We discovered the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary not long ago and enjoyed it so much we’ve returned more than once since then. This Friday, you can enjoy it just a little more at the Boardwalk Celebration from 2-4.

If you aren’t familiar with the park, you can read more about it in a previous post that we wrote here.   We love the boardwalk and this new installment means even more space to explore and view flowers and wildlife.

A little more information about the event:

Join us from 2-4pm, on Friday, April 26th to celebrate the final installation of our boardwalk! Join MPRB leadership, Friends of the Wildflower Garden volunteers and Wildflower Garden staff members for refreshments and jubilation, with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 3:00pm.
*Following the Boardwalk Celebration, join in the fun across the street for the 2019 Minneapolis Arbor Day Celebration, from 4-8pm. Food trucks, games, nature play a beer garden and other festivities will take place East of Wirth Beach on Glenwood Ave. in Theodore Wirth Regional Park.
https://www.minneapolisparks.org/arborday

We’ve mentioned the Lakewood Cemetery a few times in the past.  If you still haven’t had a chance to tour it, the Lakewood’s Annual Earth Day Celebration is another great opportunity to check it out.  It takes place this Saturday and the tours are 30 minutes long.

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We took a tour of the Lakewood Cemetery Greenhouses last week and what really caught my eye was this beautiful succulent wall! Fun Fact: This greenhouse is the oldest operating greenhouse in the state of Minnesota and Lakewood is only one of a handful of cemeteries in the country that still have their own greenhouse. It grows and plants almost 100,000 flowers each season! #succulent #greenhouse #gardening . . . . . . . . . #LakewoodCemetery #cemetery #OnlyInMN #Minneapolis #minneapolisblogger #succulentgarden #succulentobsessed #gardenlovers #mpls #floraldesign #gardenart #gardendesign #exploreminnesota #minnstagram #capturemn

A post shared by Chrysa Duran (@thriftyjinxy) on May 1, 2018 at 1:22pm PDT

There’s a small fee for the event but the greenhouses are amazing and really worth a visit.  *Greenhouse tour tickets cost $10 in advance, $15 at the door.  You can go here to purchase tickets in advance.

Additional Information about the Earth Day Celebration and Lakewood Cemetery:

Lakewood is a unique green space in the heart of the city — with 250 acres of ornate gardens, scenic vistas and endless knolls dotted with old-growth trees and rare and native plants — all open to the public.

For our annual Earth Day Celebration, we invite you to visit our spacious grounds and take a behind-the-scenes tour of our historic greenhouses still operating today. On the tour, you’ll learn about Lakewood’s horticultural history, sustainable practices and see what we have in store for this spring’s flower beds.

After the tour, put your own green thumb to work and plant a perennial to take home and plant in memory of a loved one.

Make a day of it by taking a self-guided tour of the cemetery before or after your greenhouse tour. Self-guided brochures will be available at the event or by downloading the Lakewood mobile app.

The Bakken Museum is one of our favorite places to visit.  It’s a wonderful place filled with science, fun and learning.  Plus the building that it’s located in quite unique and not like most museums.  It’s a big old historic mansion and it’s tucked into a mostly residential neighborhood.

Occasionally the Museum hosts a Sensory Friendly Sunday event, the next one is tomorrow (April 14). If you can’t make it tomorrow, the next Sensory Friendly Sunday will be May 12th.

Activities and accommodations will include:

• Lowered volume on interactive exhibits
• Dimmed lights throughout the museum
• Additional sensory-aware signage throughout the museum
• Noise-dampening headphones
• Music therapy

More information about Sensory Friendly Sunday’s at The Bakken: 

Sensory Friendly Sundays allow people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and sensory processing differences to have an enjoyable and interactive learning experience in a comfortable and accepting environment. Events will include modified programming for diverse sensory needs and specialized staff training.

The Bakken Museum’s Sensory Friendly Program has been developed in consultation with the The Autism Society of Minnesota. The museum will continue be open to the general public from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

All activities are free with museum admission:
Adults: $10
Seniors: $8
Young People 13–24: $8
Children 4–12: $5
Children 3 and under: Free
Members: Free

Free parking is available both in the museum’s lot on Zenith Avenue South, and on West 36th Street.

Additional information to plan your trip can be found at thebakken.org/accessibility.

The city of Minneapolis will be opening up their doors to the public during the weekend of May 18-19. It’s a chance to check out buildings in the city of Minneapolis that are architecturally, culturally, or socially significant. The Doors Open event is free and gives everyone the rare opportunity to see areas and buildings we might not normally see.

I’m excited for this event, first because it’s on a weekend so it means that more people can attend. Secondly, I really enjoy architecture and history. Some of the buildings that will be open for the event include:

• Hewing Hotel
• Manhole Entrance – City of Minneapolis Public Works Surface Water and Sewers Division
• Kingman Studios at Case Beer Warehouse
• IDS Center
• Hennepin Island Powerhouse
• JB Hudson Jewelers
• K&K Metal Recycling
• Minneapolis City Hall & Hennepin County Courthouse
• PLUS sooo many more

The list is long and fascinating.  I want to visit ALL of them and hope this event can be an annual thing or maybe even twice a year.  There are so many great places to visit and just not sure a weekend is long enough to try to fit them all in.  We are sharing this early so you plan accordingly. It’s probably a good idea to make a list of your top places and make sure to visit those first in case they don’t do this again.

A few more details and how and why this event is taking place: 

Doors Open Minneapolis is your chance to explore the buildings that tell our city’s story. From theaters to business hubs, sacred spaces to private clubs, sports complexes to engineering wonders, historical gems to not-even-open-yet buildings, Doors Open Minneapolis will give visitors a FREE behind-the-scenes look at over 100 exciting venues.  We’re hoping to enrich experiences by presenting meaningful conversations with many of the people who make these venues the marvels that they are.