It's been a year since my mom's 50th birthday and I'm finally getting around to these photos.
I knew I wanted to do something big for the occasion- some kind of trip, but not somewhere that would break the bank. Being from the Midwest, there are a lot of sporadic, yet engaging destinations and Paisley Park may be my favorite so far.
Some trip specs:
- Our trip was three days. The first day we drove up to and stayed in Wisconsin Dells (our halfway point). We stayed at Wintergreen, a place I've never stayed in my million trips to the Dells. But, it was close to the highway and the outlet mall. For the price, it was just fine, though we did share the space with a wedding that night.
- Second day, we drove into Minnesota and went to the Mall of America. We stayed at the LaQuinta Minneapolis-Bloomington, which was really pretty and accented in purple.
- Our third day, we went on our VIP tour of Paisley Park and drove back home.
You've heard me rave about the Dells a few times on here, so let's move on to the Mall of America.
If you're a 90s baby, you might remember Mary Kate and Ashley's Mall Party movie. That was the first time I had heard of the MoA, but I've never been and I didn't realize how much there is to do there.
There are a lot of stores you'll see in every other mall, but some highlights for me were
- Carlo's Bake Shop. As a huge Food Network girly growing up, this one was a highlight. We got cannolis that we ate later on in the hotel room.
- The M&M store. You can personalize your own M&Ms, which naturally we did after struggling to take a good photo for the M&Ms for almost ten minutes.
- Lotus Beads. From someone who makes earrings and also loves rocks, I think about this store daily. I'd lose my mind if I had one near me.
We passed on the amusement park and the aquarium, but we walked through the amusement park and these are two things that make the MoA so unique. The Crayon experience would have also been really cool, but it was closed when we went and really geared towards children to make their own crayons.
If you're a browser and plan to experience the extra activities, I'd recommend one entire day at the Mall of America, maybe a second day if you have kids, but I wouldn't take a trip to Minnesota just for the mall. For me, it was something cool to see while we were in town for a larger attraction.
Located in Chanhassen, Minnesota, just southwest of Minneapolis, is Prince's estate. Once the late singer's home, it was transformed into a museum and designed to be so once he passed on.
All photos through this post are going to be in photo spots throughout the venue, most likely the sound stages at the end.
A couple of tips about Paisley Park:
- There are three tour packages to choose from. We did the VIP experience and it was perfect for us. We went on a Monday so there were only maybe four people in our group and we didn't run into any other groups minus a field trip at the end in the gift shop.
- Your phones will be sealed in a bag, but you will have the opportunity to take a photo in front of a large wall mural of him, and again at the end of the tour.
- PP offers some after dark events. If you can plan your trip around participating in those, that would be really cool. We weren't there the time there were any events, but it would have been incredible.
- Check your exhibitions! Ours was Prince's Shoe Collection and it was astounding. It's still going on right now and you'll learn how his shoes were tailored for him.
The first thing you see when you come in is a small almost replica of Paisley Park and that's where Prince's ashes are kept.
When you walk into Paisley Park, you feel inspired. The first room you're in is an atrium with a few small room off the sides and the sky is painted like a ceiling. They keep two doves in the home at all times and you can see them from here. The rooms off the side are album themed where you can see outfits, guitars, and other memorabilia from the featured albums. This is also where his office and kitchen are located (which you can go sit inside for a minute.) His favorite food was reportedly pancakes and because Prince was a vegetarian, no meat is served in the museum.
As a group, in the first part, we watched an informational video on Paisley Park and proceeded into the editing studio where we saw an unedited clip, exclusive to Paisley Park. Small things like this made the VIP tour so worth it. It feels very intimate to sit in the rooms that Prince once sat in and watch footage on the monitor he once worked on, too.
Next up was a tour of his studios. I'm not sure what the difference is in the packages and what studios you get to see. But, within the studio tours was one of the highlights for me which was the galaxy room.
The NY Times posted this article in 2016 called The Rooms They Left Behind where you can see a photo of the galaxy room. It was a piece of Prince's studio that is designed to look like you're in space looking down at Earth for inspo. Throughout the walls you can spot small paisley icons, as though you're looking down at Paisley Park.
Also in the studio portion of the tour, there is a photo op. There is a mural on the wall in this studio that also houses his ping pong table and a piano with his hat on top of it. Our guide told us Prince left the hat there during his last visit to Paisley Park and they've kept it there since.
We also played ping pong on Prince's table, HELLO??? So cool.
My absolutely favorite part of the tour was the shoes! This is an exhibition that is still available to see. You walk into a dark room (after the Purple Rain room where you can see his bike, the movie plays on a projector, and his Oscar is in a case) and one by one the glass cases illuminate to the music revealing over 300 pairs of Prince's shoes. You're able to watch how the shoes were made via stories told on screens from his shoe makers. In the center of the room is a 3D piano created for the exhibit housing the most iconic shoes. Highlights include the Batman shoes and his Superbowl shoes.
Vogue has an article including their highlights you can read here.
There are other rooms and facts that I haven't mentioned (mostly because it's been a year since I've been here), but the last leg of the tour is his sound stage. In here, they host Paisley After Dark and keep memorabilia you can take photos of/with.
The Muppets have also played here before which was very exciting to me.
A cute note about the photo above (where my eyes are closed, of course), when we were in the gift shop, I was looking for a vinyl and I purchased Piano and a Microphone on vinyl because I saw the piano he would have taken on tour with him, but he passed away before the tour.
A follow-up fun fact, I was at his last Chicago date he ever played.
You don't realize how generally small Prince was until you see his outfits and shoes in person.
After the sound stage, the tour disperses and you go into this small cafe with the New Power Generation (NPG) stage. Here is where Prince would host afterparties and play intimate shows. You can grab coffee here (which we obviously had to), you can chill here, and just take in everything you have experienced because it's overwhelming in the most inspirational way.
I am a gift shop GIRL (I get it from my grandma.) At the gift shop, I bought my vinyl I mentioned earlier, and an enamel pin for my backpack. I think my mom bought ping pong balls and a book that walks you through the estate (I may have made that up, though, don't quote me on it because I don't actually remember.)
Outside the estate along the road, people leave flowers and signs near the fence to commemorate Prince and his legacy. Even if you're not a huge fan, but you know a few songs, you'll love it here. It's surreal and unlike any other attraction I've visited before.
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