Last-minute Christmas gift for Minneapolis sibling
December 23, 2016 9:28 AM   Subscribe

I need to get a last-minute gift for my mid-20s sister who just moved to Minneapolis and would like to get some kind of subscription/membership-type gift instead of something physical. What would work best?

Last year when she lived in Chicago I got her a yearlong Divvy membership which worked out great; unfortunately she's already gotten ahead of me this year and gotten a Nice Ride membership for herself.

I don't need to receive a physical gift certificate or anything like that by 12/25 as it's super last minute obviously -- just an email or something would be fine.

Relevant details:
- She works a corporate job downtown and lives in Uptown
- She enjoys hiking and outdoorsy activities, and is pretty into physical fitness (not so much a Crossfit type, but "staying active" is the general theme)
- She has a bike (and a car)
- She does drink and likes beer
- She doesn't know that many people there and stuff that involves meeting new people/volunteering activities could be nice
- Music-related cultural things could be a bonus

But if you have suggestions that aren't quite a fit for these details I'd also be open to them! Thank you!!
posted by andrewesque to Shopping (6 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
How about a membership to the Wedge (food co-op), the Walker (art museum), or Craftapped (craft beer club), or a gift card for First Ave (wonderful historical rock/rap venue) or Minneapolis Parks? Gifting a year's membership to the Junior League, Twin Cities Bike Club, or Minneapolis Bike Coalition would give her the opportunity to get outdoors, volunteer, and meet new people, too.
posted by amnesia and magnets at 10:16 AM on December 23, 2016 [2 favorites]


Along the same lines as above, a membership to the Minnesota Historical Society. You get free admission to all of the society's sites across the state. The history center in St. Paul always has something immensely interesting going on, and the Ft. Snelling (in town near the airport) and Split Rock (on Lake Superior) sites are near beautiful biking/hiking trails. Plus you get a discount on tours, classes, and pub crawls. A great way to learn about her new area, have some fun, and met some people!
posted by BlueBear at 1:44 PM on December 23, 2016 [2 favorites]


Goldstar.com is having a 25% off sale on gift cards (so a $100 gift card is only $75), and then you can use that to buy even further discounted tickets on all sorts of events. Minneapolis appears to have a decent selection of artsy, sportsy, social, cultural events for sale, so that could allow her to try a variety of different things and see more of the city.
posted by decathecting at 1:57 PM on December 23, 2016


Minnesota Orchestra has a create-your-own package.

Introductory package at The Salt Cave.

Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts has gift cards.

Dinner and a show packages at the Guthrie Theatre.

Membership to the American Swedish Institute. People go craaaaaaaazy for this place.

Gift card to one of a number of outstanding breweries or brewpubs around town, here's just one example. Lots of them have growler packages.

It sounds kinda ridiculous, but The Museum of Russian Art is exquisite. I drove by it and snickered for about a decade (well, the building is Spanish Colonial-Revival style, come on) before I went inside and now I'm a member. It's small, so easy to drop in for just an hour, and they turn over their exhibits far more often than bigger museums can.

Ooh, what about a yearlong Minnesota state park permit for hiking? There's loads of awesome state parks less than an hour's drive from the Twin Cities. We get one each year.
posted by anderjen at 2:12 PM on December 23, 2016 [3 favorites]


Nthing the parks permit! MN state parks are awesome and many are day-trippable from the TC area.
posted by ShadePlant at 3:59 PM on December 23, 2016


What about Netflix subscription? Everybody I know enjoys streaming movies and tv shows.
posted by just asking at 5:51 AM on December 24, 2016


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