So I've had a few people ask about my trip to Minneapolis last weekend so I thought I'd give a little write up for those of you who are interested.  Now first of all I planned this trip based on my possibly unhealthy fear that Paisley Park might not make it as a museum. So I wanted to make this trip sooner rather than later just in case.  Also, this was the first trip I've taken since my health and y world got turned completely upseid down in late 2013.  Needless to say, this trip was a big deal for me.

So me and two friends flew out late Friday morning and touched down just in time to be in what I assumed would be rush hour traffic.  To my surprise, there is nothing in Minneapolis or the surrounding area that looks even remotely like the traffic I'm used to in the Seattle area. Oh that was amazing, but I digress.  Anyways, we pretty much just got settled in on Friday night, going out to dinner and then later in the evening I just had to drive by Paisley Park. It was like I just couldn't quite grasp that I was really there, I had to see that building, just pass by to make it really sink in. So the three of us, exhausted from a more than bumpy flight and all that drove those distinctly unfamiliar roads until, my ass behind the wheel until some in the car exclaimed "there it is!". Looking to my left there it was all lit up purple, and I swear my stomach was in my damn throat. At that very moment I knew Saturday was gonna be intense for me, that maybe I wasn't ready for this, but we were so far passed the point of no return it wasn't even funny. We drove in silence back to the hotel and everyone went to bed for the night. Well, by friends went to bed for the night, I got about 2 hours of sleep before getting up. I spent the night writing, watching the sky change colors, and watching the city come to life around us until it was time to get up.

Saturday was the tour. Now here is a thing about me, I've avoided a lot of people's stories about visiting PP just because I knew I was going to visit and I wanted the experience to truly be my own. I didn't want to go in with a lot of preconceived ideas about what I was going to see or what was the best part. So I was just about a clean a slate as I could be going in and I was afraid I might have set my expectations too high, but I could not have been more wrong. I'm sure everyone here already knows about what you see on the tour so I won't do through all of that but I will tell you it's obvious they expect the atrium to be where the emotions hit you, which makes sense. I mean seeing the urn is a bit like a punch in the gut, but I was ready for that. That's the one I was prepared for. From there going through the entire tour it honestly felt like he was just going to come around the next corner. His energy in that building is so incredibly strong. Standing in the video editing suite it really felt as though he was gonna turn that chair around and just grin at all our shocked faces, but we all know that didn't happen. You can literally feel him in every room and hallway. So what did get me was the end.

The last room where they show the 2007 Super Bowl performance and on the opposite side of the room is a small collection of items from the fence. That was it. That was the punch in the gut I never saw coming. The entire tour group and the guide walked over to that part of the room and talked about the outpouring of love last year. I think I made it through about one sentence from the tour guide before I lost my cool and calm demeanor. Instead I turned to the video of the performance and watched it while I had a bit of a moment. I'm not a person that lives in denial about him being gone, but spending that entire tour feeling like he was right there then coming face to face with that at the end was apparently too much for me. In the end touring PP was amazing and the staff there were beyond great. I spent a little money on shirts and books, but no I didn't eat anything at PP. honestly I was a little overwhelmed with everything by the time we were done with the tour.

The rest of Saturday was filled with lunch at People's Organic (which my gluten free friend was very pleased with), hanging out at Lake Ann park and later in the day walking around down Minneapolis taking all the sights you would expect (1st Ave and 7th Street Entry was only about a block or so from my hotel so we were pretty centrally located). Later that night after the sun had gone down I actually went for a walk by myself through downtown Minneapolis and that's when the incredibly chill vibe of the city really started to sink in. It almost doesn't feel like being in a major metropolitan area but you are. It was strange to me, and just beyond cool.

We flew out Sunday evening so most of Sunday morning was spent relaxing before we headed out to check out some murals, drive by the Purple Rain house and of course hitting up The Electric Fetus. The Electric Fetus was a fun stop, I love a good record store and it certainly has the eclectic record store vibe. The last few hours of our trip was spent at the Mall of America. Spoiler alert, it's just a big Mall. Sorry, but it's nothing to write home about in my opinion.

So in total we spend about 51 hours on the ground in Minnesota and let me tell you, I'm already planning a return trip. Hoping to go back next fall with my husband. He was actually born in a suburb of Minneapolis so I'm trying to convince him that he should want to check out his roots. The scenery is beautiful around there and the people are very different from how they are where I live. The whole place felt way more laid back that I'm used to and I could totally get used to that.

So my picture from PP didn't turn out great but here you go...you will notice I wore a jean jacket in honor of my writing I suppose 😂