I will be in Minneapolis with my husband who will be travelling around the area on business from July 23 throught the 26th. We are staying at the Westin in town. I will basically have the days to myself for lounging, walking and shopping; the evenings will be spent exploring the city and what it has to offer. I would love hearing from experts and visitors with suggestions and must see/do activities. Also how close am I to the Calhoun area? Access?
july trip suggestions
Hi,
Assuming good weather - I suggest that when you have a 2-4 hour time frame to just take a walk up to the Mississippi River, which forms a sort of border to downtown. It is a very nice place to walk and you can take a pedestrian only bridge all the way across.
You might also enjoy walking as far as the place where the 35W bridge fell down last summer. My guess is that it woul dtake about 30 minutes from your hotel.
Ask at the hotel which way to go towards the river. When you hit the river turn right and just keep walking - they are working furiously to get the new brtidge built. How manytimes to you get to see that?
For Calhoun - there are several buses from downtoen that will take you right there. The bus trip is about 15 minutes to the center of what is called ';uptown'; - Uptown butts up against the lake. I think that one ot two busses go past the lake itself. Lake calhoun gets all the mention - but it is not my favorite - not nearly as picturesque as its twins north and south. At Calhoun you can rent a canoe and then ask the boat guy to point you to lake of the isles - from the isles you can get over to what is called the ';kenilworth lagoon'; much cooler than calhoun for my speed. Calhoun is much more of the spandex crowd. I guess I would say Isles is more of the casual relazed crowd. The next lake down is Harriett - whch really is ownderful - I owudl say that is more of a family lkae - eitherway you can swin at bothe Calhoun and Harriett.
Other thingd you could do easily from downtown and without much more than a half day time commitment would be to visit the Walker Art museum - modern, or the minneapolis art institute whuch is a more traditional museum.
Try to resist the siren call of the Mall of America (or ';the big mall';) is you can - but if you go, you willhave fun as long as you go on the log ride!!
july trip suggestions
For an idea of some park/walking/recreating routs click on the park map below:
minneapolisparks.org/grandrounds/map_CL1.htm
The very north eastern part of the map where it says sculpture garden is about 20 minutes or so by foor from your hotel.
Each one of the lakes is roughly 3 miles around, althougn lake of the isles is abit short - but not by much.
The Caolhoun boat house - where they rent canoes - is at the ';?'; on the northeastern edge of calhoun.
To the right of the calhoun ';?'; where Lake intersects hennepin is ';uptown';
minneapolisparks.org/grandrounds/map_DR1.htm
This link is of the river along downtown. It%26#39;s a bit rough, but the westin is on the general vicinity of the ';P'; that stradles 7th street in the center of the map.
The old 35w bridge is shown on the map where there blue/gry meets the orange at the river.
Walking anywhere on that path is safe.
Thanks. Sounds liek exactly the kinds of detailed suggestions I need. If I go to the MOA, it will be because it is raining and it IS something notable. My daughter went when she cheered for a Division II NCAA basketball tournament that was held there. She was in college and loved the mall. She had some kind of water massage that she said was heavenly. Are there beach areas near Harriet lake?
hey muscledfuture-
Lake Harriet is a great spot- and has a nice beach on the north end, cloese to the band shell. There is also , like all our lakes, a walking / bike riding path around the whole thing. Here is a nice website with some photos for ya...enjoy our city!
鈥inneapolis.mn.us/minneapolis/lake_harriet5
Yes, grab the bus down Hennepin Avenue (you%26#39;ll geta ncie look at a very unique, though densely populated, area with all kinds of unique stores and restaurants) to Calhoun Square. From there, you can walk down Lake Street to Lake Calhoun, which is gorgeous with the sailboats. Walk around it to get to the even prettier Lake Harriet, with its sailboats and the stunning homes encircling it. This is my favorite part of Minneapolis. If you can arrange a bike rental, all the better. Then you can see the entire chain, depending on how motivated you are. You can rent canoes and kayaks on Lake Calhoun and pass under the Excelsior Bridge up the chain.
For downtown activities, Nicollet Mall has good shopping and the Flour Mill walk (near the bridge contruction) across the Stone Arch Bridge to St. Anthony-Main and back (a circuit if you%26#39;re ambitious) is very nice and informational (plaques give you the history of the city%26#39;s birth). Have a Bloody Mary at Pracna on Main. They%26#39;re great there.
In that area, you can walk up Hennepin and scout out Nye%26#39;s Polonaise. It%26#39;s a restaurant bar I would suggest you visit on a Friday or Saturday night when the Ruth Adams polka band is playing. And up Hennepin a few blocks further is Whitey%26#39;s, my favorite place for breakfast in the city, for what it%26#39;s worth.
You%26#39;re close to the Mississippi riverfront -
below are some links about the area - great walking trails %26amp; sites to see
Also, check out the [free] observation ledge of the new Guthrie Theatre nearby.
There might be a show going on one one of the three theatres on Hennipen Ave.
If you can, eat at Ike%26#39;s for weekend brunch -
out the Westin door, to the right.
Ike%26#39;s Food and Cocktails
50 S Sixth St
Minneapolis, MN 55402-1540
http://www.minneapolis-riverfront.com/
saintanthonymain.com/mplsriverfrontdistrict.鈥?/a>
guthrietheater.org/visit/鈥ther_spaces
http://www.hennepintheatredistrict.org/
Hi,
I like all of th eother ideas peopl ehave given you.
Just some other thoughts:
*There is a bike shop in uptown near the calhoun boat house that I think rents bikes.
*There are two beaches on Harriet.
*From the boathuse on calhoun to the north of Lake Harriett is likely about 1.5 - 2 miles. If you then walked all the way around Harriet and back to the Boat house to catch a bus it would be a bout a six mile trip.
*If you really wanted to go to Harriett there is a bus that will run you right between the two lakes. Return to ask if that sound reasonable.
*Lake of the Isles doesn%26#39;t have as good bus service as it is more of a rush hour bus - but it is availbale.
*If you are thinking you would do a lake visit come back and list 2-3 big wishes and I bet somebody can get very specific all the way down to bus routes.
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Other stuff.
If you are in town on a Thursday be sure to visit the Nicollet Mall (2 blocks from hotel). It host a farmers market all th eway up the street all day long.
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Don%26#39;t forget to ask about food....
One more thing
If you are picking lakes -
On a super hot day go to Harriett - the most shaded.
For the Fanciest Houses - Lake of the Isles.
Mellowest lake - Cedar Lake - a good destination of you do the canoe thing.
Nyse Pollonaise Room - A matter of taste :)
The best side trip from the lakes - Linden Hills Neighborhood for an ice cream and a bus back downtown.
By the way. When you get on the bus ask for a ';transfer'; free roundtrips for either 1.5 or 2.5 hours (can%26#39;t remember';
I will be there on a Thursday and I love outdoor markets- great suggestions thanks! Biking near/around the lake area sounds fun and my hubby loves to canoe, but he is supposed to be working- maybe not all the time :=)
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