First, you need to know that I love having a GPS. Colleen and I wouldn’t be able to get around the Twin Cities without it. Unfortunately we’re finding that the TomTom doesn’t seem to want us to attend any sort of cultural events.

A few weeks ago we were trying to attend Art Attack 2007 for The Circle at the old Northrop King building. I got out of work late, but we still had a little over an hour before the event started. We typed the address into the GPS, and were off. After sitting in traffic for a frustrating 45 minutes, we were there. But we couldn’t find the building anywhere. We drove around the area for another 30 minutes, periodically stopping to consult my smartphone’s map and the TomTom. By then, we were too late, and we headed back to our apartment.

The following weekend, we were planning to meet some of our friends at a traditional Chinese folk music concert at the University of Minnesota campus. Again, we typed the address into the TomTom, and hopped in the car. This time we ended up at the U of M campus, but apparently we were on the wrong side of the Minnesota river. It took us another frustrating 30 minutes before we finally found the correct building, and we had to quietly sneak into the back of the concert hall.

So, I haven’t decided if the problems are from bad points of interest, bad addresses, or both. Another possible source of problems could be the poorly named streets of the Twin Cities. I mean, who names a street South Washington Ave on one end, and Washington Ave South on the other?? We still use the TomTom when we’re traveling to new places in the Cities, but now we check the actual location on Google Maps first.