After the conference has ended, this free day offers delegates and their accompanying persons the opportunity to enjoy the delights that Minneapolis has to offer. We are offering a choice of full day and half day trips to allow greater flexibility. If delegates need assistance with organising additional tours, please contact Yvonne Hautenne (Yvonne@icmif.org). 

We will be charging a non-refundable nominal amount of USD 50.00 for taking part in the organized group tours, which is purely to guarantee attendance and to prevent absence without notice. The balance of the cost will be kindly paid by our hosts, Thrivent Financial. Please indicate on the registration form which tour you would prefer to attend. Tickets for these tours will be issued at the ICMIF registration desk at the Conference. 

Located on St Croix River, Stillwater lays claim to being Minnesota’s oldest town and the birthplace of the Minnesota Territory in 1949 and is an area steeped in history, architectural gems and beautiful natural surroundings. For more than 50 years, lumbermen dominated the St Croix River with lumber camps, mills, log rafts and steamboats making Stillwater the “Queen City of the river”. The hills of Stillwater provided an escape from the industrial and commercial riverfront and are where the lumbermen, bankers, riverboat men and mill workers built homes for their families. The diversity of the population created diversity in family accommodation including the styles of Queen Anne, Greek Revival, Second Empire, Stick, Shingle, Neoclassicism, Bungalow, Italianate, Craftsman and Prairie.

The tour will providing a fascinating insight into this old river town and will go behind the scenes of Stillwater’s history. Anecdotes and incidents from bygone years will provide insight into the lives of immigrants and entrepreneurs as well as offering a view into the mansions built by wealthy lumber barons; beautiful old churches on the “Street of Spires”; landmarks on the National Register of Historic Places; and the stunning St Croix River. A delicious buffet lunch will be served on board a replica of a 1890s paddlewheel riverboat as we cruise along the scenic St Croix River. After lunch there will be time to enjoy the variety and quality of the shops on Stillwater’s historic streets including boutiques, speciality shops, antiques and art galleries selling original works of art, jewellery, pottery, crafts, books, clothing, home furnishings and wine. 

The tour will commence with a Twin Cities Highlights Tour including the downtown districts of both St Paul and Minneapolis.

Highlights in Minneapolis will include commentary on the new Guthrie Theatre, Milwaukee Train Depot, Orchestra Hall; St Anthony Falls – the birthplace of Minneapolis; the famous Nicollet Mall; and the Skyway network of the downtown area. This Skyway system links buildings together with more than seven miles of controlled, glass enclosed walkways, particularly useful when the weather turns sour.

A stop at the Minneapolis Sculpture Gardens, adjacent to the Walker Art Centre, encompasses 11 acres and is one of the largest urban sculpture gardens in the country featuring more than 40 works on permanent view including the most beloved icon, the “Spoonbridge and Cherry” sculpture. Additional temporary installations keep the Garden experience continually fresh.

The journey continues through the Kenwood residential area to see the television home of Mary Tyler Moore and around sparkling lakes and lagoons on the way to the legendary Minnehaha Falls. Afterwards the tour will continue along the Mississippi River past Fort Snelling on the road to St Paul.

Our arrival in St Paul will include a drive along stately Summit Avenue (the longest stretch of restored Victorian homes in the USA) to see the Governor’s Mansion; the home of F Scott Fitzgerald; and many other mansions once owned by the wealthy lumber and railroad barons. After a drive past St Paul’s Cathedral and the Minnesota State Capitol building, lunch will be taken in a local favourite restaurant.

After lunch there will be the opportunity to take part in an exciting gangster tour which will transport you back to the 1920s and 1930s and the days of prohibition. This was an era when things were not always what they seemed – St Paul was not just a quiet, picturesque river town! The tour will include the places where one local gangster blew up a rival; where the infamous gangster and bank robber from the Depression-era Dillinger had a shoot-out with St Paul police; and where the most exclusive speakeasy in the area at that time was located. Further along the route is the Landmark Centre, once the site of famous gangster trials (J Edgar Hoover personally escorted the then “public enemy number one”, Al Karpis, through the doors for his trial) and the restored federal courts building still commands respect. Next stop is a visit to the Wabasha Street Caves which were dug in the early 1800s out of a layer of rock known as St Peter Sandstone and the sand which forms this rock was once the beach of a warm inland sea over 400 million years ago. In the 1800s, a mushroom-growing business was established in the Caves, then a nightclub and restaurant were opened in the 1930s. Also featured is a fireplace area with bullet holes in the mantles from the gangsters back in the 1930s. You will also see a “Gangster Gallery” that features some of the Caves’ more notorious past visitors..

The tour will end with a drive with commentary past Rice Park, Ordway Centre for the Performing Arts, Children’s Museum, Mickey’s Diner and the Fitzgerald Theatre, home to Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion (a live radio variety show). 

First stop will be The Guthrie Theatre, opened in 1963 with a production of Hamlet directed by Sir Tyrone Guthrie, the theatre’s founder. Disenchanted by Broadway, his idea was to create a theatre with a resident acting company that would perform classic plays with the highest professional standards. The tour will include a history of the theatre and a “behind the scenes” backstage tour with a display of props, dressing rooms, the costume department and rehearsal area. The exterior is made of metal and glass and evokes industrial forms rendered in a modern way. The large circular form of the main area of the theatre echoes the area’s adjacent grain silos. One of the signature features of the new Guthrie, is the cantilevered lobby known as the “Endless Bridge” which is an observatory for the Mississippi River falls and landscape. The aim of the “Endless Bridge” was to create an exciting and inspiring place for people to gather at the river. Views highlight and give focus to many nearby historical landmarks. The “Endless Bridge” is one of the longest occupied cantilevers in the world.

The tour will then explore the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden adjacent to the Walker Art Centre which, encompassing 11 acres, is one of the largest urban sculpture gardens in the USA. There are more than 40 works on permanent view, including the most beloved icon, the “Spoonbridge and Cherry” sculpture. Additional temporary installations keep the Garden experience continually fresh.

The final stop will be at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts which was established in 1883 and is now “dedicated to national leadership in bringing arts and people together to discover, enjoy and understand the world’s diverse artistic heritage”. The building houses more than 100,000 objects from every age and culture spanning 5,000 years and its permanent collection includes paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, period rooms, prints, drawings, textiles and photography. Maintaining a continuous schedule of special exhibitions from various museums, institutions and their permanent collections, the museum is recognized internationally as one of the great museums of America.