In your face cold weather! We made it to Minneapolis, and it has been in the 90s since we got here; I could not be happier. Nice warm nights and beautiful sunny days. After the 50s that we were stuck in last week, I am ecstatic. Needless to say, we are loving Minneapolis so far.
We are staying in an area of Minneapolis called the North Loop which is also known as the Warehouse District. There are a bunch of older and newer warehouses here that have been converted into retail and multifamily housing. It's hip, trendy with tons to do and feels like one of the safest places we have been. I love converted warehouses and our current vacation rental and the area did not disappoint. I couldn't imagine a better area to stay.
The history of the area is pretty cool also. There are a bunch of different signs on buildings that tell you about the history of that particular building. The one we are staying in was where they invented the Milky Way! It was invented to taste like the malted milk drinks that were so popular at the time (not the galaxy, who knew!). It was very popular right from the get-go. In fact, in its first year, it made the equivalent of $11 million today's dollars. Profits were helped by the fact that it was much cheaper to produce than a full chocolate candy bar. They quickly grew out of the space and moved to a Chicago suburb before creating Snickers and M&Ms.
Check out this link for a cool video and some more information. Now I'm hungry.... Chocolate, hmmm.
Exploring
Mall of America
Well, folks. I don't know what I was expecting from The Mall of America but it certainly wasn't what I got! Confetti maybe? A roller coaster that went throughout the mall? Yeah, both of those things. If I hadn't had high expectations, I think I would have been super impressed. The mall was HUGE with four different levels and multiple of the same store (though four Sunglass Huts does seem excessive). There is also Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park in what is probably described as the middle of the mall, but it didn't feel open enough to see it as much as you would think you would.
The rides looked really fun and they had some I haven't seen before. One was called The Fairly Odd Coaster which is a spinning roller coaster. There are two rows of two seats facing each other and the car spins around throughout the course of the ride, even though hairpin turns. Another one that looked really cool was the Avatar Airbender which is a half-pipe roller coaster that goes up to 70 feet to the top and back tower all while spinning the riders around. While they looked like a lot of fun, we didn't end up going on any rides but you can purchase an all-day pass for $39.99 for unlimited rides which doesn't seem too steep to me. You can also purchase points if you don't want to buy the whole day pass.
There is also an aquarium and a ton of great restaurants. I was able to find a salad with vegan chicken and bacon!!! How lucky!! Ok, now that I am talking about it, it was pretty cool. We went on a mini shopping spree. It was over 100 degrees on Saturday and wasn't even as crowded as we thought it would be. Definitely worth the visit.
Sculpture Garden
The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is an 11-acre park with more than 40 works of art accessible by a number of different walking paths. Our first few minutes in the Garden consisted of Cody deciding he would prefer to lay in the flowers in the shade and Jazzy getting out of her harness and nearly escaping. Good thing I have some sweet ninja skills. Once we were able to get everyone back under control we were free to wander!
The main attraction and by far the best sculpture is the Spoonbridge and Cherry (pictured above). The cherry stem produces mist from an underground water collection tank to help water the garden and nearby bail fields and also keeps more than 4 million gallons of runoff out of the storm sewers each year, reducing pollution in the Mississippi River basin. Pretty to look at and functional, smart thinking.
Overall, the park was interesting with a lot of great art and it's really nice to walk around in the sunshine. Some of the art was under construction so we didn't get to see everything. Some of our favorite snaps below. If you don't start singing "A Part Of Your World" when you see the last one, I will be highly disappointed.
Minnehaha Falls
While having the coolest name ever, Minnehaha Falls is a 53-foot waterfall located in Minnehaha Regional Park. The Park also includes limestone bluffs, river overlooks, and walking and biking trails.
While the waterfall was clearly the highlight, the walking trails along the creek were really beautiful and mostly shaded to keep us out of the hot sun. There were some pretty steep stairs that Eric had to carry Emma up and down but the littles (Cody and Jazz) proved that they still have some sweet skills when it comes to scaling stairs.
Overall, it was a really fun hike/walk. And Emma insisted on getting her token water picture. Cody got jealous and needed one too. Jazzy was too busy trying to eat chipmunks to notice what we were doing.
Eating
Bar La Grassa
Bar La Grassa is owned by Issac Becker a James Beard Foundation winner for Best Chef - Midwest. It's a celebrated Italian eatery with handmade pasta, small plates and a huge wine list. It's pretty hard to get reservations but we had no problems walking in and sitting at the bar.
We ended up going with two pasta dishes to spilt. The pasta on the left is Mushroom & Taleggio Agnolotti and the pasta on the right is Crab Ravioli. Both were delicious with fresh pasta that was cooked perfectly. Though we didn't get anything fancy (Martini & Manhattan), the drinks were also made perfectly. Too heavy to eat too often but definitely worth a visit if you are ever in the area.
The Snack Bar is attached and also owned by Issac Becker. It has small sharing plates and drinks. AND BANANA CREAM PIE. Can't imagine we won't be stopping there before we leave!
Smack Shack
Momma Fleck's maiden name!!! The Smack Shack calls themselves casual seafood. With an amazing outdoor area and an expansive seafood menu, we knew we had to stop in.
We ended up getting the Lobster Bisque (pictured above) and a Hot Lobster Roll (was too hungry to remember to take a picture). The Lobster Bisque was creamy and delicious and came with a piece of toasted cheese bread. While their website states they were voted the "Best Lobster Roll in the Country" by who I am not sure. While it was good, it wasn't the best one I have ever had, especially given the fact that it was mostly claw meat. Overall, a great place for some good ambiance and delicious seafood.
Drinking
Number 12 Cider
Number 12 Cider serves craft ciders out of what they say is Minnesota's largest cider house. I have nothing to prove or disprove that but can tell you they had a hell of a lot of ciders on their menu. As usual, we went with a flight of dry ciders and then picked a couple of others to try as well. Overall, the ciders were very tasty with rich flavor profiles. Even the sweeter ones weren't too sweet. Our favorites were the Black Market which is Black current with a rich, jammy aroma, the Miss Morency which was cherry with hints of tartiness and the Siren which was pomegranate with notes of rose. Eric also really liked the Barrell 44 which was bourbon barrel-aged with hints of caramel.
Minneapolis REALLY knows how to do outdoor dining. All of the spaces we have gone to and seen have been incredibly open and well decorated.
We shortened our trip here by a week and only have one more weekend. We are going to pack it full with lots of fun and are so grateful we are projected to have great weather.
Until Next Time.
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