Naps & Handstands Outside: Things We Do When It's 70 Degrees

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It finally happened. On Wednesday, some parts of Minnesota and western Wisconsin got above 70 degrees.

And true to form, many people didn't waste a minute of the warmth.

Near the still-frozen Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis, one man was seen soaking up the day with his pet bird, appropriately named Happy. To the south, others walked a tightrope near Lake Harriet. And some University of Minnesota gymnasts did handstands on piles of ice coming off the lakes.

Stephanie Wheeler took a more mellow approach to the slide into spring. At the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, she napped in the grass.

"I laid down and I felt the sun on my skin, and it felt like the sun was warming up my bones for the first time," she said.

In the shadow of the Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture, she slept for 45 minutes.

Chava Curland and a friend also visited the sculpture garden. They sat on the giant swing.

"It's definitely the cherry on top of an awful winter," Curland said.

For some, Wednesday was an all out celebration. Peter Naumann, of Minneapolis, cooked out.

"We vowed we'd have a party on the first day it got above 70 degrees," he said. "I'm not sure it hit that today yet, but that was the intention, and it just happened to coincide with my wife's birthday."

He added: "For a day like today in Minnesota, after the winter we've had, it's perfect, couldn't be better."