Day 8 -- Minneapolis

Joanna had to do some work in the morning, so Laura, "A" and I just walked around the very nice shopping district near Joanna's house -- used and new book stores, thrift shops, a wonderful spice store.

Joanna lives in a terrific neighborhood, with this wonderful, eclectic collection of stores, restaurants and cafes just a few block walk away, then Lake Calhoun a couple blocks in the other direction. In the middle, where Joanna's house is are blocks of residential houses -- beautiful, older houses with character, architectural interest, charm and lovely gardens. It's a great area to live (if you can tolerate those darn MN winters!).

Around lunchtime, we picked Joanna up from her lab and went to lunch at a new Thai restaurant in her area -- excellent!

Then we walked around Lake Calhoun:

A walkway circles the lake, and if you look up from it, away from the lake, you see beautiful houses in a verdant setting:

Here are L, A, and J by the lake: