Run Minneapolis: Pleasant & Grand Aves S
Carly and I toured the Kingfield, Lyndale, and Whittier neighborhoods on Pleasant and Grand Aves S on Saturday. (FYI, today, Dec. 28th, just happens to be Carly’s birthday.)
Lake Country School, at 38th & Pleasant, was our starting point. This school fosters some of Minneapolis’ greatest thinkers, based on my experience with friends who’ve attended this school.
Running North on Pleasant Ave was a bit of a challenge over the first few blocks since the street was covered in a few inches of icy snow with deep, slick, tire tracks. A frozen berm separated the narrow path from the plowed in cars. This 6-block stretch was a mess, but things were in pretty good shape elsewhere on this run.
Unlike this 6-block segment of Pleasant Ave, the Midtown Greenway was well plowed and had seen some bike commuting based on teh tire tracks. I don’t know if it’s designated as such, but the Midtown Greenway deserves high priority plowing due to the high volume of traffic it carries. Much higher than any side street in the city.
Early Wonders Pre-School in the PPL Bethlehem Community Center at 26th St seems like a fun place to hang out.
Heading back on Grand Ave, a woman driving down 26th in a Corolla honked and waved at us. Thanks for the wave, Corolla driver. After that, we looped around Whittier International Elementary School on Harriet before getting back on track on Grand. Whittier describes itself as Minneapolis’ best kept secret on its website, which makes me curious to find out more about the success of the school. Any know anyone who’s gone their or kids go there?
Crossing Lake St, I was tempted to stop for a $2 slice at Uptown Pizza, but was motivated to keep going by Carly.
I couldn’t find a website for the Hio Thanh Tin Lan Viet Nam Vietnamese Alliance Church at 31st & Grand. Does anyone know more about this institution? It looks like their previous AOL hosted website has disappeared.
I hope Lyndale Elementary School teaches kids the meaning of Pi. The school’s next open house in on Jan 13th at 6:30pm.
I didn’t get to stop at the Butter Bakery Cafe at 36th & Grand during my run either. A net calorie loss. I’m wasting away.
Victor’s 1959 Cafe at 38th & Grand was covered in snow, but was surely serving cozy Cuban cuisine inside. This is a great place for revolutionaries and non-revolutionary Cuban food loving locals. This place, which was featured on the Food Network’s Diner’s Drive-ins and Dives, probably isn’t high Michele Bachmann’s list of must-hit local diners.
December 28th, 2009 at 8:38 am
I’m pretty sure the county plows the Greenway and I know that last year the Greenway was always plowed before any of the streets in my neighborhood.
My former landlord’s kids go to Whittier. They love it so much that she is now a part-time Family Liaison there. They are also going to be driving their kids there next year since the new changes won’t provide them with any buses. They actually had to fight to keep their kids there – so they think it is a great school. One of the coolest things Whittier has is a partnership with Common Roots for some meals – much better than the crap Food & Nutrition Service sends over.
December 28th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Hi again from the woman in the green Corolla! I love your Run Minneapolis series, and got kind of excited when I realized who I was driving by!
December 28th, 2009 at 10:20 am
@crossn81, thanks for the deets on Whittier. Sounds like an awesome place. Also, Carly says she’s going to consider the Greenway more often for runs.
@Liz, this feels a bit like a successful missed connection. Very cool.