If you would have ever told me as a young man that I would be visiting Minneapolis for a third time, I am sure I would have been very confused at how this had ever happened. But with two Nuclear Plants within a couple of hours of the city, it has been a draw for and worked out well. We had one trip with the family up her in 2015, where we visited the Mall of America, and hung out downtown. And another trip in 2017, where it was just me, but also included a Mall of America trip, and my first time to Target Field to see the Twins play.
This was a quick trip to attend the NEI National Nuclear Security Conference (NNSC) and see how the physical security side of things operated. I flew up on Monday to attend the conference on Tuesday and Wednesday, then flew back Wednesday afternoon after the last meeting. Somewhat different from my normal cyber conferences, most of these attendees are ex-military or ex-police or both, and as I mentioned to many sitting at a table near me, they were much more physically fit than my cyber counterparts. Their vendor areas also had alot more guns and military-like simulation games. But it was an excellent chance to connect with a different group and department than usual.
I took the light railway from the airport to the hotel (only $2) and got to see alot of the city. There was also a grand assortment of characters on this $2 travel system, that made me wonder how Magan had done this with all 4 kids bay in '15. She told me that she also experienced the assortment of characters as she traveled the rail all the way to the Mall of America that year. Looking back at our adventures in these blogs, I am amazed at all she did on her own. And she tells me "Now you know why my mom was always terrified when I went on these trips".
As is everything in Minneapolis, the downtown area is connected by the skyway system. The Minneapolis Skyway System is an interlinked collection of enclosed pedestrian footbridges that connect various buildings in 80 full city blocks over 9.5 miles of Downtown Minneapolis, enabling people to walk in climate-controlled comfort year-round. The skyways are owned by individual buildings in Minneapolis, and as such they do not have uniform opening and closing times. The Minneapolis skyways connect the second or third floors of various office towers, hotels, banks, corporate and government offices, restaurants, and retail stores to the Nicollet Mall shopping district, the Mayo Clinic Square, and the sports facilities at Target Center, Target Field and U.S. Bank Stadium. Several condominium and apartment complexes are skyway-connected as well, allowing residents to live, work, and shop downtown without having to leave the skyway system.
I actually took the skyway over to Target Field on Tuesday night, where a vendor had gotten us tickets in a suite for the ball game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. This is a great stadium, that feels close all the way around the park. Yes, of course I walked all the way around. Picked up some souvenirs as I went in, then sat in the suite for a little while. They had hot dogs, hamburgers, pretzels with cheese...it was a sweet suite. But the chairs outside for the game were very cramped, and the angle from deep right was not what I really like...so after visiting the mascot in the 3rd inning (I had to connect Ruby to the bear that was in my bag as a souvenir for here), I went scouting for a new seat. Then the rain came, and after about 1.5 hours, and a crazy display of sweeping the outfield to get the water into the drains, it was time again to play ball!
I found my home in the top deck behind home plate for the rest of the game. The place was pretty much empty after the rain delay, but I like this view, and had the whole section to myself. I bought some crackerjacks and a root beer, and watched the Twins go back and forth, then in the 9th inning with a man on first and second, a pinch hitter from the Dominican Republic, Carlos Santana (also really good on the guitar I hear) stepped up to the plate and hit a deep walk off single with the winning run coming in from second. Leaving the game at 11PM, it did not feel late at all, something about baseball in a ball park that makes the day a bit better.
After the conference on the following day, I skipped the railway to try and catch an earlier flight, so instead took an Uber. Did not get the earlier flight, but did find a little dragon with sad eyes, that wanted to come back to Belle. Twins socks for Sam, and a Twins bat for Davis...souvenirs collected and distributed. One of the more fun business trips.
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