Minneapolis: Mill City Museum

The Mill City Museum was fantastic.

The Mississippi River runs through Minneapolis, with St. Anthony Falls becoming an important source for power in the city's development. 

That included providing the power for multiple flour mills.

While the building was originally associated with General Mills, the museum honors the other mills in the area and their history.

 The highlight is the Flour Tower tour.

There are tiered seats in an elevator. In that way it is similar to certain amusement park rides, but without any sharp drops.

Different floors tell the history of the mill, using original equipment, film, and narration.

At the end you can enjoy the view from the observation deck.

There is also a movie, Minneapolis in Nineteen Minutes Flat, giving a fun exploration of the city overall with local humorist Kevin Kling.

Just the film and the Flour Tower would be pretty good, but there is so much more.

The displays are amazing, with many opportunities for interaction.

Host to many field trips, there were children running (small) turbines and exploring transportation.

There was a lot of information about wheat, including on running a farm and the issues with feeding the work crew.

There was a baking lab.

There was a play table that was a giant stack of pancakes.

Clearly much of it was designed to appeal to children, but it was a lot of fun for adults. 

One thing I found pretty cool was the giant Bisquick box, just on principle, but there was so much more.

There were display windows around it, with information that the giant box itself could not convey.

Then, inside, you could watch classic commercials on screens set up to look like vintage televisions and radios.

Some of the commercials were before my time, but there were things I had forgotten about and suddenly remembered.

Good stuff, Maynard!

COVID: This is mostly inside, except for the courtyard and observation deck, and sometimes more enclosed than others, like in the elevator. You should wear masks. The beautiful thing is that some of the workers were wearing masks, something that has been more and more rare.

Accessibility: They really thrived here.

In addition to ramps and elevators and room for mobility devices in the elevator and theater, there were also subtitles in English and Spanish, a notice about where the subtitles could best be seen, an offer of the text of the subtitles in a handout, and an offer of a warning for loud sounds. 

There are programs for financial accessibility.

The accessible bathrooms also function as tornado shelters, something that hasn't come up before, but is nice to know.

They also have an excellent web page on the topic.

https://www.mnhs.org/millcity/visit/accessibility 

https://www.mnhs.org/

Parks with rib cages: Nikkei Neighborhood Park in Vancouver and Ibach Park in Tualatin

Yes, it is kind of an unusual category.

We had been to Ibach Park several years ago, but I hadn't reviewed it. We just had a picnic lunch there, and one of my sisters had taken children there on summer camp excursions.

Nikkei Park opened in 2021, and we had seen some articles about it and the dinosaur theme, which interested us.

We finally made it there recently. Reminded of Ibach Park, we saw that it had recently been renovated. We decided to make a return trip so we could compare the two. 

One discovery that I had never thought of before was that the ribs at Ibach Park were supposed to be mastodon bones.

This is not the only way in which Ibach Park corresponds to the Tualatin River Greenway Trail, also emphasizing the water's path.

Other nods to the area's history include the Atfalati village, meteor, ferry, and some farm animals. Those can ring bells for long-time residents, encourage research for newcomers, and perhaps reinforce lessons for school children who are just trying to play.

It is more difficult to find the connections between the Japanese internees that Nikkei Park honors and the dinosaur theme.

The page refers to the truck farmers who were a vital part of the food supply before internment. In that way, an agricultural farm theme might make more sense.

We checked it out for the dinosaurs, though. Dinosaurs are a huge draw.

As it is, the dinosaur theme is well-carried out, with statues, signs, and a digging pit.

We did have a lot of frustration getting to Nikkei Neighborhood Park, as there was construction in the area cutting off some access and parking.

It is right in the name that it is a "neighborhood" park. Size-wise, Nikkei Park is 5 acres compared to Ibach's almost nineteen acres. They have different options and parking availability.

Still, if your child loves dinosaurs, Nikkei Park might be worth the trip.

There is still a strong need to having thriving neighborhood parks. That requires not just money, but vision and follow-through.

Somebody, please think of the children.

COVID: Both parks are outdoors, but it is possible for there to be close quarters around some of the attractions, especially on a crowded Saturday.

Accessibility: These were both pretty good, with smooth, wide paths and spongy surfaces for the play area itself.

I do think Ibach Park was preferable in the inclusion of different sensory options allowing for more types of play. It was also nice that they had a small climbing structure for older kids set off at a distance where parents would still be able to keep both areas in sight. However, they are bigger and it gives different options. 

 

https://www.tualatinoregon.gov/recreation/ibach-park

https://www.cityofvancouver.us/parks_trails/nikkei-park/