This is the full and complete version of Intro to the Twin Cities. All of the sites and experiences from the “Short”, “One Day: Minneapolis + MOA” and “One Day: St. Paul” versions, plus some sites and experiences exclusive to this version, have been meticulously put together to give the first time visitor, or curious full time residents, what I feel is the best representation of our fair metro.

From our history to the most popular places for recreation in nature, significant dining ranging from the greasy icon, the Jucy Lucy, to finer famous establishments like W. A. Frost, our best tourist destinations and cultural keystones, the Weekend Experience is a detailed dive into what makes this metro tick and makes visitors and residents desire to come back and visit time and time again or settle down and live here indefinitely!

Each day is designed to make the Loreways Traverser immerse themselves into a different environment and vibe. Day 1: The Mill City starts things off in the middle of the hubbub of downtown Minneapolis, where you’ll be taken on a whirlwind journey through our history and culture whilst having an old fashioned "dinner and a show" date experience!

Day 2: In a “Pig’s Eye” shows off the other city, St. Paul. We’ll hop around the downtown area of West 7th, St. Paul’s main restaurant and bar scene that especially serves sports and music fans going to the nearby Grand Casino Arena. We’ll also visit our version of Central Park, Como Park, to get a big taste of our extensive park system and its offerings. We’ll also explore the charming and romantic historical neighborhood of Cathedral Hill, a living museum that seems like it’s stuck in the 1920’s.

Day 3: Relics to Rides turns up all the the dining, museum, nature and tourism dials! We’ll start with the rowdiest and most fun brunch of the weekend, tour the labyrinthine galleries of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, see the beautiful cascading Minnehaha Falls and surrounding flora and fauna, and bask in the #1 tourist destination in all of Minnesota, largest mall in the western hemisphere: the Mall of America!

Day 4: Iconic End brings things to a close, but with a bang! We’ll visit the locales that make us iconic: the Chain of Lakes (City of Lakes), the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden (Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture) and Matt’s Bar (Jucy Lucy!). We’ll also take a final stroll through the heart of downtown Minneapolis to round things out.

This experience is both highly exhilarating and wholesomely exhausting, designed to leave the Traverser with a sense of our origins, our parks, our culinary offerings, and our present day zeitgeist.

So, come on and join me on the ultimate Intro to the Twin Cities experience!

                                                                                       

                                                                                        NOTES

This itinerary is specifically designed for a Friday through Monday time frame. However, if people would rather do each day separately, or each location at their own pace, there’s no fault in that. The experience is designed to have a Friday night date, a Saturday recreational jaunt, an even more exciting Sunday recreational jaunt, ending on a full circle Monday finish dotting all the i’s and crossing all the t’s.

In terms of where to stay in a hotel, the experience does start and end in Minneapolis, specifically starting in the Mill District, but it is not necessary to stay in the Mill District. If you’d like to have a cheaper hotel option in the suburbs, it won’t affect your overall experience except on Day 4 during a walk through downtown Minneapolis (you may have to cut the walk short to make it back to your hotel for check-out via Uber/Lyft if you’re staying outside of downtown).

Also, I highly recommend finding a hotel that has a 3:00pm Check-In and a 12:00pm Check-Out due to the logistics of the itinerary on Friday and Monday. 3:00pm so that you’ll have more time to tour the Saint Anthony Falls Loop, 12:00pm so that you’ll have more time to walk Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis.