Whirlwind Twin Cities Suggestions?

August 16, 2023 9:18 AM

I'm headed to the Twin Cities for a long weekend soon with my 11 year old, my one year old, and my parents. We don't have much time, and we want to fill it with fun stuff!

We'll be arriving late on a Friday and leaving Monday morning, and are dedicating one whole day to the Minnesota State Fair. It's not our first trip to the city, but our first with the kids. We definitely plan to hit up Birchbark Books and Native Roots but we're looking for other things to fill our time. The tween is interested in shopping and loves small boutiques with interesting accessories, stickers, postcards/artwork, jewelry, stuff like that. The baby would love to see some animals, probably fish and other watery things specifically, and we're trying to figure out the best choice between the Mall of America aquarium vs. Como Zoo vs. Minnesota Zoo. The adults are interested in interesting food, cool breweries, and general "can't miss" kinds of spots. We will have a car, not sure where we're staying yet but happy to drive within reason.

posted by cheese to Travel & Transportation around Minneapolis, MN (14 answers total)

The Minnesota Zoo is pretty far so I would lean towards Como Zoo. The State Fair will also have lots of farm animals to see up close. The Children's Museum in St. Paul would be great for 11 and 1 year olds, as is the Science Museum. For areas with cool shops/restaurants you might try Uptown in Minneapolis or Grand avenue in St. Paul. Other things to try are the a picnic at the Sculpture garden or wading at the park below Minnehaha falls.
posted by being_quiet at 9:42 AM on August 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

skip the MOA aquarium
The MN Zoo has more aquatic animals in general, including sharks. It is only a ten-minute drive from the Mall of America, so not that far. Como has seal(s) and a lot of smaller fish, plus it is free so you don't feel like you have to get your money's worth. It is a smaller footprint than the MN Zoo, too.
Since you are already dedicating an entire day to the fair (good choice), you might only have time for Como, so either choice is good. At the fair, you should check out the creative arts building where they have a lot of arts and crafts.
posted by soelo at 10:00 AM on August 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Uptown really isn't what it was - I'd take a look at exactly what's available on Grand versus what's in Uptown now (look at the Calhoun Mall website before going - it was pretty emptied out last I checked). If Uptown sounds like it has a couple of ultra-fun spots to shop, that would be reasonable (and be sure to go to Magers and Quinn, probably the best all-purpose bookstore in the Twin Cities) but it is not nearly as fun a place to stroll and shop as it was five or ten years ago. A lot of stuff closed in the pandemic, and even before that gentrification had driven out many of the smaller places.

To be totally honest, the last couple of times I've been over there, the Lake Street end at least felt pretty bleak.

To me a really can't-miss kind of spot is Teahouse Chinese Restaurant, especially their Sunday brunch buffet, which has a lot of great dumplings and homestyle dishes. If you make a reservation for dinner you might even be able to get one of the little sequestered booths, which are fun for kids.

If the kids like books at all, you might want to check out A Wild Rumpus, which is a bookstore with animals. There's not so much there for adults who only like to look at books for adults, but if you have fun browsing kids' stuff or looking for old childhood favorites, it's pretty neat. There's a craft store, a toy store and the extremely expensive boutique LaRue's there as well, plus some places for snacks. (And an earthy crunchy wealth management company, I see , if you want something else to tell you what kind of neighborhood it is.)
posted by Frowner at 10:11 AM on August 16, 2023 [5 favorites]

I don't think I would recommend the Como Zoo during fair time. They are very close together which you would think would be a bonus, but unless you're going to do both in the same day (which would be a lot of activity), you're going to sit in fair traffic for ages to get to the zoo, even more so on a weekend. MN Zoo is an easy drive and has a much better (and more interactive) exhibit for aquatic life anyway.
posted by anderjen at 10:14 AM on August 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Good point, parking at Como might be a headache, too.

Speaking of that, how are you planning to get to the fair?
posted by soelo at 10:21 AM on August 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Seconding that you skip Uptown, it's pretty much dead. Linden Hills in Minneapolis, specifically the area around West 43 Street and Upton Avenue South, probably has more of what you're looking for:

-Wild Rumpus Bookstore specializes in books for kids and young adults but also has gifts, toys, and most importantly a menagerie of animals. The last time I was there they also had a small but decent selection of books for adults.
-Pinwheels and Play Toys is packed with fun stuff for all ages.
-Sebastian Joe's Ice Cream
-2 or 3 miscellaneous small boutiques
-Good restaurants
-A small, walkable neighborhood a few blocks from Lake Harriet, where you can also ride the Como-Harriet Streetcar Line.
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 10:47 AM on August 16, 2023 [5 favorites]

Experience going to the Fair last year on a weekend: all the park-and-rides with shuttle buses filled up very, very early. The only one we were able to get into was at the University (Number 11 on this year's map). A couple of the big parking ramps were open with the gates up, and those had a decent amount of free parking available. It seemed like they were running frequent buses from there to keep up with demand, too.

But all the usual church parking lots--and the Metro Transit park-and-ride ramp on Cleveland Avenue--were packed solid. If you can't avoid weekends, good plan is to go as early as you can, maybe even start in the very early morning, like 7, then eat breakfast at the fair. If you run into full lots like I did last year, try the U area.

(I miss the old Unisys lot park-and-ride, it was part of my "fair tradition" for many years, until they redeveloped that parcel.)
posted by gimonca at 11:37 AM on August 16, 2023

Try Can Can Wonderland for REALLY old school arcade games and great mini golf. Our 10 and 7 year olds loved it on our last vacation there.
posted by evadery at 12:24 PM on August 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

Seconding Can Can Wonderland - that's a really Minneapolis experience, founded (though not currently owned) by some really neat local arts types.
posted by Frowner at 12:32 PM on August 16, 2023

Those free park & ride locations do fill up fast. There are also paid options that cost $6 for a round trip ticket and have busses running all day. If you end up staying close to the fair, you can rideshare there or take the regular bus routes that pass the fairgrounds. You will want something available to shade the baby from the sun in case you end up waiting somewhere for a long time. Most stops have shelters but the fill up with the first few people in line.
posted by soelo at 12:47 PM on August 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

After a day at the fair, you might be animaled out. You might also be beered out, since some of the most creative beers from local breweries come out for the fair.

If you wanted to see fish, skip the MOA and go to the Minnesota Zoo. Their reef tanks are stunning, and it's a much better experience. It is a bit dark in there, but that's the case at MOA too.

For local breweries to take the kids to, I'm partial to Pryes on a nice weather day. Lots of outdoor space, great beers, and the food is very good. I also love Urban Growler for similar reasons.

I like the 43rd and Upton plan, but you could also do Grand Ave in St. Paul, with Red Balloon Bookshop, Mischief Toys, Cafe Latte, Punch Pizza, and Grand Ole Creamery. Hop back in the car and grab a patio table at the Gnome.
posted by advicepig at 2:56 PM on August 16, 2023 [2 favorites]

Nthing Wild Rumpus; your kids will love it. Try the Midtown Market/Indigenous Food Lab. Consider going very late (after dark) to the Fair -- less crowded, more magical. Go see the 4-H kids sleeping on their prize cows in the animal barns. At the fair, the Mouth Trap cheesecurds in the Food Building are the best ones; wash them down with 1919 rootbeer.
posted by shadygrove at 8:48 PM on August 16, 2023

In re Midtown: check their online schedule. I had a very noise-sensitive family member visiting, we forgot to do this and discovered that there was a (really pretty neat) drum event there over the lunch hour. We got takeout, but that might be harder while visiting from out of town. Midtown has regular music events in the middle of the main food hall and it gets pretty loud - but OTOH, maybe there is a super cool music event right when you are able to visit!

Another thing about Midtown - to first-time visitors, it can seem a little bit tricky to find your way around and feel like you've seen all the stuff. If you really want to pick different things for lunch, you should take the time to walk around a little, maybe a lot, and with kids I imagine this means making sure that everyone is not too hungry/tired/etc when starting out. Also the Midtown website is not always accurate about what's there and open.

This sounds like I'm being difficult, but I actually go there a lot (for the post-pandemic variant of 'a lot'). It's a terrific space, very characteristic, but if you have a noise-sensitive family member or someone who gets stressed out easily or a tired kid along, a little forward planning is in order.
posted by Frowner at 5:42 AM on August 17, 2023

Your kids are possible too old/young for this, but we just visited for a weekend and enjoyed the Disney Immersive Experience.
posted by notjustthefish at 1:27 PM on August 17, 2023