Minnesota Travel

After I traveled to Minnesota, I found myself surprised at how I had underestimated the number of things to do here and places to explore. The state is home of the twin cities which are one of America's largest metropolitan areas, the largest freshwater lake in the world, and plenty of wilderness in the north to explore. Sometimes called America's icebox, Minnesota stands out as the coldest state in the continental US. Fortunately though, once spring and summer roll around the temperatures quickly get up in the 70s and 80s and open the door for water sports in the great lakes, outdoor activities in superior national forest, and perfect weather for exploring the twin cities.

Minnesota Links
	Minnesota's famous twin cities are made up of St. Paul and Minneapolis which sit only miles apart. St. Paul takes the honor of being the capital and has a population of about 300,000 people. Above is a photo of St. Paul as you enter it by crossing the Mississippi river. Below is the state capitol building on the left and the large cathedral on the right is the recently named National Shrine of the Apostle Paul. It was given this status by the Vatican in 2009.


These four surrounding pictures were taken randomly from parts of the St. Paul. Above is an upscale hotel with two photos below of the downtown area. The guys on the upper right must have been part of some type of city segway tour, something I will never participate in.


One of St. Paul's most interesting places to visit are the Wabasha street caves. I'm not sure why but when I went they were closed, so I could only take a picture of the outside. These street caves are rooms carved out of a nearby hill and was once home to various gangs and famous mobsters that lived in the twin cities. The street caves also once where popular night clubs and bars but now are just preserved..

St Paul's twin is the more famous city of Minneapolis. Both of the twin cities have lots to do, but if I was forced to only be able to visit one then Minneapolis would be my pick. Above is a photo of the city skyline during sunset. There are much more impressive views of the city skyline but I didn't seem to be able to find one on this trip! Below are the ruins of a mill along the Mississippi river. The city itself has its roots tied to Saint Anthony's falls which is where the mill below was built. These falls are the highest along the entire Mississippi river and the mills helped support settlers in the area. Today the ruins of several flour mills lay abandoned with some trails and scenic hikes passing by them.

Close to the mill ruins is the new I-35W Bridge. The original bridge collapsed on August 1st 2007 during rush hour and sent 13 people to their deaths while injuring another 145. This new bridge was finished in 2008 and though it looks simple it has several high tech sensors built the structure that give engineers feedback on stress levels and other readings.

All big cities in America have their own major league sports teams. Minneapolis is home to the Minnesota Vikings, with their stadium on the left. On the right is a photo of a crowd of people leaving a sporting event on the other side of town.

If you prefer performing arts to sports, then the newly built Guthrie Theater should satisfy your needs. The theater has existed in Minneapolis for decades, but was rebuilt in 2006 at a cost of $125 million. The theater has won several awards and recognitions both for its shows and the architectural design. The other photo on the right is from a bar I visited with a local who I was friends with in the Marines.


	I was surprised Minneapolis was named one of America's most biker friendly cities.. There are plenty of biking lanes along the major streets or biking trails along jogging trails throughout the city. An easy way to visit the city is simply rent a bike and explore it on your own, you'll definitely not have to worry about traffic or parking!
	If you're into burgers like myself, then you can't visit Minneapolis without trying a Jucy Lucy. A jucy lucy is simply a regular hamburger but instead of the cheese being put onto of the meat it's actually cooked within the patty, sometimes making the cheese dangerously hot. It's a popular burger in the city, and there are two restaurants that actually fight for the honor of being the first to serve the burger. Most seem to agree Matt's bar created it, but I went to the 5 to 8 club since Matt's bar was closed. From my understanding, Matt's bar is more humble about the ordeal, but the 5 to 8 club proudly displays a large banner claiming to be the home of the jucy lucy.

One of Minneapolis's most famous places is the Mall of America, sometimes called the Mega Mall. By the number of stores, this is the largest mall in the United States and the second largest on the continent. I visited in the summer, but I imagine this is a popular place to hang out on a subzero winter day. The two photos above show some of the different sections of the mall, which each have different themes.
Beyond the normal shopping and food courts that all malls have, the Mall of America has several events and unique attractions inside. Above was some type of medieval festival with some dancers, on the right is a giant lego land that they built.

The most unique place inside the mall is the Nickelodeon Universe theme park. This theme park covers a total of 7 acres and has everything from cotton candy to roller coasters. It had a fair amount of people when I visited on a Sunday so was no ghost town. There are plenty of other cool places to visit within the mall, I actually somehow missed the giant underground aquarium where you can even go scuba diving!

The twin cities were founded in the mid 1850s, but before they existed the first settlers survived by staying in Fort Snelling which was established in 1819. One of the earlier forts built in what is now the state of Minnesota, Fort Snelling's original purpose was to defend the land from the British, who the US had just fought recently in the war of 1812. Other goals of the fort were to protect American farmers and travelers in the area and even try to keep the two native American tribes the Dakotas and the Ojibwe tribes from fighting. Above are two photos of the fort, the left is one of the fortified corners of Fort Snelling, the upper right is the courtyard with several original buildings.
The fort is an interesting visit since volunteers dress up and perform duties such as military drill, raising and lower the flag, and even some working blacksmiths.

These two above photos are from Fort Snelling as well. The left is an example of some of the items that would have been kept in storage, on the right is the fire from the blacksmith shop, where they showed what was done to make iron nails. These ovens can reach 1,000 degrees!

After the twin cities, the next best city to visit in Duluth, located northeast of the capital and along Lake Superior. Duluth was bigger than I expected, with plenty of large businesses and high rise buildings here. Below are some photos along their Superior street. Duluth is the third largest city in Minnesota with about 85,000 people.


I figured the building on the left was some type of courthouse or government related building, but instead I found out it's just a gigantic high school! The right photo is of a small neighborhood in Duluth, the house in the middle might even be condemned.

Duluth is a port city along the great lakes. The lake walk is an excellent place to get out and enjoy the weather on a nice day. Above are pictures of the boardwalk on the right, and an old and historic restaurant and hotel on the left known as Fitgers.
Two statues I came along during the lake walk were of Jay Cooke and Leif Erikson. Jay Cooke was a wealthy pioneer from the mid west, and he fell in love with Duluth Minnesota and is largely credited for investing in the city which made it grow to alarge port. I found the Leif Erikson statue a bit more interesting. Leif was a viking who lived around 1000A.D and is seen as the first European to discover North America. This is the first statue I've ever seen of Leif Erikson since Christopher Columbus usually gets most of the attention since his rediscovery of the continent led to permanent European colonies.

There are several other shops, stores, and restaurants along the lake walk. Above is a small malt shop and the Leif Erikson garden where his statue is of course located. Below are two more photos along a small beach area of the lake. The water is always cold, but in July it gets warm enough for people to swim, though I didn't go in myself or see a lot of people in the water.


Two last photos from Duluth, a large sail boat passing by on the left and some kids that I actually saw swimming. The large ship on the left was part of a race involving several tall ships that travel from city to city in the great lakes. I just happened to be here on the day it arrived, but it was expected to bring more people than ever to Duluth to watch the ships pull into the harbor.

Outside of the twin cities and Duluth, there are a few other cities in the state, but mostly you'll either find wilderness or farmland. Several hours southeast of the twin cities in Pipestone National monument. It takes up a very small area, but this was one of the most sacred places to Native Americans for several hundred years. Explorer Nicollet visited this area in the 19th century after learning about how Native Americans from various tribes all traveled to the red rocks to make their peace pipes. The land here was neutral ground were differences between tribes were set aside and Native American's could come in peace. Above is his name that he had carved into the stone.

The highlight of Pipestone National monument was the small waterfall towards the end of the trail. It was a nice hot day so the mist from the waterfall felt great. I thought i saw some fish jumping at the bottom of the falls so I took a few pictures and captured this guy on the right.

Slightly past the falls, you'll come across an outcrop of the red rock that was once sacred to the Native Americans. The visitor center has some peace pipes that are still built by local natives and are for sale as souvenirs if you'd like to take one home.

When it comes to nature, Minnesota is known for the land of a thousand lakes. Inland, there are thousands of lakes and small ponds throught out the state, especially in the north. Above are two photos are some small ponds I came across, the one on the left is filled with lily pads while the one on the right is covered in duck weed. I found a lot of frogs along the banks of both of these ponds.
Northern Minnesota is one of the most remote places I've ever traveled to in the United States. Most of it is part of Superior National Forest, and on the border of Canada there is Voyageurs National Park. The left picture is of some of the white birch trees found in high latitudes in United States, on the right is a red sparrow.

The chipmunk on the left is a common animal throughout the states, I have one from several states on my site, it probably lives in all 50 states. I had assumed the bird on the upper right was a prairie chicken, but in fact it is a grouse (Thanks Chase!). Different species of grouse live within North America and are often hunted as game animals. This one appears to specifically be a ruffed grouse.

	By far my highlight to Minnesota was visiting the black bear sanctuary in Superior Forest. Several decades ago a local man feed the local bears to keep them from ransacking through his cabins out inthe middle of the woods. His tradition was picked up by some locals who created the sanctuary and give food to the wild bears. They are free to come and go as they please, but with a guaranteed supply of food there are always at least a dozen within the sanctuary. Black bears, moose, elk and even wolves are all native animals to Minnesota.

Chase from USA: The article is very well put together and shows a good portion of the states attractions, I would like to make one correction though, what you had thought is a Prairie Chicken in fact is a Grouse. It is a Wild game bird in Minnesota and is not found in many other states, mainly Minnesota, parts of Wisconsin and Canada.

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Minnesota Travel

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