A Weekend in Minneapolis

Minneapolis, Minnesota. Not typically the place you would imagine spending a weekend getaway at, right? We recently had the opportunity to spend a long weekend in the city and I was incredibly surprised by how much I enjoyed this trip.

If you’ve ever wanted a fun getaway weekend in a walkable city with great restaurants, cool street art, lively bars and beautiful parks/lakes, then add Minneapolis to your list of places to visit! Between an easy flight, a reasonably priced AirBnB and cheap (but good) food and drinks, I’d rank this city in my top ten.

Here’s why:

• Adorable & friendly neighborhoods: We stayed right outside the city limits in Uptown. Every house was majestic, old (but stunning) and well-kept. Every person we walked by greeted us with a wave or a hello. We stayed close enough where we were a five minute walk to Lake Bde Maka Ska (formerly Lake Calhoun), which is the largest lake in the city limits. We were also about 12 minutes from what the neighborhood downtown area. The night we arrived we walked down here and ate at Amazing Thailand, which truly lived up to its name. Some of the best Thai food I’ve ever had! 
• Super walkable city: We took a bus ($2 fare) from Uptown and came out right in the middle of the city. It was a fun adventure because we had no plans at all, and really just wanted to wander around without an agenda. We enjoyed the street art, walked through an industrial park with a cool view of the city. We walked through a subtle, but gorgeous park in the midst of the city, crossed over the pedestrian bridge and went to a theatre with a cool walk out called the ‘Endless Bridge.’ We ended the day at a Twins game, and had a blast in our $15 nosebleed seats. There was so much to see and the city was so easy to navigate, we completely lost track of time.

• Access to the lake: I have always told people if I ever move away from Cleveland, wherever I go next has to be next to a body of water. I can’t imagine living in a city that doesn’t have access to a lake or river, which is probably why I loved this place so much. We were minutes away from the lake, where they offered every water activity possible. Paddle boating, stand up paddling (SUP), kayaking, swimming.. you name it, they had it! I tried SUP for the first time and it was so much fun. This was probably my favorite day. We ended the day at a rooftop bar drinking some delicious local beer.
• Cheap food and drinks: So many aspects of this city reminded me of Cleveland, this being one of them! We had some delicious meals and local beers, and we didn’t have to spend an arm and leg to do so! Another thing I was raving about was that they let you bring in water bottles to the baseball stadium. I went up to multiple bartenders who gladly took my water bottle and filled it with ice and water. They even had water-filling stations placed throughout the park. (Get with the times, Cleveland!) 

So next time you’re looking for a fun weekend getaway, I highly recommend considering Minneapolis as your destination (at least in the summer)! I’ve compiled the full list of places we stopped at below.

Food & Drink stops:

• Amazing Thailand
• Dunn Bros Coffee
• Uptown Tavern
• Nico’s Taco & Tequila Bar
• Mission America Kitchen & Bar

Parks/Museums/Misc:

•  Magers & Quinn Booksellers
• Water Power Park
• Father Hennepin Bluff Park
• Stone Arch Bridge
• Guthrie Theatre
• Mary Tyler Moore Statue
• IDS Center

What city have you been to where you were shocked by how much you enjoyed it?