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Health & Fitness

There's Always the Museum

Museums around the area offer respite from the cold winter days.

MN residents have a strong resilience to the harsh winters, regardless, the bitterly chilled wind eventually creeps into the bones and can make life seem dull. We are a museum going family, something my dad instilled in me as a child. Nikos (my husband) is never as inclined to go, sometimes even Elizabeth needs some nudging, but we go anyway.


The twin cities offer a great deal in terms of museums. We still have yet to visit the Museum of Natural History and the well-known art institute, however, we've visited a handful of some of the most creative, hands-on and interesting museums that we have been fortunate enough to check out.

The museums we've visited are: Mill City, The Works, the Children's Museum,the Science Museum, The Northfield Historical Society Museum and the History Center. In some of my previous blog entries back in the summer, you will find our experiences at the Children's Museum, Northfield Historical Society Museum, as well as the Science Museum.

I'd like to first mention our visit to the Northfield Historical Society Museum back in the summer.  Nikos was working so I threatened the kids, "Don't touch ANYTHING!" and also bribed them with a box of popcorn at the nostalgic popcorn cart after our tour.  This museum was a genuine treat!  Serving as the docent was a girl in her teens, articulate and well-informed as she had taken us through the museum retelling the story of the Jesse James raid gone awry.   The First National Bank of Northfield had been the last bank that the Jesse James Gang had attempted to rob, and the community members had been responsible for interrupting the raid. The beauty of the museum was that we were standing in the actual bank where the raid had taken place!  As usual, I could have remained in the museum ogling over the pictures and documents for an additional two hours, but my three year old's pent up rowdiness was about to become unleashed.  After dishing out "no" two hundred and thirty times at the gift shop, and escaping with only a three dollar magnet purchase, we sat by the fountain and ate the best popcorn in the world.  The couple working at the popcorn cart was as sweet as our time spent gazing at the 19th century buildings of downtown Northfield.  The lovely town can bring any history lover satiation.   I'm looking forward to writing an article after checking out the annual,  "The Defeat of Jesse James Days" this September.  We'd moved here on September 10, 2012, and therefore, had missed the occasion. 

The Works was cool and small enough to only spend at most two hours, and therefore not consuming the entire day.  I liked the employee working at the time, I believe her name was Beth or Betsy. She was informative of the cities, and had given me some extra places to check out. The Works was an interactive, engineering/designing kind of place.

While I am mentioning engineering/designing, I felt that Nikolas' Lego club at the library had kicked things up, I just love that Nikolas and the other kids have such an opportunity!

Design can be expressed in countless ways.
A new exhibit had been completed at the History Center, and wow, what an amazing job they had done! The particular wing covered the Dakota history and early settler life. There was a cool and creative coal mine to walk through, complete with a dynamite simulator. Nikolas was glued to that pump for an hour, while Katerina was screaming and terrified, begging to get the heck out of the place.

The History Center is my favorite museum here in MN thus far. Often, there are special events in which the kids can make crafts related to an historical event. Once during Dakota days, there were special guests of the Dakota nation giving compelling presentations and some awesome activities for the kids. One exhibit was the Dakota War of 1862. I knew quite a bit of the dark history and atrocious treatment of the first natives of this area, as well as the rest of the US, long before visiting this exhibit. Yet to see the pictures, the letters, the complete and more objective collection of this tragic war and shameful part of history, a part of my heart was left for the abused Dakota nation, aching for those deceased, betrayed, neglected, murdered, who essentially yearned only for autonomy and a continuum of their livelihood. I left that exhibit wiping tears and with a tremendous feeling of heartache.

The Mill City Museum is another must-see. What had begun back in the 1870's as the world's largest flour mill, owned by Washburn, changed hands over the years and the sign, Gold Medal Flour still boldly stands.  Flour dust is combustible and in 1878, an internal fire killed approximately 18 employees.  This disaster had sparked the invention of giant ventilators and a focus on improved sanitary practices.  The mill in 1965, owned by General Mills, closed its doors.  The building became abandoned and a place for transients.  Another fire in 1991 ravaged the structure and eventually became listed on the National Register of Historic Places and hence, is now a reconstructed awesome museum. This museum was fantastic!

There's a baking room in which the kids could roll out dough and create, along with an employee baking treats you can sample. Notice that Nikolas found it just so hilarious to put the dough on his head. He's ten and also half of Nikos, that's all I have for an explanation.

There was a water room for the kids to get wet and play in, a miniature scale of St. Anthony Falls. We went on an old grain elevator and each floor had recordings of former employees.  The top floor revealed the impressive ventilators.  Finally, we went outside on the top deck which overlooked the Mississippi River and St. Anthony Falls.

There were so many activities to do, both for adults and kids, I could write a lengthy article.  We watched commercial jingles, many of which I remembered from childhood, the kids loved this portion. Narcoleptic Nikos only took two naps this museum trip, which might just be a new record.

I decided I'd grow my own wheat grass one day and attempt to grind my own flour.  I might even use it for my monthly cookie giveaways.  I was that inspired!

We watched a film about Minneapolis, chatted with the employees, built a life-size puzzle, watched a demo on flour dust explosions.  The ruins outside reminded me of the Parthenon in Greece, and in the early evening, a wedding had taken place.  We spied from inside for a good fifteen minutes, as well as a museum employee.

To sum things up, it had been a terrific day at this very COOL museum!

We've been to the Science Museum of MN several times. Check out the pics from the summer article if interested. This last visit, we spent some extra time at the Mississippi River Visitor Center, which is located inside the Science Museum. While the kids completed their activities to earn their Junior Ranger badges, Nikos and I spent an hour chatting with the volunteer. The youngish retiree was very interesting, and we discussed everything from his son's bicycle business to how he managed to put his two children through college, one of them having gone to St. Olaf, the local ivy league college. The highly dedicated and engaging ranger had sworn in our kids and provided them with a large back of posters, magnets and information. What a wonderful visitor's center, and I suggest that you take the time while visiting the museum to check it out.

Finally, when the day is promising little sunshine, there is always a museum to pass some of the day away. You will undoubtedly garner a few warm memories.

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