Minneapolis Day 3: Brunch, Walker Art Center and Guys and Dolls

 It is nice having the Starbucks so handy.  We seem to be doing a coffee run every morning.  After breakfast we got a Lyft ride to the Walker Sculpture Garden. Once we had arrived at the garden, it started raining.  We had rain off and on all day.  We did not let that stop us.

This is the largest sculpture garden in the USA.

Mark Manders: September Room (Room with Two Reclining Figures and Composition with Long Verticals)

Robert Indiana: LOVE 

Katharina Fritsch Hahn: Cock

Alexander Calder: The Spinner

Claes Oldenburg and Choosje van Bruggern: Spoonbridge and Cherry.  I guess I took a lot of pictures of it.

Notice the Cock, the LOVE, and the basilica in the background.

Reflection with the bridge

This one shows the spray coming out from the stem, this keeps the cherry always looking shiny.

There were a few flowers around.  

We went to Esker Grove for brunch. It opened at 10:30 and we had reservations.  The Esker Grove is part of the art museum.

Our froo froo drinks.

We were there to see the 5 Ways In.  It was interesting.  The descriptions were written in English, Spanish and Somalian.

Michelangelo Pistoletto: Woman in White with Hat.  The woman is painted on the mirror.  I liked the way it looked like she was looking in the mirror and from the reflection it looked like she was looking at me.

George Segal: The Diner

An early work of Georgia O'Keefe

Ull Hahn,  I really liked his work.

Kerry James Marshall: The Gulf Stream

Close up.  This painting reinterprets Winslow Homer's piece with the same name.  

I forgot to get the artist on this painting.  From a distance it looks 3 dimensional

But up close you can see that it is flat.

After going through the Walker Art Museum we headed home.  

The Loring Park was right next to the art museum.  That is where the Pride Parade ended, so there were a lot of people and booths around.  We ended out walking home, because there is no way a Lyft could get through all the traffic to pick us up.  It was about a 2 mile walk, though it felt a lot further than my neighborhood walk.

Another mural

When we got back to the Nicolette Mall area the parade was still going on, though it was mostly stragglers at this point.

Another piano

We saw a lot of interesting costumes.  Some were X rated, but these were pretty tame.  

Post parade mess

Cleaning crew following the parade.  People picking up trash and the street washers.

Post cleaning street.  I was impressed at how quickly they got the street cleaned up.

There is a small park near us that we saw in passing every day.  We decided to check it out.

It was full of little fun sculptures.

This little guy is taking a picture of the bird on the top of the rocks.

Bird on top of the rocks.

It looks like this guy is holding the pile of rocks up.  

This is how I felt.  I think that some artist was having a lot of fun with theses.

Flowers in front of our front door.

Wall paper in the lobby of our building.  Jeanne was in charge of our one key to get into the building, to use the elevator and to get into our room.  We better not lose the key.

We relaxed for a little while.  It felt good to sit down and get our feet up, have a glass of wine.

Jeanne and I headed off to Trader Joe's to get a few more bottles of wine.  Kris and Sharon took their power naps.  

We left at 4:45 pm to walk to dinner at the Guthrie Theater.  We had reservations at the Level 5 Cafe.  It was very good.

A ghostly figure in the mirror right by our table.  Apparently all the ghosts are numbered and in the computer so you can find out about any of the ghosts or find a particular ghost.  It is fun.

We had compressed fruit for appetizer. Very interesting process.  They press the fruit and take the air out, so you end out with a bite of concentrated fruit.  We had watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew, with a little dollop of cheese on top.  It was a challenge cutting them in half so that we could each taste each fruit.

I had the steak.

We ended the meal with a drink that the bartender invented just for us.  We named it the Nutty Monk.  It had creme, nutmeg, hazelnuts, Benedictine liqueur (a French liqueur made with a mix of Angelica, Hyssop and Lemon Balm and 27 plants and spices - Google says that only 3 people know the recipe)  and Chambord (a raspberry liqueur).  It was very good.  Jeanne had a Bailey's.  

The stage before the curtains opened for Guys and Dolls.  We were not allowed to take pictures during the show. 

At intermission they had a different backdrop on the stage.  Note the baffles in the ceiling.  We had fabulous seats, first row center in the balcony.  No problem hearing every word.  Because of the baffles the actors normally do not use microphones except when there is an orchestra.

At the end of the show.  WOW!! It was an amazing performance.  Opening night was Saturday night, so this was only the 2nd show.  

When we got out of the theater it was pouring.  We waited until the crowds died down.  We got a Lyft ride home, even though it was not far.