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Minnesota, Don'tcha Know

On Tuesday morning, I flew out to Minnesota for my interview. It was a very long day. It started with me waking up late. When I was planning out my trip, I figured I should leave the house at 6 am in order to make it to the airport in Indy on time. Somehow, when I was setting my alarm (both clock and cell phone), I translated leave at 6 to wake up at 6. I was about half way to Indy, when I realized my mistake. Luckily (despite a sudden rainstorm and rush hour traffic), I made it to my gate in time. I love the Indy airport. It's very accessible and never has long lines. My flight was full of little pit stops. After a thirty minute flight, I stopped in Chicago. Then I waited around for 2.5 hours. I finally boarded for the longest part of the journey, an hour's flight in to Minneapolis. Then, I waited around for another 2.5 hours. They overbooked the flight and were asking for volunteers to take the later one. I was sorely tempted by the voucher for free roundtrip domestic ticket, but I was anxious to actually see Duluth in the sunlight. Not to mention, I had a rental car to pick up and I didn't want to get there after the store closed. So, I stuck to my original ticket. After another short 26 minute flight (it took longer to taxi in and out), I landed in Duluth.

As soon as I finished picking up the car rental and checking into the hotel, I was out the door to explore my possible new home. First thing I found out - Duluth is actually very hilly. Don't know why I didn't expect it, but it was a pleasant surprise, especially because it made for a great view of Lake Superior as I coasted down some hills.

I parked the car and tried to insert some coins, but neither dimes nor nickels set the meter rolling, and I noticed that none of the other meters were working. I figured maybe they were just there for looks. I wandered the streets a bit and took a few pictures. I always feel awkward taking photos, so these aren't too great, but here's what Duluth (kind of) looks like:

It has these great run-down but hip feel to it. I don't know how to describe it. Maybe a little bohemian? I dunno, but I could totally picture myself living there. I saw several used books and cd stores, along with some great boutiques. It actually reminded me a lot of Montana, and according to the bumper stickers I saw, it seems pretty liberal and green. Here's some of the rundown-ness that charmed me.

The city (which is bigger than Lafayette, I think) is right next to Lake Superior and has a Lake Walk that runs along the shore. I strolled along it for a while and climbed on the rocks.

(The bridge in the distance in the last picture is at Canal Park. It links the city with a little strip on land called Park Point, which is full of charming tall and skinny houses that overlook the lake and have boats moored nearby. I want to live there.)

After I walked around for a while, I decided to drive because that way I could cover more distance. I love the houses in Duluth. They have so much character. I wish I had taken pictures of them. I really should get over this awkwardness I feel at being seen in public with a camera. It often leads to covert and haphazard results, but I didn't even have those this time.

Also, I just want to say that I will never buy a Dodge Stratus. That's the car they had me driving and while the ride was pretty smooth, it was missing something more essential - a large windshield. The windshield was so narrow, I kept trying to peer around and would only catch my eyes in the rearview mirror (which can be quite disconcerting).

Somehow, I stumbled upon a park up in the hills. It had beautiful flowers and a beautiful view.

Here's a view of the city:

Here's that little strip of land I mentioned earlier:

And this bridge leads into Superior:

I went across the bridge into Superior, by the way, but mostly just to say I had been to Wisconsin. I didn't know what to do there, so I promptly crossed a different bridge and went back to Duluth.

I really wanted to see University of Minnesota - Duluth because it's possible I might take some classes there to finish up my degree. Normally when I visit campuses, I get a bad case of campus envy and swiftly picture myself transferring. Not so with UMD. I think it is one of the ugliest campuses I've ever seen. It's full of buildings from the 70s (the 1970s, that is) made from brown brick. These are the only interesting things on campus, and they are horrible.

I guess school isn't all about the campus, though. I mean, isn't it about learning? There is another college in Duluth and it looked a little more collegiate.

It even has a very collegiate name - St. Scholastica. Of course, the name is also its downfall. I mean, can you seriously imagine going to a school called St. Scholastica and being taken seriously?

Eventually, I had to lay off the exploring in order to prepare for the whole purpose of my trip - the interview. I went back to the Days Inn, made some phone calls, and practiced, practiced, practiced my little presentation. I practiced so much, I couldn't sleep. I was up and ready to go about one and half hours before I had to be there. Oh good, more time to stress. Anyway, the interview seemed to go well. It was really hard to tell how they were responding to things and I felt really insignificant when I left. Mostly, I just felt really young and inexperienced. They said they'd let me know sometime next week.

Ok, back to adventuring. After the interview, I drove along the strip and went to Canal Park, but I didn't get out and wander because I was still all dressed up and wearing high heels. It looked fantastic, though. I went back to the hotel and changed because I wanted to drive down to Minneapolis. I figured, if I did take the job and moved there, I would doubtless be going to Minneapolis for concerts and such, so I wanted to experience the drive. Man, that is a long, long drive. Really, it's only 2 (and some more) hours, but it just felt really long. I had directions to the Minneapolis Art Institute, so I went there first (pictures in upcoming entry). Afterwards, I knew I wanted to see Spoonbridge and Cherry (a Claus Oldenburg sculpture) at the Walker Art Center, but I had no idea where that was. Well, I did have the address, but I couldn't find it on the map anywhere. Mostly I drove around and got a lot lost. I did drive by the real Univ. of Minnesota, and it seemed nice. I had meant to find the bookstore and get some shirts as per my desire to get a shirt from each Big 10 school, but I wasn't in the mood. Actually, I was in a pretty cranky mood during that whole little adventure. Mostly from being lost. And having a headache. I finally had to get some gas, so I asked the attendant how to get to the Walker Center. After a dinner detour, I found the only Minneapolis landmark I know of - the spoonbridge and cherry.

And here are some other pictures from Minneapolis:

After another very long drive back to Duluth (but made shorter through the miracle of cell phones which made it possible to chat with friends), I went straight back to the hotel and packed up. I'd like to say I went to bed, but since I had to wake up at 3 am, really I just took a nice little nap. I almost made the same mistake again, though. I almost set my alarm (both of them) for 4 am since that's what time I had to leave. Luckily, I caught myself this time. I got up very early, returned the rental car and called a cab to take me to the airport. This cab driver was fantastic! He was so talkative and told me all about his big plans for making his cab company a huge success. Apparently, he just started it four months ago and was very excited that his ad in the yellow pages which boasted the best service to and from the airport had worked to pull me in. (I didn't tell him that I had already tried another cab company.) Anyway, it would've been a better experience, but it cost $12 (instead of the $4 I had expected), and that made me sad. It was another long bunch of short flights back home, but I did get to see the sunrise over Minneapolis.

All and all, it was a fun experience. And hey, even if I'm not offered the job, at least I got a relatively free trip to Minnesota.