After watching the roof-raising at the Vikings’ football stadium and my visit with one of the Co-chairs of the Super Scarf Project for the Indianapolis Super Bowl, I took Goodnight for a bit of sight-seeing in Minneapolis and a bite to eat. I don’t do rush-hour between the two Twin Cities and it was the perfect weather for hunting down some old favorites of mine and showing them to my ‘acorn’s acorn’.
Goodnight knows how to have a good time outdoors. You know what I mean . . . pick the dandelions that have gone to seed, make a wish and then B-L-O-W! Sure enough, she found one! I hope her wish comes true.
Her timing was perfect, too because we were on our way to see the Dandelion Fountain in Loring Park. It’s been years since I’ve walked through the park. I don’t get to that end of the city very often.
I told her to make a wish on danedlion, too.
After our stroll through the park, I took her to the Nicollet Mall. I wanted to introduce her to Mary Richards, who will forever be throwing her hat into the air at the corner of 7th and Nicollet. Mary Richards was played by Mary Tyler Moore and the hat toss was part of the opening sequence of the Mary Tyler Moore Show while the theme song played . . . “Who can turn the world on with her smile?”
No hat-throwing for Goodnight.
It probably wouldn’t be fair to take a teenage girl to a shopping district just to look at a bronze statue of a television character and not let her at least peek in some of the shops. So, the rest of out late afternoon together was spent going in and out of stores and negotiating which summer tops could come home with Goodnight.
We took a couple of breaks for something cool to drink or a bite to eat while I gave my armpit a break from the one crutch I used when I walk longer distances. Goodnight is growing up before my eyes and I don’t want to miss it. She ‘turns my world on with her smile.” 
I have never been to your area (well, except the the airport once) so I’ve never seen Mary Richards’ statue or the dandelion fountain. The fountain is beautiful.
And so is Goodnight’s smile!
Carol: And that airport once was a layover or transfer when you were on your way to visit a friend, right? Seems to me you mentioned that early in my blogging career. The fountain is really quite pretty. Too bad it had a basketball stuck in it the day we were there. I had to walk around the fountain to get a shot where the b-ball didn’t show.
Do you meant the baseball was dancing around in the water shooting out, or it was in the actual fountain, blocking the water coming out?
Yes, I was at the airport, transferring to a little plane on my way to Traverse City, MI. You’ve got a great memory!
Carol: The b-ball wasn’t dancing, nor blocking the water from coming out. It was stick at the base, in between where the water shoots out. The water comes out of pipes that radiate like the dandelion. The ball was wedged in there.
Be sure to keep checking my blog at Name Your Blessings. We continue to get comments there. thanks again for writing as a guest blogger! You rock!
C: I will. The comments have been so sweet. My post is linked to that post and not to your home page, so guests from here can find it easily. Thanks for the invitation to write. You really have blessed me.
What a great fountain!