Fellow Minnesotans, I need your help!

[weiv0004]

Hey folks, I've got a lady friend from California coming in for a visit over the labor day weekend, she wants to see all the "exciting" things in Minnesota . . . and I'm kind of at a loss.

I'm planning on taking her to the state fair, if she wants to check it out.

I love minnehaha park/falls, so I'm going to bring her there.

Maybe the Mall of America, but she's not really a very 'mall' kind of girl, much more into 'natural beauty'.

I was born here and I've lived her for 25 years, but now I'm stumped! I need help!
Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[LS21]

Purify her in the waters of lake minnetonka

 

[KillerCharlie]

up north

 

[spaceghost21]

Originally posted by: KillerCharlie
up north

This. Lutsen and Grand Marais are both great places for 'natural beauty', although I'm not sure how difficult it would be to find accommodations this close to the date, and that is a long drive.

Also:

http://www.takebacklaborday.com/images/hero.jpg

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/252/9587553.jpg

 

[wetcat007]

Could go boating/fishing.. Maybe water skiing? Assuming you have a boat I guess. Lake Minnetonka? lol I've lived here almost all my life I can't think of any touristy "exciting" things to do though.

 

[Soccerman06]

Valley Fair is always fun if she is into that kinda thing, otherwise its pretty much clubbing and a few outdoorsy things once you get out of the cities.

 

[CKent]

I know a guy that lives in MN. I constantly give him shit about living in the middle of nowhere, and he has no comeback, he admits it & hates it. He even named one of his computers "Bumfuck", aka. middle of nowhere.

Bonus points: Like your lady friend, he's originally from CA. She's going to be disappointed :laugh:

 

[Auryg]

Yeah, I'd say your best bet is up north. Plenty of natural things to see up there, plus it'd be pretty different from California's landscape.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Here's something to do. Park somewhere between lakes Calhoun and Harriet. Walk up the hill to Lake Harriet and take a right at the bandshell there. Keep going along until you come across a railroad crossing. There's an old streetcar line there. You can ride a 100-year-old trolley on this short section of track and back for $2, or you can get a day pass for $5. And of course that also puts you right by the lakes which makes for a nice walk - very pretty, if a bit crowded. If you go in the evening, there's often a free concert at the bandshell, though the music there usually isn't great.

Another place to see would be Minnehaha Falls. Again, lots of walking paths and stuff. Unfortunately it's probably pretty dry right now because we haven't had enough rain.

Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis might be fun too. Like the others, it sort of requires nice weather to be worth it.

 

[KillerCharlie]

Originally posted by: CKent
I know a guy that lives in MN. I constantly give him shit about living in the middle of nowhere, and he has no comeback, he admits it & hates it. He even named one of his computers "Bumfuck", aka. middle of nowhere.

Bonus points: Like your lady friend, he's originally from CA. She's going to be disappointed :laugh:

The northern part of the state is awesome. The boundary waters are extremely serene, more than any place I've been to on the West coast.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Yeah, I realized after I posted my shit that it's all pretty boring stuff.

The best option is to go up north and see Lake Superior and/or the Boundary Waters. Both really cool places.

 

[Lothar1974]

There are plenty of things to do here. Walker Arts Center, St. Croix Valley Nature Center, Minneapolis Institute of Arts , Ordway Center & etc. TheNorth Shore is a great place to go. There are hundreds of places to go hiking near the cities.

 

[ViviTheMage]

something a little closer is red wing...few caves down there, and that huuuuge thing in red wing that used to be a pottery oven....it is also a big mountain where people rock climb....I forgot the word of it -_-

 

[Genx87]

The northshore or even take her upto the Brainerd lakes area. I'd think coming from Cali going to a mall would bore her. The true beauty of MN is outside the Twin Cities and up north in lake country.

 

[Paperdoc]

Take a quick check - some weekend in August there's a Medieval Festival of some kind just past Valley Fair. It's great fun if it just happens to be now.

 

[funkymatt]

what about going to the dells? would she like the endless activities there?

 

[compman25]

Tell her to fly into N Dakota, she'll then think Minnesota is the greatest!

 

[GoPackGo]

State Fair
Ren Fest

 

[multiband8303]

Downtown, warehouse district nightlife, go to Spin, or Bellanottes.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: funkymatt
what about going to the dells? would she like the endless activities there?

Bleh...the Dells are such a trashy tourist trap. The cliffs and rivers are cool and all (so the duck boat tour is decent in that respect), but not worth the drive.

I agree with others, go north. Lake Superior is very scenic (though it'd be so much better in October during the fall colors)

 

[BoberFett]

Gooseberry Falls isn't too far north of Duluth, and is a really pretty area.

 

[monk3y]

*Link*

I was only in Minneapolis for a day but we spent most of the day at Nicollet mall (an outdoor mall downtown), a sculpture garden near downtown, and the mall of america.

 

[grimlykindo]

How is Minnesota in the middle of nowhere? Minneapolis and St Paul are both pretty big. I live about 20 minutes west of downtown Minneapolis and there is TONS of stuff to do.

 

[GDaddy]

Rent a boat and cruise down the St Croix or Lake Minnetonka, better yet, find a friend with a cabin up north

 

[bobcpg]

Duluth is great for outdoorsy people. Really she is coming from the "arm pit of America" state, so you cant go wrong.

You could go tubing down a river - Cannon River is nice. This is good if its warm out and if she is hot/hot.