis Sculpture Garden Wikipedia)

Go up and over the bridge. Go down the ramp, not the steps. Stop once you come to the other side: Loring Park.

LORING PARK

This park was established in 1883, when it was called Central Park. The name was changed in 1890 in honor of Charles Morgridge Loring, the first president of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, nicknamed the “Father of Minneapolis Parks”. It was the first land purchased by the city to make a park.

It’s a modest sized 33.94 acres, a great little green gem in the middle of the metro.

This is the center of Twin Cities LGBTQ+ Pride Festival in June, the Loring Park Art Festival in July, and the Holidazzle during the holidays.

From our position at the southwest end of the park, let’s move east with a horseshoes play area to our right.

Walk around the circle and onto the little bridge over the little channel in Loring Pond.

Skirt the southern edge of the Garden of the Seasons.

We’ll soon have the Berry House on our left (former office of William Berry, the first park superintendent in Minneapolis, constructed in 1883).

Let’s make our way around the shuffleboard court and pass the left side of the Berger Fountain, also known as the Dandelion Fountain (built by Robert Woodward in 1971, installed in ’75, a copy of the Sydney fountain, El Alamein Fountain).

We’ll cross a crosswalk and continue on a path called the . . .

LORING GREENWAY

Stop just a sec on the other side of the rainbow crosswalk. If you're not sure you're at the right spot, there's a sign right next to the path designating it the "Loring Greenway".

This 1500 foot pathway we’re about to traverse was constructed in 1979 and serves as a really cool little throughway between Loring Park and Nicollet Mall, which is where we’re headed.

We’ll pass between tall apartment buildings, over bridges, sneak past small gardens and little playgrounds. It’s a peaceful and fun pathway in the middle of downtown that feels very isolated from the streets.

We’ll meander on a slightly northeast course through the trees and buildings. We’ll know we came to the right place when we see a volcano looking fountain and then a pedestrian street.

Now, head on through and stop at the aqueous volcano near the street just to the left of the Hyatt Regency.

NICOLLET MALL

This narrow street is a pedestrian only street, save for buses and emergency vehicles. Nestled along both sides are an amazing array of restaurants (including Brit’s Pub - the best rooftop patio in Minneapolis complete with awesome international futbol watching and lawn bowling!; Dakota Jazz Club, coolest jazz club in the metro; The News Room - a newspaper themed restaurant; The Local - a great Irish pub).

We’ll also pass the Minnesota Orchestra, the local CBS station studio, the IDS Center (highest building in Minnesota at 910 feet), the Mary Tyler Moore statue (throw your hats!), the Minneapolis Central Library and the Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis.

One safety note: there is a higher presence of homeless on this street, and they are especially centralized across the street from Target on the left side of Nicollet. I’d say cross over to the right side of the street after reading this. Cross to the left side after passing Target if you want a picture with Mary Tyler Moore.

Enjoy threading the Nicollet needle through Minneapolis!! Once Nicollet Mall ends at Washington Avenue at a T-junction, stop and read the following:

At this point, if your hotel is in downtown Minneapolis, walk back to it. If not, order an Uber/Lyft to get picked up at the Four Seasons hotel roundabout on Hennepin Avenue (there’s nowhere to get picked up efficiently on Washington, is why). Take a left at Washington and turn left on Hennepin Ave. Go into the alcove of the Four Seasons to get picked up.

HOTEL CHECKOUT 11:30am - 12:00pm Once you’re all set with luggage and check-out, whether in your own car or needing another Uber/Lyft:

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