Tours   

Step into history in the Wabasha Street Caves – carved from sandstone to mine silica in the 1840s, then used variously for storage, mushroom growing and more until, as the Wabasha Street Speakeasy, they became a gangsters’ hangout during Prohibition. Our very entertaining Lost Souls Cave Tour will include no murderous mobsters, but as we hear about eerie occurrences, with lantern lights flickering on cave walls, we may well feel like kids telling ghost stories around a campfire. Just before Halloween, no less! A happy option: lunch together post-tour. Course fee: $17.

 

The Godfrey House is the first frame house built at St. Anthony Falls in 1849 by Art Godfrey to manage the lumber mill handling the logs at the newly built sawmill. The house initially served as the meeting space for local civic activities while the community experienced rapid growth. The house represents amazing construction to still be so substantial even after being moved to four locations up from the river banks. The Godfrey House is located at 28 University Ave. SE Minneapolis, MN 55414.

 

The Godfrey House is the first frame house built at St. Anthony Falls in 1849 by Art Godfrey to manage the lumber mill handling the logs at the newly built sawmill. The house initially served as the meeting space for local civic activities while the community experienced rapid growth. The house represents amazing construction to still be so substantial even after being moved to four locations up from the river banks. The Godfrey House is located at 28 University Ave. SE Minneapolis, MN 55414.

 

The Godfrey House is the first frame house built at St. Anthony Falls in 1849 by Art Godfrey to manage the lumber mill handling the logs at the newly built sawmill. The house initially served as the meeting space for local civic activities while the community experienced rapid growth. The house represents amazing construction to still be so substantial even after being moved to four locations up from the river banks. The Godfrey House is located at 28 University Ave. SE Minneapolis, MN 55414.

 

Calling all event-goers interested in downtown Minneapolis spaces – especially you Timberwolves, Lynx, and concert fans! Tour the Target Center and explore spaces rarely open to the public, including the arena floor, backstage area, locker room corridor, Lynx locker room, media press conference room, suite level, and Crunch's Den. Learn about the history of professional basketball in Minneapolis, how the arena was built, and how crews transform the venue between events in a matter of hours. Finally, if we all behave during the tour, we’ll enjoy an on-court “shoot-around”! Course guide correction: This tour takes place at the Target Center, not on Zoom.

 

Seasons: So much life, color, and expectation are packed into that single word. It conjures images of holidays, weather extremes, life cycles, culinary flavors, holy day calendars, agricultural cycles, sports schedules, and those oscillating periods of idleness and activity – with a suitable time for every purpose under heaven. Seasons are filled with cultural symbolism, moods, and commentary. Over the next year our OLLI @ Mia courses will delve into the overarching theme, “The Expansiveness of Seasons,” starting with Fall and its many meanings and implications for our lives.

 

The leaves are changing and dropping from the branches of the trees all around us. This is the best time of year to learn how to identify trees using their leaves! Join a Garden Naturalist on a guided walk to learn how to use dichotomous keys and field guides to identify trees using their leaves, bark, and other key characteristics.  We'll meet at the Wirth Beach parking lot: 3200 Glenwood Ave. Hiking surfaces include paved and natural surface trails that feature changes in terrain and some hills. 

 

The leaves are changing and dropping from the branches of the trees all around us. This is the best time of year to learn how to identify trees using their leaves! Join a Garden Naturalist on a guided walk to learn how to use dichotomous keys and field guides to identify trees using their leaves, bark, and other key characteristics.  We'll meet at the Wirth Beach parking lot: 3200 Glenwood Ave. Hiking surfaces include paved and natural surface trails that feature changes in terrain and some hills. 

 

Fall migration is underway, and many species of warblers, raptors, and waterfowl are passing through on their journey. Come for a guided birding walk on the trails in South Theodore Wirth Regional Park. A garden naturalist from The Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden will teach you how to identify both migrating and resident bird species by their behavior, plumage, and song as you explore. We'll meet in the Wirth Beach parking lot off Glenwood Avenue: 3200 Glenwood Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55405. Trails exhibit mild changes in terrain, distance covered may be up to 1.5 miles.

Fall migration is underway, and many species of warblers, raptors, and waterfowl are passing through on their journey. Come for a guided birding walk on the trails in South Theodore Wirth Regional Park. A garden naturalist from The Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden will teach you how to identify both migrating and resident bird species by their behavior, plumage, and song as you explore. We'll meet in the Wirth Beach parking lot off Glenwood Avenue: 3200 Glenwood Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55405. Trails exhibit mild changes in terrain, distance covered may be up to 1.5 miles.

On Nov 4, we will visit the Raptor Center for a program in which Raptor Center staff show live birds. Afterwards, we will go into the area where the birds are kept. On Nov. 11th, we will visit the College of Biological Sciences Conservatory. The staff will show us the public display gardens and talk about the Conservatory. Then, we will visit the research collection and do a treasure hunt. There may be an option to join lunch outings after each session (own expense). 

Learn more about Minnesota/ Native American history and Dakota culture through a guided tour of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Cultural Center. Established in 2019, Hocokata Ti, located near Mystic Lake and surrounded by restored native prairie grasses, is a not-to-be- be-missed architectural gem and cultural treasure.  Meet at Hocokata Ti. We will begin with a 1-hour guided tour of the museum. After a short break to visit the gift shop and library, we will spend 45 minutes with the relics. Join an optional lunch (own expense) following the tour. Note two and a half hour tour.

This approximately 1-mile tour of Lakewood Cemetery highlights the courage, resilience and influence of women whose essential contributions shaped cultural, educational and social advancement. Featuring a diverse array of trailblazers, advocates and quiet leaders, the walking tour honors both celebrated and lesser-known women whose legacies continue to resonate today. 

 

If you love exploring the food from around the world, this one’s for you. We will try 3 world cuisines, one lunch at a time, starting with a lunch meeting at which we choose 2 more restaurants to visit. For this edition, we will choose restaurants in the general vicinity of the U of M, including restaurants in SE and NE Minneapolis, and downtown locations near the river.

If you love exploring the food from around the world, this one’s for you. We will try 3 world cuisines, one lunch at a time, starting with a lunch meeting at which we choose 2 more restaurants to visit. For this edition, we will choose restaurants in the general vicinity of the U of M, including restaurants in SE and NE Minneapolis, and downtown locations near the river.

Join us for a guided tour of the Minnesota State Capitol, designed by Cass Gilbert in 1905.  Learn about various aspects of the capitol including art, murals, paintings, and architecture. Weather permitting, walk to the Quadriga on the roof. Park at non-reserved numbered spaces on the street or in the state parking lots. Pay stations take cash or credit cards. There will be an opportunity to join a group lunch after the tour (at your own expense). 

This course will start at the Bloomington Education & Visitor Center with spectacular views of the Minnesota River and migrating birds with a marvelous bird feeding station. Attendees can select among hiking trails along the bluff or down to the river to explore. We will then continue for a Swedish lunch and conversation at the second floor restaurant of the nearby IKEA department store.

Have you ever wondered how the lights stay on across 15 states? Join us for an exclusive tour of the MISO Regional Control Center. Step inside the high-tech "nerve center" of the Midcontinent’s electrical grid, where expert operators manage a massive real-time energy market and coordinate the flow of electricity for 45 million people. See the giant video walls, witness the technology that balances supply and demand in seconds, and learn how MISO is leading the transition to a cleaner energy future. 

 

Oct 7--Davu Seru, Givens Collection of African American Literature and Life

Oct 14--Ellen Engseth, Immigration History Research Center Archives

Oct 21--Aiden Bettine, Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies

Oct 28--Erik Moore, University Archives

Nov 4--Kate Dietrick, Upper Midwest Jewish Archives

Nov 11--Maggie Ragnow, James Ford Bell Library and Special Collections and Rare Books