So, I'm going to Minneapolis...what do I do there?

cheesehead

Lifer
Aug 11, 2000
10,079
0
0
I'm going on a trip to Minneapolis with my family to visit some relatives, and I need some suggestion for things to see and do. Any thoughts?
 

ravana

Platinum Member
Jul 18, 2002
2,149
1
76
Drive up to Gooseberry Falls park north of Duluth if you have a whole day to spare (3 hr drive there & back)
Minneapolis Institute of Arts - If you like cool stuff & Tatras (I think that's what it was)
Walker Art Center - If you like the bizarre & wanna eat at 20:21. The Spoon & Cherry is also in their sculpture garden.
Staying on the museum trail,there is also Mill City Museum & a few others :) (If you have never seen how a river lock works, go hang out by the bridge near the Mill City Museum in the evening)
Go to St. Paul & check out the things it has to offer as well (i've lived here a year & I just go there to buy fish :p)
Go for a walk around the many lakes around town Harriet, Calhoun & Nokomis are a few.
Driving around Minnetonka is something I like to do as well.

Ok, I am tired of typing. If you want more info check out wikitravel.org or ask more specific questions :)

Also, avoid the Mall.
 
Last edited:

QurazyQuisp

Platinum Member
Feb 5, 2003
2,554
0
76
When I was there for twelve weeks this past summer, I really enjoyed the uptown area. (Calhoun lake, and all the restaurants)
 

ViviTheMage

Lifer
Dec 12, 2002
36,189
87
91
madgenius.com
St Paul is cool, check out the science museum there if you've got time, it's only a few miles east of minneapolis.

I live in uptown if are coming up here, oodles to do here...especially if it's nice out.
 

BabaBooey

Lifer
Jan 21, 2001
10,476
0
0
Uptown mlps

Downtown mlps < ----- Party central

Boat rides on the mississippi

Lots of museums....

Museum of Russian Art

Frederick R. Weisman Art

Hennepin History Museum

Mill City Museum

Weisman Art Museum

Wells Fargo History Museum

Bakken Library and Museum

Walker Art Center

Musical Instrument Museum

Bell Museum of Natural Hi

Theatres........

Illusion Theater & School

William and Nadine McGuir

The Southern Theater

Ritz Theater Box Office

Red Eye Theater

Jungle Theater

The Childrens Theatre Com

Minneapolis Theatre Garage

Theatre In the Round

Then all the lakes and canoe / bike rentals at calhoun

I could go on.
 

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
5
81
The Mall of America is overrated. Imagine four malls arranged in a rectangle with a lame amusement park in the middle.

It's just warming up now (by Minnesota standards) so there are some outdoor things to do. The chain of lakes near Uptown is good for walking or biking. It's still too cold for a lot of things, though, like if you want to rent a canoe or kayak and go out on the lakes.

There is a lot of good ethnic food in the area. Look on Yelp for what you're interested in. One safe bet is "Eat Street" - Nicollet Avenue South between Franklin (20th) and 28th. There's a middle eastern restaurant called the Java at 28th, a couple of good Chinese restaurants (the Rainbow at 28th and the Evergreen at 24th), an upscale Asian fusion called Azia at 26th, and a German restaurant called the Black Forest at 26th. And those are only the ones I've tried.

St. Paul is nice. The Science Museum there is actually pretty good and not lame and kiddie like a lot of science museums. Right now their exhibit is the Dead Sea Scrolls.
 
Last edited:
T

Tim

You go into overtime and kick the game winning feild goal. You then yell FU Brett, no Super bowl trip for you!

Geaux Saints.
 

alevasseur14

Golden Member
Feb 12, 2005
1,760
1
0
Whatever you do, don't go to the Mall of America. Jeebus.

It's 70+ degrees right now. Head to Lake Calhoon and just walk around. Girls in Minnesota often find themselves asking how much clothes they LEGALLY have to wear during the first couple weeks of spring. It's great.

I've only got one functional bike right now with many waiting for repairs. I could get a new rim and a tube whenever and take you and another person on a guided bike tour if that sounds cool. Bars, trails, lakes - it's all there. PM me if interested.

BTW, I live in NE Minneapolis, not too far from everything that's great about this city.
 

ViviTheMage

Lifer
Dec 12, 2002
36,189
87
91
madgenius.com
That's what I was gonna say. I had a layover there and I remember flying and seeing like two skyscrapers surrounded by bunch of farmland.

LOL, depends if you were actually looking at minneapolis .. mpls isn't small.

Minneapolis_skyline_daytime.jpg
 
Last edited:

AstroManLuca

Lifer
Jun 24, 2004
15,628
5
81
That's what I was gonna say. I had a layover there and I remember flying and seeing like two skyscrapers surrounded by bunch of farmland.

You sure you weren't in Des Moines? I drove there last Saturday and it was depressing.
 

alevasseur14

Golden Member
Feb 12, 2005
1,760
1
0
Do you fly out of Humphrey Terminal? I've only done that once and there was construction at the time so we took a bus to the terminal. I don't think you need to take the shuttle if you get off the Lightrail at Humphrey.

Oh, duh. I forgot people with cars. You can be dropped off right at Lindberg by car. No car = taking the Lightrail to the airport.
 

cheesehead

Lifer
Aug 11, 2000
10,079
0
0
The Mall of America is overrated. Imagine four malls arranged in a rectangle with a lame amusement park in the middle.

Regrettably, my relatives want to take me there, so to the Mall of America I go. Oh, well.

I'm going to the Walker Art Center / sculpture garden tomorrow, and might have a chance to visit Lake Calhoun. Minneapolis seems to be sort of like New York City adapted for Midwesterners - everything's a lot cheaper, everyone's a lot nicer, and it's not quite so insanely enormous or overcrowded.

Today I visited this restaurant:
http://www.112eatery.com/

It is, to put it quite simply, incredibly awesome. (The fact that I managed to get a reservation at 5:15PM the night I hoped to eat there was something of a miracle, but even losers like me have to get lucky sometimes.) The food was excellent (try the cold soba noodles with tongue, the duck salad, the chocolate pots de creme, and the tres leches cake - that said, the whole menu is superb, save possibly for the cheezburger my useless excuse for a younger brother ate), and remarkably inexpensive - $25 will get you two small plates and dessert, which is less than half what you might expect to pay. I'm still grinning.

I also visited the flower show at Macy's, which was fun, if hokey. (It's also free, and one of the few non-bar things near my hotel that's open after 7PM.)
 

alevasseur14

Golden Member
Feb 12, 2005
1,760
1
0
Regrettably, my relatives want to take me there, so to the Mall of America I go. Oh, well.

Well, hopefully you can go there sometime during the day. Unfortunately, the MOA has the only Apple store I can get to sans car so I have to go there occasionally. I went once on a Saturday after noon and made it as far as the door going from the train station to the lobby where I promptly turned around and took the 40 minute train ride back home. F that noise, I said!

You should see if you can check out the Stone Arch Bridge, too. The spring melt turns St Anthony falls into an incredible site each spring. It's amazing.

What hotel are you staying at? I could give you some bus routes if you don't like driving around the city. I'm not sure where you're from but I somehow end up driving whenever friends come and visit.
 

Inferno0032

Golden Member
Mar 26, 2007
1,107
0
71
Many of the good suggestions have been said, find a nice park somewhere, absolutely gorgeous this time a year, especially days like today when it's 75 or so!

At night, I always have a good time in Downtown, lots to do, really lively, and it's fun even if you just walk through the skyway system and explore the skyscrapers. Lots of good food and Block E is always a great one-stop-shop for food and entertainment. Gameworks is fun, and up one floor is a movie theatre.

As much as people bash MOA, I always enjoy the atmosphere there, and people watching can certainly be fun as well, it is what you want to make out of it. And honestly, the amusement park is pretty sweet since "Nickelodeon Universe" opened, the new roller coaster is alot of fun, and the skateboard ride is surprisingly intense and also alot of fun.