Most of my Minnesota adventures have been relegated to the cities. I started in Duluth, home to the country's largest inland port. The aforementioned Mr. Dylan grew up near here. I didn't do much in Duluth, honestly. My hotel had a revolving restaurant. I tried to eat to there since I've always been intrigued by spinning eateries but I felt pretty damn sick immediately, so I got the food to go. Didn't do much else in Duluth. I went to a depressing casino, but that's about all. My Duluthian friend Kristen assures me that it's a wonderful place, but I remain skeptical.
Minneapolis on the other hand was a very welcome surprise. It's a pretty Cosmopolitan place overall. Some solid music stores and great scenery to boot. On the food front it's a bit suspect. I give them credit for at least having lots of ethnic food. But the problem is they need more ethnic people. I know Minneapolis has some diversity but not too many Asians judging by the Thai and Japanese food I ate. At the Thai place, the white waiter asked me how much MSG I wanted on my food. Then at this sushi joint I had something called a 7-spice Dragon Roll, which was really just a Dragon Roll with Old Bay seasoning poured on top of it. Yum!
Let's be more positive. Minneapolis has a great sculpture garden that features a gigantic spoon with a cherry on it. The garden also had a 9-hole mini golf course, with each hole designed by a different artist. The course was closed the day I was there but I got to at least see it and imagine what it would be like to play. Don't underestimate imagination!
The other twin city, St. Paul is pretty shit though. There's really next to nothing there other than a statehouse. It's a sizable city in its own right but it has very little to do.
Minnesota also boasts the thrilling Mall-Of-America. As someone who grew up with one of the nation's largest malls (King of Prussia), I can say with authority that the MOA is a beast. Much has been made about the Amusement Park inside the mall, but equally impressive is the full aquarium. Then there's tons of other fun around the mall. It truly is an Americana treasure.
I'd like to go back to Minnesota one day to check out Voyageurs National Park and a few of the 10,000 lakes (Actually I saw some lakes in Minneapolis. They have some great parks built around a couple of the lakes).
Now if everyone can get out their Prince tambourines and sing along with me... Purple Rain, Purple Raiiiiin!
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