What to do in Minneapolis?

Going to Minneapolis for a baseball game. Will have about half a day Saturday, all day Sunday and Monday to find something to do. Ideas?

Purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka.

In reply to Will :

Mall of america (Bloomington)

Minnehaha falls (Minneapolis)

Valley fair (amusement park in Shakopee)

Fogo de Chao or bullvinos (Brazilian steak houses)

Science museum (st Paul)

Top golf (Brooklyn center)

The burrow (Oakdale) or punch bowl social (st Louis Park)

Canterbury Park (Shakopee)

State Fair (if you're here end of August)

Minnesota zoo (apple valley)

Twin cities premium outlets mall (Eagan)

Casinos w/in an hours drive

What kinds of food/food places?

Our hose shop was in Rogers, MN and they built a new Cabela's down the street.  When out of town customers came to visit we'd run there for lunch and most enjoyed the animals, aquarium and a carnival style shooting range. 

They also have a rare/used gun room to look at some sweet pieces.  Today I'm not sure if it's still a great place to visit.  

Matt's bar. Jucy Lucy. Bring cash.(they do not take cards) The staff will hate you, the burger is legendary. Drink a Grain Belt or a Schells. 

Check out a local brewery- I'm partial to St. Paul Brewing- I used to work there. I'd avoid Surly, Omar is kind of a scumbag. 

Como Zoo is free and probably not super busy because it's before Memorial Day. The Conservatory next door has a bunch of cool plants. I don't remember if that's free.

You could worship at the altar of consumerism and go to the Mall of America.

Minnehaha Falls is pretty and free- save parking. It should be flowing pretty good. Tons of neat history stuff there.

if you drive past 3925 41st ave S- you can see the house I grew up in. I will not be there.

If you want to see possibly the coolest theater on earth- see what's playing at the Riverview on the corner of Hiawatha and...I forget. I used to walk there from said childhood home with whatever pocket change i had to see movies regularly. The popcorn will take years off your life and you will like it. It's good enough it kept them solvent through COVID. 

Boludo for pizza

surly for beer. 

If you like to explore different types of ethnic food, do a search for Eat Street Minneapolis.  It's a stretch of Nicollet Avenue going from downtown south to Lake Street; there are dozens of little restaurants with food from just about any country you can think of and some you can't.  I'm about two blocks away from there, my favorites are Rainbow Restaurant (Chinese) the Black Forest Inn (German), and Christos (Greek.)

The Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Art are good museums. as is the Minnesota History Center in downtown St. Paul (they have an interesting exhibit running now on Charles Schulz and the Peanuts comic strip.)  The Bell Museum of Natural History on the University of Minnesota St. Paul Campus is in a fabulous new building and has some cool stuff.  The Guthrie Theater is nationally known for plays, I'm not sure what they have going on right now but you can google it if you're interested (it's a cool building to look at if you just want to drive by.

There's plenty of live music venues around Minneapolis and St. Paul.  Of course there's First Avenue of Purple Rain fame, another good one is Icehouse.  I don't get out to those kinds of places much anymore so I'm not up on what bands are playing where at the moment but you can find that kind of info with a search on 'Minneapolis live music'. Also, I think they're running tours now of Prince's Paisley Park recording studio out in Chanhassen, if you're interested in his music.

If you're staying downtown, go for a walk across the Stone Arch Bridge to get a great view of the Mississippi and St. Anthony Falls.  There are parks at each end, the Mill Ruins Park is interesting for the flour mill history of Minneapolis.  The weather is supposed to be in the 60s this weekend so it should be a pleasant time of year to be outside.

There's not much automotive going on this time of year.  We do have a Ferrari dealership now, so you could go there and see if they'll let you take one out for a test drive.  

edit: I forgot, the Minneapolis Auto Show is going on right now at the convention center in downtown Minneapoilis.  You'll have a chance to check out all the new cars, plus a number of classics on display.

In reply to stuart in mn :

Did Morries finally get a Ferrari franchise? I know they'd been trying out of that Minnetonka location for YEARS. 

In reply to Mndsm :

The Ferrari dealer is on the south side of Wayzata Blvd/I-394 out by Hwy 169.  It was part of the Carousel Motor Group (Porsche, BMW as well as a number of other brands) that was owned by the Pohlads.  In January they sold all their dealerships to Lithia Motors, a large dealership business based in Oregon.

Morries does have an Aston Martin / Bentley / Maserati dealer on Wayzata Blvd now.

Appleseed said:

Purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka.

I know I'm a few days late, but I feel like everyone missed this fantastic reference. 

And being a big stand up comedy fan, a lot comedians say Minneapolis is a great city for stand up. 

Came here to make sure that the Jucy Lucy was mentioned. Easily in my top 5 burgers of all time. Maybe top 2. 

mtn said:

Came here to make sure that the Jucy Lucy was mentioned. Easily in my top 5 burgers of all time. Maybe top 2. 

I should ALSO mention that anyone that says the 5-8 club is better is a berkeleying liar and a heretic and should be burned at the stake. Cleaner? Yeah. Less stabby? Sure. The Nook? Nicer cheese. But the ORIGINAL AND THE BEST? There can be only one. 

mtn said:

Came here to make sure that the Jucy Lucy was mentioned. Easily in my top 5 burgers of all time. Maybe top 2. 

And you spelled it correctly, too.  The ambiance of the place enhances the experience, I think...a narrow old neighborhood dive bar, with the burgers cooking on an ancient griddle behind the bar, and a row of booths with cracked red vinyl upholstery.  A warning for any first timers - be careful with the first bite, or melted cheese will run down your arm like molten lava.

In reply to stuart in mn :

SHHHHHHH you weren't supposed to tell em. Watching em do it is half the fun!