A Midwest Roadtrip 2023 - Minneapolis

It has been a few years since Alison and I went on a trip with my grandparents. They wanted to go somewhere with us this year. We brainstormed ideas and decided on a Midwest road trip to visit family, see places where my grandpa lived, and of course, go to some baseball games/sites along the way. 

My grandparents like traveling with us because we coordinate everything and make sure they have no worries along the way. We didn’t fully realize that in these past few years walking has become more of a challenge for my grandpa. We made that realization when the gate for our flight to MSP was at the other end of the Salt Lake City airport. Fortunately, we were able to quickly pivot and get him a wheelchair to comfortably get him to our gate and on the plane. Delta then had a wheelchair waiting when we touched down in Minneapolis. The woman pushing his wheelchair took him all the way to our rental car, which was much appreciated. 

Once in Minneapolis, we headed to our hotel to drop our bags. We are staying in Edina, which is a nice area. We were hungry so we stopped for lunch at a nearby restaurant named Pittsburgh Blue. It was a good place. Everyone except me had walleye at my grandfather's suggestion. Walleye is a lake fish that comes from areas like Minnesota. I couldn’t pass up on the prime rib eggs Benedict that was on the brunch menu. It was fantastic. I treasure the meals with my grandparents when we travel together. They provide such an opportunity for good conversations. We have had some really great conversations over the years as we have traveled together.

Our next stop was the house my grandpa built when he lived in Minneapolis. When I asked him for the address he told me he couldn’t remember. So then I asked if he knew the street. He told me it was Nauvoo Lane. I plugged it in and asked him if that area looked right and he assured me there would be only one Nauvoo Lane in the Minneapolis area and it was the one he named. He actually named the plat the Moroni edition. It was about half an hour's drive.

Nauvoo Lane is a private lane, but we decided to drive up it anyway. Someone is building a new house on one side of the lane, but the house my grandpa built is still standing on the other side of the lane. We pulled up and we were looking at it when a man and woman came out. We thought they were going to run us off, but my grandpa introduced himself and told them he built the house. They were so excited. They recognized his name from the plat map and the plans they still have. They invited us to their backyard to see the view. My grandpa and the current owner Jaime Schumacher stood there for over an hour talking about what has changed and what has stayed the same. My grandpa bought and built a kit house. He had initially purchased 8 acres and wanted to spit it into 1-acre lots. When the city wouldn’t allow that so he split it into two 4-acre lots and sold one to finance the construction of his house. He did much of the work himself. 

The current owner of this house got a kick out of the street name (Nauvoo Lane) and plat name (Moroni edition). My grandpa did have to correct his pronunciation of both names, but Jaime told my grandpa whenever he tells people about his house and the lane he gives them a Mormon history lesson to explain the names. 

Backyard view from my grandpa's old house

During that hour my grandpa told stories about finding and picking edible mushrooms in the surrounding forest and the front yard. He talked about my mom breaking something when she ran into a power pole with her sled. He spoke about building an apartment under the house for his parents to live in and turning the 2x4s during the construction to give them a few extra inches. He also talked about how his dad folded the tin for the ductwork in the house. This was a skill my great-grandfather developed by working for a machinist in Iowa. My grandpa’s brother also helped him install two septic tanks and a septic system that is still used today. It was a pretty remarkable experience. The Schumachers were such friendly people and made us feel right at home. 

Next, we headed to Target Field for a baseball game. The Minnesota Twins were playing the Detroit Tigers. It turned out it was also Pride night at the ballpark, which was a pleasant surprise. Many people were decked out in Pride gear and it gave the whole night a vibrant energy. They were even giving out free bags of popcorn. We grabbed a few bags of popcorn (after eating half a bag my grandpa, who considers himself a popcorn connoisseur, declared it was not good.) Overall we really liked Target Field. The backdrop of downtown Minneapolis was awesome. I love when baseball stadiums have a cityscape backdrop. Our seats were excellent. We were on the first row of the 2nd deck right above home plate. From there we had great views of the action on the field. 

The Twins struck first with a long home run to left off the bat of Alex Kiriloff. Minnesota would sprinkle in 6 additional hits but would strand a pile of runners and score no additional runs. Detroit on the other hand had a big 3rd inning where they scored 5 runs. The big blow was a 3-run home run off the bat of Javier Baez. Outside of the really bad 3rd the Twins starter actually threw 7 strongish innings. Detroit would hit a couple more home runs to win the game with a score of 7-1. 

After the game, they had a firework show set to the music of Madonna (another pleasant surprise). It was a great night at the ballpark.