Parking Gods and Pop Art

Before leaving the St. Paul/Minneapolis area, we had to see the iconic Spoonbridge and Cherry at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. I mean, is it even legal to visit the Twin Cities and not see it?

One small wrinkle: it was the day of the Twin Cities Pride Festival and Parade, which was happening just down the block—so parking was, let’s say, festively chaotic. And we were on a tight schedule.

So, Don dropped Beth off to start exploring while he went off to do battle with the parking gods. Armed with nothing but determination and his natural charm, he approached the lot attendant, explained we were just there for the sculptures and only had about 45 minutes. The attendant gave him a knowing nod, did some very official phone scanning, and handed over a ticket—for free.

Beth’s not saying he groveled… Maybe he’s a master negotiator. Maybe he exuded full rainbow sparkle. Or maybe it was divine intervention from the Parking Gods of Pride. We may never know. But Beth is seriously considering renting him out for high-stakes parking scenarios. 😆

The garden features over 60 sculptures from the Walker Art Center (sadly, not our Walkers), stretched across 11 beautifully curated acres. We only had time to scratch the surface and didn’t make it into the actual Art Center. So… clearly, a return trip is in our future.

Next time, we’ll bring more time—and maybe Don can work his magic to get us into the museum for free too. 😄Read more