Longview residents and long-time friends Whitney Barnes, Kris Erickson and Emily Branch enjoy taking girl vacations every now and then. In July 2008, the three made up their minds to head north to Kris' hometown: Minneapolis, MN.
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Kris, Whitney and Emily sit outside the American Swedish Institute.
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Whitney and Emily are all smiles as they explore Kris' hometown.
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The girls snap a photo of Emily with a sloth at the Conservatory at Como Park.
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For one week, Kris was able to show her two closest friends all of her favorite hometown spots. The girls dubbed this vacation their "non-spontaneous trip" because Kris had an almost hour-by-hour itinerary for the gals to follow just so she could make sure they saw it all!
As soon as the plane touched down in Minnesota, the girls rented a vehicle and crossed the state line to Wisconsin to a quaint little town called Stillwater. They lunched on the Apple River before throwing on their bathing suits and going for a relaxing four-hour tube ride. After splashing around and enjoying the sites, the girls stopped by a local shop where they got giant ice cream cones.
The next morning, their whirlwind week really began with plenty of shopping, tons of site-seeing and a whole lot of flavor. When the girls weren't eating amazing eclectic meals — from Greek treats to spicy Mexican meals to mouth-watering Chinese dishes — Kris guided them to hometown spots of hers, including her favorite coffee cafe, the site responsible for her serious frappacino addiction. She showed Emily and Whitney Minnepolis class as they toured the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and she introduced them to a little bit of history at the Swedish Heritage Museum. The gals spent an entire day roaming the seemingly endless strips of stores inside the Mall of America, took in a Twins baseball game (who just happened to be playing the Texas Rangers), attended a symphonic band concert in an outdoor ampitheatre and spent hours at Goodwill Outlet, quite possibly the highlight of these shoppers' trip. They spent a good three hours in the Goodwill warehouse digging clothes out of conveyor buckets, and they came away with nice clothes without breaking the bank. Success!
Their weeklong adventure was just the getaway these girls needed!
