Hello all. I'm heading up to Minneapolis next week for business and was wondering if it's worth my time to try and do some Prince sight-seeing.

- I would love to drive by Paisley Park, but is it even worth it? Can I see it from the road...take pictures, etc?
- Is the "Yellow House" still there...or did they tear it down?
- What about First Avenue? Still open?
- Any other clubs where I might catch some old Prince bandmates?
- Other suggestions?

This will be the first time I've been there...and I'm not sure when I'll make it back. Thanks in advance for any help.

Peace,

Matthew

mattmcbr said:

yeah, it's worth seeing at least once...and yeah, you can see it from the road since it's right along highway 5.


hell if i know, i haven't been out that way in about 2 years.

yep, it's still open. when you gonna be here in town? if it's sometime around the end of next week, there'll be a prince party in their VIP room on friday night.


yeah...me and some other mpls orgers should get together and show you 'round the city.

I'll be arriving Sunday around Noon...leaving around 3:00 on Friday. I hate that I'm going to miss the Prince party

My hotel is actually in Edina...near the vendor I'm visiting. I'm down with meeting up with some local orgers and checking out MPLS!

mattmcbr said:

Sure. You can't miss it... it's at the intersection of state highway 5 and Audubon Road, in Chanhassen.

If you find a place to park (e.g., along Audubon), you can take pictures of it from outside the fence. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if the gate to the front (visitor) parking lot is open, but Paisley Park is private property, and I'm told that security will ask sightseeing fans to stay outside the fenced-in area.

Edit: My dad has a picture of himself in the front parking lot of Paisley, even though he really has no interest in Prince whatsoever. Why? Well, back in 1998, when I was in college at Indiana U., a friend and I borrowed his car to drive from Indiana to Paisley Park for a late-night performance there. (My dad even gave us his gas station credit cards, so the only costs were tolls and meals... very cool.) When the show ended around 6:20 a.m., the sun was up, and my friend took a picture of me standing by the car in the visitor parking lot before we drove off. (My friend tried to get some other shots of the property, like the playground, but security intercepted him.)

About a year later my dad was in the Twin Cities area on business, and at the time, I had some relatives who lived near Paisley, in Eden Prarie just off Highway 5. Well, somehow they got the idea to recreate the picture my friend took, except with my dad standing where I was. The front gate was open, they drove in, took the picture, and left.

My first reaction upon seeing the picture was something to the effect of, "Security didn't throw you off the propery?!?!"
[Edited 3/17/06 16:17pm]

I believe the yellow house is the one that was torn down a few months back.