Weekend Stay in Minnesota

I%26#39;m visiting Minnesota for a weekend, 2 nights and wondered, aside from the Mall of America, what can we do downtown on our first night in either St. Paul or Minneapolis? Are there any nice and budget friendly restaurant and lounges in either city?

If not driving, how is it getting around on public transportation to either city from Bloomington?

Thanks in advance.

Weekend Stay in Minnesota

From MOA, you can get to downtown minneapolis via the light rail. To get to St. Paul, you would have to take a bus or cab. You can find bus routes on www.metrotransit.org.

I would spend time walking the nicollet mall in downtown mpls. This is a pedestrian mall right downtown with lots of restaurants and shops. This is nicollet ave between roughly 10th st and 4th st.

Also check out the science museum in st paul. very interesting for the whole family. take in an omnitheater show as well (at the museum).

If youre into art, the minneapolis institute of arts is very nice

There are tons of very nice parks and walking trails all over the city. Check out the uptown area for lots of local shops and restaurants. From there you can also walk around Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles, and Lake Harriet. Walking Lake of the Isles is worth it just to see the houses that surround it. To get to uptown, you could take the light rail downtown and then a #12 bus to the uptown transit station.

Personally, i wouldnt waste my time at MOA.. So much more interesting things to see and do in the twin cities. But, that is just my opinion. If youre into nature and want to get outside the twin cities, let me know and I can give you recommendations for areas up north near lake superior.

Weekend Stay in Minnesota

There are a lot of interesting and relatively inexpensive restaurants in South Minneapolis. There are lots and lots of choices for ethnic restaurants! You could get there by light rail from Bloomington. The Minneapolis lakes area is really nice. You could rent a bike or just enjoy walking on the paths. If you%26#39;re into baseball, you might enjoy a Twins game. There are lots of deals on tickets if you check their website. (I think Saturday used to be Dairy Queen night where you got 4 cheap seats, 4 hot dogs, 4 sodas, and a DQ gift card for some ridiculously cheap price.) You could also get to the game by light rail.

I would spend some time at the Mall of America. It%26#39;s fun!

Thanks for your advise. I def. do want to check out the MOA just to see it in it%26#39;s massiveness.

Won%26#39;t have much time in the cities so just wanted to get 1 or 2 good suggestions for St. Paul and for Minneapolis that we could check out (i.e. restaurants, a lounge, and a must see site or two) without breaking the bank.

How much do you think the light rail will be?

The light rail is about $2 for a ticket that is good on the train or connecting buses for a two-hour period. Pretty cheap, and very safe. Just buy a ticket at one of those little vending machines before you board. No one collects it you just have to have it on you if you are checked.

With so little time here, you should rule out St. Paul. It%26#39;s a wonderful city (I%26#39;m there right now, ';working';). But there is not easy way to get there except for a $30 cab ride.

Take the light rail and stop at Minnehaha Park on the way up to downtown, to see the park and the famous limestone bluffs and the waterfall.

For a really inespensive burger and fries meal, stop at the 38th Street station (farther up the line from the park) at the Cardinal Bar. Great little place for a beer and a burger.

Otherwise, for something nicer and healthier, continue toward downtown on the light rail. Downtown you have more options.

From the Nicollet Mall stop downtown, it%26#39;s a 4.5-block walk to Rossi%26#39;s, which has a Blue Star room lounge with music and fantastic specials for happy hour. I would visit their web site if that sounds good and coordinate to hit the specials. Otherwise it could get spendy.

More of a bar-lounge (without the music) is the Imperial Room, one block off the Warehouse District stop (end of the line). It%26#39;s on First Avenue.

Another option if you want budget friendly with a little bit of local fame is the Loon, which is across the street from the Warehouse District stop. Then the Imperial Room is kiddie corner -- a block or so away.

Thanks for the suggestion. I think I like Rossi%26#39;s and their affordable Happy Hour menu and you said it%26#39;s loungy too so that%26#39;s good. Minnehaha Park sounds good. Is it generally a safe place to walk around? The park that is.

not many advocates for the MOA, i see!!!

well, they just recently installed the ';largest indoor water park in the USA'; less than a mile away

(on 494 and 77) so that would be a good idea for the family... not so sure on prices tho...

also in the mall of america, they just recently changed it (within the last month, actually) to a nickelodeon park (it used to be snoopy themed) so the kids will enjoy that as well, although the ride wristbands can be a little pricey.

they have good choices for resturaunts as well bubba gump (seafood), famous daves (bbq), or the rainforest cafe (really cool atmosphere).. they also have some other neat resturaunts as well.

also underwaterworld is just as it sounds, its a series of underwater wildlife tanks with lots of different fish turtles, and sharks (you travel in tubes under the water er go ';underwater world';) you can even pet stingrays afterwards!

Good luck! and have FUN!!!

Hi Everyone,

Thank you to the last poster. I actually already went to Minnesota. It was great. the MOA was nice. And the Nickelodian Park was cool too. Wicked rollercoasters. Ate at the Rainforest Cafe, which was cool. And, there was even an Elvis impersonation contest on the day we went so that was a hoot to watch.

Also, got a chance to go downtown Minneapolis and to Minnehaha Park. Ate at Rossi%26#39;s which one of the posters recommend and that Happy Hour menu was a bargain. Only thing that sucked is that we got there like 15 minutes to 7 which means we would still be eating at 7pm when the entertainment for the night came on so they charged a $7 cover for that. But we still got Happy Hour priced drinks and eats.

Thanks for all your great advice.

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