Minnesota is a land frequently misunderstood. For those who get their knowledge from popular media, Minnesota appears to be a land inhabited by those wacky gals from the Mary Tyler Moore Show, except for the one corner of Minnesota populated by rock stars as glamorized by the late, lamented Prince in Purple Rain. The rest of the state? Garrison Keillor’s former Prairie Home Companion (now Chris Thile’s Live From Here) and the Coen brothers’ classic Fargo tell the rest of the story: funny accents, hats with ear flaps, church suppers, fish soaked in lye and served at Christmas dinner, a whole lot of snow, and backyard woodchippers. As usual, the truth is that the stereotyped images are somewhat true, but not the whole picture. Are there still people in small towns in Minnesota who talk like those people in Fargo? Sure. And while Mary Tyler Moore no longer throws her hat on Nicollet Mall, there is a sculpture immortalizing that very action. Prince? Still a Minnesota music icon, but far from the only one in what has become a booming local music scene.
Personally, I love these images. They do represent certain facets of Minnesota. Perhaps what they best represent is the diversity inherent in the state, where a vibrant metro area provides excellent access to the arts, pop culture, major league sports, dining, and shopping. For those who want more of an outdoor experience, the state has not 10,000 lakes, but more than 15,000, all with opportunities for swimming, fishing (year-round; ice fishing is nearly as popular as open-water fishing in summer), boating, and water sports. Campgrounds abound throughout the state, as do resorts of all types and prices, from small, rustic mom-and-pops to historic bed-and-breakfasts to hotels and resorts that represent the height of luxury.
GOOSEBERRY FALLS
THE WOOD-FIRED ROTISSERIE AT RED WING’S THE SMOKIN’ OAK
In a region where the seasons are clearly different, Minnesotans have turned each season into a reason for celebration, with each offering its own activities and festivals. If ice fishing isn’t your cuppa, perhaps a visit to St. Paul’s Winter Carnival would be more enjoyable. Or a getaway to one of Minnesota’s thousands of cabin resorts. Once there, it’s your choice: Enjoy hearty winter outdoor activities—snowshoeing or skijoring, anyone?—or curl up with a good book in front of the fireplace or woodstove and listen to the peace and quiet of a snowy day.
As a Minnesotan born and raised, I’ve lived in both environments, the urban metro and the rural far north. One of the joys of this state is in its ability to offer something for everyone to enjoy. There are visitors to Minnesota who are primarily interested in the Mall of America and base their multiple trips on that. Some visitors come into the Twin Cities from smaller towns, happy to experience the metro life for a few days, while city dwellers set out to find a small town or rural area for a change of scenery. Others use the Twin Cities as a jumping-off point for all kinds of ventures: historical sight-seeing throughout the state (including pioneer sites and villages, literary landmarks memorializing F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sinclair Lewis, a Jesse James reenactment, sobering reminders of the bloody Dakota Conflict, and a comprehensive and fun interactive history of the state at the Minnesota History Center), bike tours around the lakes of Minneapolis or along the Mississippi River to the Headwaters in northern Minnesota, foliage hunting in the fall, every imaginable outdoor activity along the North Shore, river explorations south of the metro, and rest and relaxation far from the maddening crowd.
In many national livability surveys, Minnesota tends to rank very high, and the factors that contribute to those rankings—high quality of life, diverse leisure time activities, wide variety of cultures and habitats—make Minnesota a leading choice for people of all ages, activity levels, and interests. Throughout the following chapters, I lead you through a wide variety of places to visit, from art museums to giant balls of twine to the deepest recesses of nature to the SPAM Museum. It’s all here, and it’s yours to pick and choose. This guide will help you learn what the options are and what some of the best choices are in terms of types of attraction, lodging, and dining. There are options of all types: deluxe hotels and resorts, small family-owned cabins, bed-and-breakfasts; five-star dining, small-town cafés, and quirky little restaurants with just about every cuisine imaginable. Minnesota may be known for its Scandinavian heritage, but the current state residents come from all over the world, with growing Somali, Asian, and Hispanic populations, which have served to greatly improve the state’s dining experiences. Shopping? The possibilities are nearly endless, from the massive Mall of America to the chic Galleria, to the antiques stores in Stillwater to the artist’s galleries in Grand Marais. The brewery scene exploded in recent years, and the distilleries weren’t far behind. It could take months to see and experience everything Minnesota has to offer, but with this guide, you can plan for the time you have available, maximizing whatever experience you want to have—active or relaxed, urban or rural.
HOUSEBOAT IN WINONA
LAKE KABETOGAMA
As I mentioned, I grew up and have lived in this state most of my life. But while traveling its highways and byways doing research for the third edition of this book, I still found countless things that were new to me and learned that there’s more out there to discover. It sounds corny, but I came away from writing this book with a sense that Minnesota is, indeed, a highly worthwhile place to visit, and one of the best things about it is how many different interests can be accommodated in one way or another. Besides that, the pride many Minnesotans take in their hometowns can be very infectious; stop in any of the small regional historic museums listed in this guidebook, and you are likely to meet people who are enthusiastic and well versed in their area’s history, and they might very well have some interesting and little-known stories to share with you. Friendliness and helpfulness are in full supply; it’s hard to beat the graciousness offered by lakeside resort owners and bed-and-breakfast proprietors.
Minnesota is part of what’s often referred to as “flyover land.” For those not familiar with the term flyover land, it’s a derogatory term implying that only destinations on the East or West Coast are worth visiting. I hope this book will convince you otherwise, and that you will follow me on Instagram (@writerrea), where I continue to cover my travels and discoveries around the state.