6. The Cherry Spoon

One of my husband’s life goals is to see a baseball game in every stadium in America. His favorite team is the New York Yankees, so we’ve visited a few great cities over the years to see his boys play. Watching the Yanks take on the Twins in Minneapolis was part of our reason for traveling to Minnesota and the Midwest for the first time in July for a long weekend. Honestly, I didn’t know much about Minnesota prior to our trip other than that it is frigid in winter and that Minneapolis is home to the Mall of America. The Mall was our first stop when we arrived in Minneapolis (following a slight detour to the airport in Grand Forks, North Dakota due to stormy weather). We did very little shopping at the mall and actually ended up there twice during our trip because our kids got a kick out of riding roller coasters indoors. The amusement area of the mall is quite impressive, but don’t make the mistake of going on a Saturday afternoon like we did. Another highlight of visiting Minneapolis for the kids was walking the city’s skyways. You can get almost anywhere throughout the city through indoor walkways connecting each building, which are designed to avoid being outdoors in the wintertime because it is so cold. (Thanks, but I’ll pass). I guess you can’t go to Minneapolis without experiencing the Minneapolis Skyway System, at least my kids can’t, ha. The hotel we stayed at downtown was across the street from the music venue First Avenue & Seventh Street Entry, where Prince apparently filmed “Purple Rain.” Besides the baseball game, our other adventures in Minneapolis included renting bikes for cycling around Lake of the Isles, one of five lakes in Chain of Lakes Park, and hiking the falls at Minnehaha Park. Minneapolis has a wonderful parks and recreation system for those who love exploring outdoors. We also visited the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden because you can’t go to a city and not soak in some art. Our favorite sculptures were the ginormous “Spoonbridge and Cherry” and the blue rooster, “Hahn/Cock.” One day, we also rented a car and made the drive to Duluth, Minnesota. Duluth is an old railroad town about two hours north of Minneapolis along Lake Superior. The Lakewalk along the water’s edge was beautiful and serene. Downtown Duluth has quaint shops and a view of the Aerial Lift Bridge of Duluth. Across the bridge, there is also a beach access on 12th Street, where we witnessed a few baptisms and spent the afternoon recharging and collecting sea glass. I’m a beach girl, so Duluth was one of my favorite aspects of our trip to Minnesota. Just to see a Great Lake---a first for all of us---was pretty spectacular. Nature at its finest.