Minneapolis Skyline from Lake Calhoun
This last week has been crazy busy. Even through all of the crazy I’ve been making time to relax by going for walks, either around a lake or in our neighborhood. It helps to stop and enjoy the view even if it is only for a short while.
Anelace Coffee: First time trying a cold press. It was delicious!
Hey Everyone! I’m back.
I’ve been spending a lot of my free time focusing on my portfolio website. I’m teaching myself Javascript and WordPress development. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about where I want to go with my career and while I’m still not sure what the future will hold, I think that these two skills will open up some doors for me.
With all of this, that means that I’ve been hanging out in coffee shops more often.
Recently, I took a trip up north, to Duluth, MN for a weekend getaway. Here is what I learned
I did it. I went canoeing for the first time in my life!
A few weeks ago when Aaron and I were at one of the lakes in the area, I noticed that they rent out canoes and kayaks. I decided that looked really interesting and like something that I wanted to try out. Lucky for me, Aaron just so happens to be canoe expert and agreed to go with me. We decided to go to Lake Calhoun because it is a part of Minneapolis’s Chain of Lakes and is connected to 3 other lakes. Once we had our plan made, I packed a backpack with snacks and Gatorade, just in case we got hungry on the lake. I also sought out these fancy zip-lock type bags for our phones. Obviously Instagram-ing is required during a first canoeing experience.
As usual, it was a very busy day in Uptown on Lake Calhoun! Even though rain was in the forecast (it never did actually rain), there were probably 20 people in line before us. We paid for our hour of canoe time, picked up some life jackets and went to find our canoe. Surprisingly, there was little to no direction from the people setting us up in the canoe. They just pointed to a canoe told us to get in, handed us our paddles and pushed us out into the lake. I’m glad Aaron knew what was up because I would have been terrified by myself.
Took a break from paddling for a canoe selfie!
Once we started going, I realized just how easy it was and how much fun I was having. There were a ton of people out on the lakes with those paddle boards. That’s definitely something I’d also like to try someday, but for now I just want to canoe EVERYDAY!
Oh hey, this is pretty fun.
The coolest part about being on the Chain of Lakes is that since we were in the middle of Minneapolis, there are all of these bridges that go over the lakes. They are pretty interesting to explore under, the photo below shows a bridge that also has a walking path under it and some people try to fish there!
On our way back to shore. I don’t want to stop canoeing!
Me.
Summer is officially here.
My sister came to visit me last weekend. She is moving 17 hours away so she came to visit one last time before the big move. With work being extra stressful lately, a sister weekend was exactly what I needed.
Last Friday we went to a comedy show and then enjoyed the nice weather by having drinks on a patio.
Then on Saturday we went to the Stone Arch Bridge Festival. This is a yearly festival that takes place down by the Mississippi river. Local artists set up tents and sell their art, and there’s food trucks and entertainment. It was hot and humid out, and it was really busy there, we circled around the area looking for a parking spot for what felt like forever. But, at least it didn’t rain and I always enjoy looking at local art.
After saying our goodbyes to my sister, I was eager to get as much outside time as possible over the weekend so Aaron and I headed to a lake. Last summer we checked out a couple of lakes in the Twin Cities area but I didn’t really have a favorite. I had read some reviews about Lake Nokomis so I decided this was the day to see if it lived up to the hype. Short answer: it does. It was incredibly calm and peaceful there. Some of the other lakes that are within the Twin Cities always feel crowded and noisy to me, which makes it hard to enjoy the fact that you’re at the lake. They felt more like being at a public pool on the hottest day of the year. Even though it was somewhat busy, I wouldn’t say it was crowded though, it never seemed crowded or noisy. We didn’t bring swimsuits but I did stand in the lake and it was very enjoyable. Then we sat in the shade and I walked barefoot through the grass and took some photos. Typing this out makes it seem so simple and possibly insignificant but it was really one of the most enjoyable and relaxing days I’ve had in a long time.
Hello Lake Nokomis. #minneapolis #nokomis #canoe #lake A photo posted by @amberhanson on
A good end to a great weekend.
View in Instagram ⇒
Recently I went to a photo event at the Minneapolis Institue of Arts (MIA). They have a recurring event called the Third Thursday where the entire museum is free to visit and each month has a unique theme/event. The MIA is celebrating its 100th birthday this year so this event was 100 years of photographs to showcase the best of the best.
Some of my favorite photos from the exhibit. The bottom left reminds me of some photos I took for a photography class in college. So simple but interesting.
Part of this third Thursday event included a workshop put on by LABMPLS where they provided all kinds of different things to photograph that were both modern and vintage looking. Some of those things included old cameras, picture frames, postcards, books, art supplies, and a bunch of random things that were bright and colorful.
Side shot of my art!
I really enjoyed this workshop. I could’ve stayed all day! I liked arranging the different pieces I selected to get the perfect Instagram shot.
Final shot:
Today I discovered a whole park area that I never knew existed in my city. It’s so crazy that I’ve been right on the edge of it several times, but had never gone down into this park. We finally had nice weather again, so when we were out running some errands, we stopped to go for a walk down by the river. I’m not sure what it is about rivers attracting all kinds of strange people but there were a lot of people watching opportunities on our walk!
To get to this spot by the river, you must first walk down a few sets of stairs. It was quite surprising to see how far down you actually are compared to the road above. Once you’re down there, it’s cool to look up and have an interesting view of some of the old buildings on St. Anthony Main.
I’m really excited that I discovered this area, its very peaceful and there’s a lot of interesting things. Even thought it was full of people and in the center of the city, it was very peaceful. It was a fun mini adventure for a weekend filled with errands and packing. Afterwards we stopped for fancy lemonades.
Looking at the Mississippi towards the Stone Arch Bridge
This was one of those photos where I couldn’t stop thinking about the photography potential until I went back and snapped a quick pic. I saw this vespa in the alley when I was walking. On my way back I HAD to stop to get some shots of it. I really like the brick background and the pops of yellow color throughout the photo.
This is from a few weeks ago but I thought it was still worth posting. There’s a newer bar/restaurant in the area that also has a Ferris wheel that you can pay to ride. Normally I’m the kind of person who would totally be up for that kind of thing but impending thunderstorms caused it to be closed. Instead I shot this photo and we went inside to drink fancy margaritas on the rocks.
