4th of July Weekend

I will be traveling to the Minneapolis area July 3rd 鈥?6th with my husband and 8 year old son. We were wondering where a good place to see fireworks on the 4th of July would be. Do they usually do something downtown? We are staying in Bloomington since our main destination is the MOA for Nick Universe and the aquarium for my son, however we would like to take the light rail downtown one day. Also, we are thinking about checking out the science museum and/or zoo. Would we be able to get to those places via the light rail or would be need to drive in from our hotel? I appreciate any advice! Thanks.

4th of July Weekend

I was saddened to hear the news that the Riverfront District fireworks display will not go on as planned in %26#39;08. That would have been your light rail option.

However, all is not lost.

http://www.tasteofmn.org/

The above link details the Taste of Minnesota event in neighboring St. Paul, at Harriet Island Park.

To answer your question on the Science Museum and the zoo, you will have to drive unless you arrange a hotel shuttle or something. Both are cinches to reach by car from the mall.

Best bet would be to combine a trip to the Science Museum with a visit to the Taste of Minnesota on the Fourth to see the fireworks. It will be crowded, naturally, and driving to get out of St. Paul will be a pain, but it is a nice event and a fun day in combbo with the Science Museum.

Similarly, you could drive to the zoo and take in Apple Valley%26#39;s city fireworks display, which will be less crowded than St. Paul%26#39;s (though less spectacular, in all honesty). I believe Apple Valley%26#39;s is at Johnny Cake Ridge Park.

4th of July Weekend

Thinking here ...

Didn%26#39;t mean to scare you about driving in and out of St. Paul for a crowded event. If you were to park at the Science Museum garage, there is an easy escape to allow you to miss the bulk of traffic, which will be making for Interstate 94.

From the Science Museum garage, take the exit road to Shepard Road and take a right. If your exit takes you to Eagle Parkway, take a left on Eagle Parkway and then a right onto Shepard Road heading south/west. It%26#39;s VERY easy.

Shepard Road (aka the Great River Road) will take you along the Mississippi River down to Highway 5 (west) to 494 west, which will take you to the mall.

You%26#39;ll want to go this way in reverse to get to the Science Museum as well. Takes you right there, no worries about driving in a foreign city. Highway the whole way.

I had found some information about last year鈥檚 4th of July on the riverfront, but couldn鈥檛 find anything for 2008 鈥?I guess that鈥檚 why. However, the Taste of Minnesota event sounds perfect for us 鈥?especially since we plan to head to St. Paul one day to visit the Science Museum anyway. We know we鈥檒l have to deal with crowds whatever we decide to do on the 4th. Thank you SO much for the suggestions and directions!

What%26#39;s nice is you can go to the Science Museum (parking in the attached garage) and keep that spot for the Taste of MN.

Parking is half the problem for those events. So park, check out the museum, then you can walk to Harriet Island Park. (See Google Maps for where things are in relation. Basically you just have to cross the Wabasha St. bridge.)

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