So….we are complete covidphobes.  We haven’t done anything fun other than take a walk since we arrived in the U.S. in March (our walks are the only thing preventing the covid 15 from turning into the covid 20).  But, we took a baby step into the real world this week and visited Franconia Sculpture Park.

Skallagrim by Peter Lundberg at Franconia Sculpture Park.

Franconia Sculpture Park is about an hour away from our apartment in downtown Minneapolis.  It is a 43 acre sculpture park.  They have a residency program so artists can live on site while they create and exhibit their work.  Not sure whether that is still ongoing in light of covid.

Unfortunately, I can’t figure out what this one is called or who made it but I really liked it nestled in the grass and flowers.

Visiting the park is completely free, although there are donation boxes scattered around the grounds.

Fibonacci Wannabe by Nam Trong Le at Franconia Sculpture Park.

And, while we were initially a bit skeptical when we saw the number of cars in the parking lot, social distancing while there turned out to be easy-peasy — I’m guessing that once we were out of the car park we were never closer than 20 feet to another person.  It was a good thing that we were able to avoid other people because not one person was wearing a mask (I’m pretty sure we were the only ones that even carried a mask).  And, unfortunately, there were plenty of kids completely ignoring the park’s covid-related request to refrain from climbing on or touching the sculptures.  Come on people, this is why we can’t have nice things….

A Souvenir of the Minnesota State Fair, 1910 (Butter Roosevelt) by Lewis Colburn.  Sadly, no Minnesota State Fair this year…

Some of the art was really interesting.  But the best part of the park was the amazing wildflowers and the huge butterflies flying around.

A butterfly on a flower at Franconia Sculpture Park.

I have to say, although I was pretty nervous about going out and sightseeing, it was good to get out of the apartment.  Now, if we can just find a few more outdoor activities to fill some of our remaining time in Minneapolis…