A Ride On A Surrey With The Fringe On Top

So Allison says, "Let's go to Minnehaha Falls."


"Okay" I say. I love the name Minnehaha. I want to go just because of that name. It sounds so happy, kind of giggley. I love all the Indian names that have settled this state. You know like, Minnetonka, and Shakapee and Ogibwe and of course Minnesota (the land of many waters) I know that because Mitchell did his state report in the fifth grade on Minnesota in honor of his friend Jacob.

"So, where are these falls" I ask.

"Right in downtown Minneapolis," she says.

"What?" I say,

"Yeah," she says.

"Okay then!"

So we drive the 28 and a half minutes to Minnehaha falls as Allison's Tom Tom voice Karen, guides us through take this exit in 1/4 mile and turn right in 500 yds through the city of Minneapolis and finally arrive at a park. It looks to be an ordinary park but in the distance we hear the rushing of water. On the way to find the falls we pass this little shed and about 5o bikes, regular 10 speeds, those lay back bikes and then the bike of all bikes, "The Surrey" a little carriage on bicycle tires. That little surrey with the fringe on top sat gleaming in the sun just waiting for someone to come and take it for a ride.

"So how many does it fit?"

"Eight? Great? Let's do it" So I fill out the paper work that states they aren't responsible for our lives and Allison and I split the $26 dollars it costs to take it for a spin for one hour, we fit the kids with helmets and Ta daaaaaa, we are riding our very own Surrey.

"Oh yeah, here is map to follow, it will take you around the park," says the Surrey bike vendor. He hands us a map that looks like he drew it on a napkin on the way to work today. I mean hand drawn and NOT to scale.

"Okay, we say as we head off peddling" We are fine, who needs a map anyway! We are adults, we can handle this. Off we go up hill. Allison and I at the front and the kiddies at the back. There are four sets of pedals, but only Allison and I can really reach them so we are doing all the work.

Here we are, all comfy cozy just as we take off. Everyone looks pretty excited for the adventure.
We are having a great time and traverse the park, up some hills, down some hills. I keep looking at Allison wondering if she or anyone else is attempting to pedal to move this beast. It seems they are but I am not convinced.

We are doing just fine for the first 1/4 mile until we meet a fork in the road. After some consulting we see that we need to cross abridge in the park and so we vere to the right. It doesn't seem to be following the park map but seems to be the best route. Sam starts to show some concern as we are approaching the bridge that CROSSES THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER!

Of course this is the route, there were no other bridges. But Sam says, this is a major highway. Allison and I are a little confused and weren't sure if we had just heard a horn honk from one of those rapidly moving vehicles just to the left of us. Sam is down right scared now and Allison and I are hoping that the drivers of those rapidly moving cars aren't calling Minnehaha bike vendors and reporting stolen Surreys!

Here we are on the bridge and yes, that is the Mississippi in the back ground. Still confused and consulting the map we see from way across the bridge, what? Another Surrey, What a relief. We must be going the right way, so we continue with trepidation because we are fearing that both Surreys won't fit on the narrow bike trail the city has provided. Upon meeting fellow surrey renters, we ask "Are we going the right way?" To which they reply, "We don't know, we turned around and came back, good luck!"

"Yeah, you too! "

So off we went to try to find the bike trail. To every passer by we asked, "Are we going the right way?" and so more fun began. Some of the responses were blank stares, other people giggled. Some acted like they knew where we were going and said, yep! One old guy said, "Well, that depends upon where you are going" Another guy just ignored us, so we made double sure we caught up with him going the opposite way and asked him again. He ignored us some more.


Finally, after making a little rest stop, we arrived to our destination, turned in our bicycle helmets and our surrey with the fringe on top, told the bike guy he needed to draw up a new map, and warned some unsuspecting bike renters that the map was NOT to scale and watch out for the Mississippi. Of course, We finally saw Minnehaha Falls, right in in the heart of Minneapolis, MN. Another great adventure MN.