It was a Zen kind of night, where things that seemed at first to be mild bad luck turned, in retrospect, to good fortune. You never know.
We started with M. Butterfly at the Guthrie [1]. I gave it only a C grade on first viewing, but after a night's sleep I moved it up to a solid B. The play has the subtlety of a sledgehammer and ranges too far, but Hwang gets extra credit for a challenging subject. Reality is illusion, after all; without denial, life would be impossible.
Sunday's explorations brought two discoveries. We found the Spyhouse cafe at 2404 Hennepin - open to midnight most nights. A new locale for our date meetings.
We at last visited the Midtown Exchange (10am most days, 11am open Sun) - which looked at bit shaky financially but is currently a foodie haven. Critically the Italian Ice (cream) shop serves root beer floats and the Exchange is smack on the Greenway. That means family bike outings can start from where the Greenway meets the river, get to a treat at the Midtwon and get back just within current bike range. There's also a DQ on Lake near the marshall bridge - that can be a useful kid fallback too.
Speaking of bicyling, I recommend Fort Snelling State Park for light mountain biking and general bike practice. It's a good place for a kid to learn a bike - no cars at all, but a little more challenging that a typical sheltered bicycle trail. (They're still recovering from the spring floods, but it's not bad.)
Speaking of bicyling, I recommend Fort Snelling State Park for light mountain biking and general bike practice. It's a good place for a kid to learn a bike - no cars at all, but a little more challenging that a typical sheltered bicycle trail. (They're still recovering from the spring floods, but it's not bad.)
[1] The play is based on a news story, but truth is stranger, and more subtle, than fiction.