Tourista - Minneapolis Style

Had a blast this weekend playing Tourista in our wonderful city of Minneapolis! Having spent a decade or more in jobs that required a certain amount of business travel, I have been to most major cities and a lot of the middle size cities in the US, and some abroad. New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, New Orleans, Miami, Paris, Rome, Barcelona to name a few... I've written about my gypsy gene before -I love to travel. Part of that love centers on where I currently live and the things I love about the Twin Cities (and the things I find lacking).

Over the past few years, my family and I have really tried to rediscover the city that we live in. Aside from visiting the museums and the theater and music venues for specific shows, we try to see it from an outsider's viewpoint. And Wham, when I do, I thank my lucky stars for living in such a wonderful place in the world.

This weekend, we stayed at the W in the Foshay tower - I had a free night that I needed to burn by the end of the month. As with all W's I've stayed in, it's an experience for the senses... and makes you feel either old (because you are not that hip), or young, because you know that even though you may be a little draggy and droopy on the outside, you also know that you were hip before these punks were out of diapers. Scott and I choose the latter attitude to have...

And aside from the fabulous food we ate, and the lordy lordy too many drinks we had, we also made the trip up to the Foshay tower museum and observation deck. This trip used to be a mandatory grade school thing... and I felt like that 4th grader again... looking over the edge at downtown and trying to see our house with the bincolulars. Its been well over 30 years since I've been up there... seems to me too long of a time!

So, no matter where you live, try to tour your city as if you never lived there... you'll never question why your propoerty taxes are so high, or so low again. Cities are for the people who live there to enjoy... not just for the tourists anymore!