Minneapolis 2015...II

Day 2 in Minneapolis found me starting back at Target Field. And if you haven't guess it, yes I love me some baseball! While walking the grounds of Target Field, I read about the rich history of the Minnesota Twins. There was also a pretty cool baseball sculpture depicting the world series history of the Twins as well as other vital team information. In the distance were statues of former team owners Calvin Griffith and Carl Pohlad and his wife Eloise. While walking further, one couldn't help but notice the many Division Championship and World Series banners hanging alongside the outer walls. Before leaving, I paused at Gate 34, which was named in honor of the late, great outfielder Kirby Puckett, one of my favorite Twins players. Walking past the Target Field metro station, I couldn't resist hopping on a Blue Line train I saw pulling into a station. Since some of the trains pretty much run across town, I wasn't worried too much about getting lost. My next stop was the old Lumber Exchange Building. This building reminded me of the landmark Rookery Building in Chicago. The Lumber Exchange Building was the first skyscraper built in Minneapolis, dating back to 1885. It was billed as one of the first fireproof buildings in the country. It is the oldest high-rise building standing in Minneapolis, and is the oldest building outside of New York with 12 or more floors.

Next, I found myself going back to the Voya Financial Building. Again, with the long, leading lines, I had to shoot this building again. Next to Voya in Gateway Park, was one of many fountains around downtown Minneapolis. Walking back up Hennepin Avenue, I photographed the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, which then led me across the Hennepin Avenue bridge. I walked halfway across the bridge to get photos of the skyline in the background. Once back across, I walked past the massive Post Office on my way over to the Third Avenue Bridge. From the Third Avenue Bridge, I was able to see the Riverfront much better below the bridge. In walking across the bridge, which had a steady flow of traffic, you could still hear the roar of the mighty Mississippi River below. I had to stop and take this all in...this River was mighty indeed. The water was loud, flowing and swirling in all directions making it pretty scary. But hey, I had a job to do! You could also see the Hennepin Avenue bridge across the way. The skyline looked great from the bridge, and when I walked to the other side, I was able to photograph St. Anthony Falls as it flowed through the Stone Arch Bridge.

From the Third Avenue Bridge, I walked back towards the downtown area. I walked past and photographed The Carlyle Residences, United States Federal Office Building and the old Milwaukee Road Depot. I also got an interesting photo of the old Milwaukee Road Depot reflecting off the Wells Fargo Operations Center. In front of the Wells Fargo Operations Center is a huge sculpture by Mark di Suvero called "Inner Search". Across from there is another white office building from Voya Financial. While heading towards Fifth Street, I saw two really great sculptures...Dean Kermit Allison's "Our Family Tree" and Douglas O. Freeman's "Family". Both sculptures sit outside Fifth Street Towers. Back behind me on Fourth Street, I photograph the United States Courthouse and City Hall. As I'm there, a metro train pulls into Government Plaza making for a good add to the photo. Across the way from City Hall is the Hennepin County Government Center...a huge building with great architectural design in the center. Karen Sontag Sattel's "Phoenix Rising" sculpture sits outside the Government Center as well. As I look around during my walk, I see other interesting shaped office buildings. Tall, glass-mirrored buildings with other buildings reflecting off of them made for great photos, too! On 10th Street, I found an awesome musical mural on the side of the Schmitt Music Building. This mural is huge and it turns out, the music is from a piano piece written by French composer Maurice Ravel called “Gaspard de la Nuit”. The section depicted on the building comes from the third movement called, “Scarbo”.

My evening came to a close with night shooting from the Third Street Bridge. I captured photos from dusk going into the late night of the Minneapolis skyline. I also got great "light trails" as traffic went by. The Hennepin Avenue Bridge was nicely lit as well.