I LOVE the Minneapolis Institute of Arts!!!

Of all the places to visit in the Twin Cities, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts is DEFINITELY in my "Top Five Favorite Places to Go" (not sure what the others would be...except for the observation deck at the top of the Foshay Building, and maybe the Como Conservatory...).

I LOVE going to look at all of the amazing art, but NEVER make the time to go...too many things to do...too difficult to get downtown...so many excuses...

This year, for Christmas, I decided to give Emilie and Abigail a "ticket" to be redeemed for a day at the museum with "Unc", including lunch at D'Amico and Sons (CONVENIENTLY located on the second floor of the MIA), and $20.00 to spend in the gift shop.

We were SUPPOSED to go over Christmas break, but, for one reason or another, it didn't happen. SO, we set today up as the day to go. All I can say is "WOW"! It was AWESOME! We had a GREAT time!

I picked the girls up at 9:30, and we got there early enough to get a spot in the parking ramp AND beat most of the Saturday crowd. Emilie wanted to spend time in the "Egypt room", and Abigial wanted to see the African artifacts. We started with those, then wandered through ancient Japan, Greece, Rome, then explored the "period rooms", the Dutch masterpieces, and (luckily) avoided the modern art (none of us were interested in that!).

After wandering around (and practicing our map reading skills with the museum map), and taking in all of the GORGEOUS, COOL, AMAZING works of art, we headed to D'Amico and Sons for lunch. To be honest, I couldn't really tell you what they have on the menu, because I ALWAYS get the Dried Cherry and Turkey salad (recipe posted at the end of this entry). It's SO GOOD, that I don't even bother looking to see what else they have. Emilie had the fettucini with pesto (a new favorite for her), and Abigail had pasta with butter and parmesan (her "usual").

After a LOVELY lunch, we headed back to the museum for one more "go round". It didn't take long, because we were a little "art-ed out", so spent about an hour trying to find THIS painting or THAT sculpture, then headed to the gift shop. LITTLE DID I KNOW that this would be the most "patience required" aspect of the trip...apparently, it's DIFFICULT for a 9 year old and an 11 year old to figure out WHAT to buy with a $20 dollar bill!

Emilie ended up with postcards of favorite artworks, and a "Flower Masterpieces" coloring book (and $10.00 in change to spend at another time), and Abigail found a Monet calendar (half price!), and a tiny blank notebook (COVERED with jewels!), and ended up with $5.00 to spend at another time.

We decided that we'd had SO much fun, that we are going to make the "trip to the MIA" an every other month event. We'll figure out a date in March to go back, and look at all of the stuff that we DIDN'T have time to see today (and look AGAIN at the stuff that we saw today that we REALLY want to look at again).

If you ever VISIT the Twin Cities, I HIGHLY recommend a checking out this AMAZING institution!!! The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is located at 2400 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55404. It's FREE (except for special exhibits), and is open

Tuesday
10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Wednesday
10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Thursday
10 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Friday
10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Saturday
10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Sunday
11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Monday
Closed

The museum is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and July 4.

Here is a picture of the outside of the building, and one of my FAVORITE works of art...

The NORTH side of the building (old entrance)

" Dream Castle in the Sky", 1908, by Maxfield Parrish

(hung in the foyer of a mansion in Duluth, Minnesota)

AND...in case you're interested, here's the recipe for that AMAZING D'Amico and Sons salad...

D’Amico and Sons Turkey and Dried Cherry Salad

1 lb. cooked Rotini Pasta
4 cups diced turkey
2 cups dried cherries
1 medium yellow onion
4 celery stalks, diced
1 cup whole toasted almonds

Combine all ingredients.

DRESSING:
1 cup mayonnaise
1/8 cup powdered sugar
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. Champagne vinegar
1 T. cold water
1 T. poppy seeds
1 tsp. Kosher salt
¼ tsp. black pepper

Mix together and toss with salad ingredients.

They also recommend Marie’s Poppy Seed Dressing in place of theirs.