Minneapolis-St Paul — Patti Part Two

Hello Minnesota! I’m calling this my first real trip to Minnesota. I have been to Minneapolis a few times for work related events but can’t recall ever getting to leave the hotel, so this time I actually get to explore what appears to be an awesome place. My daughter Keeley is running the Twin Cities marathon Sunday so that was a great reason to come up, check it out and support her as she accomplishes her amazing goal. My initial impression is that it’s awesome! The weather has been great but that’s probably why they do the race at this time of year. It is one of the top marathons in the US and considered to be the prettiest urban course in the country. But not sure I would relish the winter here. The locals say lots of snow and COLD!

I arrived Weds night so checked into the hotel and headed to a place for dinner that had great reviews on Yelp. It did not disappoint. The Red Cow was packed, and reminded me that sometimes it’s an advantage to be alone. I was able to get a seat at the bar immediately instead of the 45 minute wait for a table.

Known for great burgers but I went rogue and had the most amazing salad ever. Beets, quinoa, edamame, garbanzo beans over arugula - delicious!

Keeley arrived first thing Thursday morning and after picking her up at the airport we headed right to Minnehaha Falls which is located very close to the airport. It’s a beautiful park that sits right between Minneapolis and St Paul.

Most famous for the falls of course!

Worth a visit for sure. There’s Keeley my marathon running daughter!

When I travel in Europe I make a point to visit so many churches, so why not see some of the gorgeous ones in the US? Next stop the Cathedral of St Paul. Located on a hill overlooking downtown St Paul and the Minnesota Capitol Building.

What a beautiful church inside and out.

We got a good view of the capitol but didn’t have time to make a visit.

Next up time for lunch. We headed over to Grand St in St Paul and ate at Cafe Latte. No pictures, sorry, but great food and a really cute area with a number of cool shops and restaurants.

You know I love museums so Keeley agreed to go with me to the Weisman Art Center designed by the famous architect Frank Gehry on the University of Minnesota campus. Wow! Incredible!

Frank Gehry does interesting things! It looks like it could be in a Harry Potter movie.

It’s not a huge museum so you can easily see it in an hour or an hour and a half.

Hi Keeley! Top right was a huge interesting piece by Richard Barlow made from 36,000 plastic spangles. Loved it! Bottom left by Douglas Argue creating the illusion of space on a flat canvas. The huge glass fish is by Frank Gehry.

We took a little walk around the University of Minnesota campus. I went to a Big 10 school so always interested in seeing any college campus and in particular the ones in the conference. It is a huge and beautiful campus. Everyone looks so young - even Keeley felt old😊

Always fun to stop in the bookstore. The Gophers!

Keeley loves breweries like I love museums so to be fair we needed to check out what she tells me is a great one. Surly Brewery conveniently located very close the the U of Minnesota campus. Quite impressive and they were even able to convince me that they had a beer I would like. The knowledgeable bartender said they have a beer for wine drinkers - aged in a white wine barrel for 18 months and to my surprise I did like it! Keeley had a beer that was brewed on Monday so quite a range in beer making.

They have an awesome outdoor area but a little too chilly to take advantage of it.

Last stop of the day was dinner at an Irish pub downtown called The Local. It was really a beautiful old place with amazing dark wood and lots of little rooms with really pretty stained glass and little gargoyles in abundance.

The food was good. I had an Indian curry vegetarian dish with rice and Keeley had a quinoa salad. They did have some Irish selections like corned beef and cabbage and a chicken pie that looked good but we picked what we thought were a little healthier options. Supporting Keeley in her race preparations. No more alcohol till after the race. Then we celebrate!

More fun coming up in the twin cities! Check back soon.