Sunday, July 6, 2008

Thoroughly Modern Minneapolis


More time has passed than I intended. I fear I am lapsing back into the oh-so-terrible state of being a writer and failing to keep up my own blog! Yikes! To my credit, however, in the time that has lapsed between this post about Minneapolis and the post about her sister, St. Paul, I actually had the good fortune to travel to said Minneapolis for a quick weekend.



Shamelessly, one of the things I most miss about living in the Twin Cities is the abundance of Super Target. Sadly, I have yet to see a Super Target in Southern California. Oh, how I miss those aisles upon aisles of affordable stuff that I generally do not need at all. I feel about Super Target as I do about Google. It has everything I need in one place. In Super Target I can buy my groceries, my toiletries, that new DVD I've been wanting, and a Mother's Day present. All in one trip. All in one cart. Astounding!


There are, of course, other wonderful things about the city of Minneapolis. Where St. Paul is more classy, ritzy, old-school, Minneapolis is urban, trendy, artsy, modern. There are tons of art museums in Minneapolis, and I wish I had taken the opportunity to visit more of them while I was there.

One of the signatures of the city of Minneapolis is the giant cherry on a spoon, found in the Sculpture Garden near the Walker Art Center. I'm not sure what the significance is of the giant cherry on a spoon...but it sure is whimsical and fun to look at it. Also provides a great spot for a photo shoot!




And just up the road from the Sculpture Garden is one my personal favorite places in Minneapolis. Uptown. Uptown is awesome. Anything a person could want in food, shopping, entertainment, and leisure can be found in Uptown. It's definitely a hot spot for the nightlife, and Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles see plenty of people during the day, fishing, biking, jogging, canoeing, and walking.



Yes, I love me some Uptown. It's a great part of the city with a personality all its own. So if you're ever in the area, check out some of these awesome places!











































One last great thing about Minneapolis: Holidazzle. First off, it's at Christmastime, which in and of itself is wonderful and makes you feel all warm and toasty inside. This is why Holidazzle is always fun, even if it's only fifteen degrees out. All those warm fuzzies will give you all the warmth you need for just one frigid night.


Every year the downtown Macy's on Nicollet Mall decorates the entire eighth floor of the store in a wonderful, Disney-esque themed walk through. One year it was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Another year it was The Nutcracker. It's amazing, and totally worth the looong line to get in. Macy's also sponsors the Holidazzle Parade, which runs every weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's a wonderful conglomeration of a million lights and storybook characters brought to life.