Minnesota: We Love the Smell of Commerce in the Morning

Doesn’t everyone go to the upper ​Midwest when a polar vortex blows through? We didn’t plan for this to happen, but that is the risk you take when adventuring to Minnesota in the middle of December!

This trip was a long time in the making, about 4 years to be exact! My favorite job of all time was Build-A-Bear Workshop. I worked there for over 5 years and created some pretty amazing friendships. One of those really amazing friendships was with my former manager, who was promoted (because she is super awesome) and sent to the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota! She has been dying to get Barry and I to come visit her and when we found some really cheap flights this December, we knew we had to take advantage and brave the cold Minnesota winter to visit!

About a week before we were set to leave, we heard that the polar vortex was sweeping in and that the projected temperature for when we landed was going to be about -9! Talk about cold. I immediately start panicking because I have zero frame of reference for how cold that actually is, and thus had no idea what to pack to prepare for said cold. I feel like I built it up so much in my mind, that when we actually did land, it wasn’t as cold as I was building it up in my mind. Which was definitely a good thing!

Our first full day was spent exploring some amazing spots around the Minneapolis area. We were so fortunate to be spending the day with someone who could show us all the awesome spot we would have never thought of on our own!

Our first stop was Minnehaha falls. Even though the falls were almost completely frozen over (the temperature that day was about -18 degrees Fahrenheit!) they were absolutely beautiful!

There is something about the wonders of nature covered in snow!

After the falls we went to the 5-8 Club to try one of Minneapolis’ famous Juicy Lucy burgers!

Supposedly, the 5-8 club was originally a speakeasy active during the height of prohibition. It even had a secret garage in the basement meant to hide cars when smuggling hooch into the building! The 5-8 Club also self-proclaims to be the originators of the Juicy Lucy burger and for those who were unaware like we were, a Juicy Lucy is a burger stuffed with molten - but delicious - cheese. I mean, just look at cascade of cheese!

You can get all kinds of different types of Juicy Lucy burgers, but we went with the classic. We were warned several times to let it cool or else the cascade of lava-like cheese might burn our poor taste buds, so we noshed on some of the best onion rings I’ve ever had in my life while we waiting for the delectable burger to cool.

After lunch, we braved the cold again and took a brisk (very very brisk) walk on the Stone Arch Bridge that stretches across the Mississippi River! This was especially cool for us since this past summer we got to see the Mississippi River from a river boat in New Orleans. Talk about a different perspective!

After the Stone Arch Bridge, we drove around some lakes which were absolutely beautiful! Our favorite was Lake Harriet, which had these beautiful huge interesting homes all around it. They were all decorated for the holidays, so it was nice to see the houses looking so festive! We were a little too busy admiring the lake views to take any pictures, though! so here are some random pictures from our adventures!

For early dinner, our wonderful tour guide took us to a restaurant called Cowboy Jacks, which is a casual dining restaurant with the coziest, laid back vibe ever.

Everything is wood and is less “country bumpkin” and more “mountain lodge” in feel. Something we learned about Minnesota is that they love free popcorn! It felt like all the restaurants we went to had a free popcorn machine. It was rad. They’re also really into those pull-tab lottery tickets that you usually get at state fairs! We tried our hand at some. Mine had pigs dressed in silly costumes and Barry's was hockey themed. Neither of us won.

Our great Minnesota tour ended at the mall. Not THAT mall, not the mall you're thinking of, anyway. THAT mall we were going to dedicate the following two days to. The mall I'm speaking of was in one of our favorite movies of all time: Mallrats! We are self-proclaimed mall rats by nature, so we knew we had to check it out. And even though it was recently renovated and didn't look anything like the movie, it was still cool to walk around and know we were at least in the same building!

As I said before, the following two days were dedicated to The Mall of America. It was so cold and snowed about 8 inches during our trip, which was definitely a good thing as it helped the crowds at the mall and allowed us to spend all our time indoors without feeling too guilty about it.

The mall is 4 floors of pure American consumerism (although- fun fact: The Mall of America is owned by a Canadian business!). You name it, the mall has it! To be honest, we were a little underwhelmed by the size of the mall. In your head you think it's going to be so huge, and trust me- it is. But as our friend reasoned, we’re from the east coast where larger malls tend to be more common. Even so, it still took us about 3 hours to get through the ground floor of the mall!

We got Tim Hortons for breakfast both days (I wanted to wait til we went to Canada to go to a Timmy Hortons, but we figured it was close enough).

We discovered this great store called Ragstock which is kind of like if a thrift store meets Reddit. Since we came at Christmas time, they were filled with both ironic and un-ironic ugly Christmas sweaters, that's the type of store this is. Also, there was six of them in the mall. SIX!

We also met some pretty amazing brothers who at set up a pop-up art gallery for their unique and stunning photography The Cesere Brothers Gallery showcased some truly great images from their usual home-base of Hawaii! Seriously, their underwater shots of sea life was pretty darn impressive! Dan and John were both incredibly kind (John even put on the Beach Boys “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” for me to browse to!) and their talents as photographers is obvious the second you look at their collections. Head over to their website, www.ceserebrothers.com and check them out for yourself! We picked up “You and Me” in a small print, but you honestly couldn't go wrong with any of their pieces!

One thing we noticed was that the food (at localish, midwest joints, not chain places like Mcdonalds or Subway) was so good and so affordable. We went to a casual restaurant called Burger Burger and it was so affordable and delicious! They has these monster specialty burgers, and they were only about $6 each. The place also looked like they had milkshakes that would make your sweet tooth sing, but we decided to save those for next time!

We also checked out a place called Pizza Studio, which was equally as awesome. Picture Chipotle or Subway but better because its pizza! You get to choose your dough flavor, your sauce flavor, and as many toppings as your little heart desires! and it only takes about 2 minutes to cook! Fantastic!

Our second day in the Mall was mostly dedicated to finishing the third floor of the mall and adventuring in Nickelodeon Universe, the theme park right smack dab in the middle of the mall. We got the all-day wristband so we could ride as many rides as we could The wristband is a great idea if you want to get on all of the rides at least once, but I probably wouldn't do it again. For a family with kids, it is FANTASTIC, but I think Disney has spoiled us. Our favorite rides were the Spongebob Squarepants ‘Rock Bottom” coaster (it has a 90* incline and an inverted drop!) and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles glider/swing type ride. Speaking of the Turtles, we even got to meet ½ of the dream team!

Haunted Mansion meets "Scooby Doo"

We switched guns halfway through cause I thought mine wasn't working. I was wrong...

Donatello and Michelangelo (who is hiding behind Barry)

We also got to try Absinthe at a liquor store (inside the mall! With free samples! what?!). Spoiler alert: it was gross. The woman at the store was really nice and explained the absinthe sugar and the absinthe contraption used to serve it. It was still gross though. Too licorice-y. So no seeing the green fairy for us any time in the future.

Speaking of alcohol, that night we went to a local bar with our beautiful host and sampled some of the local brews and delicacies! And by delicacy I do mean cheese curds. If you have never eaten a cheese curd, let me tell you first, they are way more yummy than the name makes them out to be. It's basically like a chunk of cheese, but squeaky! No really, it squeaks when you eat it. It's better than it sounds, I promise. Trust me, just eat the curds. “But what if I’m lactose-intolerant!” you might ask. It's worth it. Yum. The beers were great, too! I ordered a cider (Loon Juice) and Barry got a 14* ESB by Bent Paddle Brewing Company.

Here's a fun fact! My Loon Juice was made from Honeycrisp Apples which were actually developed at the University of Minnesota!

Really, we had a fantastic time and we absolutely LOVE the vibe and feel of the Twin Cities! We’re already planning to go back when the temperatures are a little more manageable and we can stand to be outside for more than 5 minutes! Can anyone say Minnesota State Fair?