DAY FOUR: MONDAY
ICONIC END
*IMPORTANT NOTE*
If it’s the dead of summer, meaning June/July/August, Bread and Pickle will most likely be open. Outside of these months, it can be a little finicky and hard to know if it’s open or not. If it happens to be a time of year outside of these months, I highly recommend a close second in terms of restaurant experience for the last day. This does change the Time Windows of Day Four, so I’ll address that here (note that your personal car, if you have one, won’t be used until after Hotel Checkout, since we’ll be walking from one end of downtown Minneapolis to the other. If you can’t part with it, once you get to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, you’ll walk away from it and Uber/Lyft back after the Nicollet Mall walk. This might add some tightness in the timing before Hotel Checkout, however. I’d just Uber/Lyft everywhere until Hotel Checkout, if it was me.):
DAY FOUR ITINERARY
For Fall, Winter and Spring
DRIVE (Uber/Lyft)
6:30am - 7:00am
HEN HOUSE EATERY (Downtown Minneapolis)
7:00am - 8:00am
This modest breakfast spot is a consistent winner with residents and visitors alike! They offer a huge menu, plus tons of coffee/tea choices, including cocktails.
DRIVE (Personal car, Uber/Lyft)
8:00am - 8:30am
DAY FOUR - SECTION ONE: CHAIN OF LAKES (Skip Bread and Pickle, do the walk)
8:30am - 9:30am
DRIVE (Personal car, Uber/Lyft)
9:30am - 10:00am
DAY FOUR - SECTION TWO: WALKER WALK
10:00am - 10:30am
DAY FOUR - SECTION THREE: THREADING THE NICOLLET NEEDLE
10:30am - 11:30am
HOTEL CHECKOUT
11:30am - 12:00pm
DAY FOUR - SECTION FOUR: FEAR THE CHEESE!
12:00pm - 1:30pm
Good morning!! Bright and early!
Alas, the Weekend Experience is coming to a close.
How best to end such a whirlwind journey in the Twin Cities?
How about the icons that the Cities use to really drive home the identity of the area? Something for you to remember us by.
We’ll delve into 3 icons today before it’s time to part ways.
1. City of Lakes: This is Minneapolis’ tagline, and it’s not wrong! Minneapolis boasts the most lakes in one city than any other municipality in the USA. We’ll visit my personal favorite body of water that is part of the best grouping of lakes, the Chain of Lakes, Lake Harriet. We’ll start with some breakfast along the shore watching the sun rise in the sky before walking the entirety of the lake.
2. Spoonbridge and Cherry: The signature sculpture of Minneapolis. I’m pretty sure if a tourism company neglects to put this sculpture in their brochures or advertising, they ain’t worth a pot to . . . use for . . . tourism. Like, this is THE sculpture, Minneapolis’ Liberty Bell, St. Louis’ Arch, Frisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, and Darwin, Minnesota’s Ball of Twine!!!
3. Jucy Lucy: The signature delicacy of the Twin Cities. Beating out Tater Tot Hot Dish by a hair’s width, this is the dish that is solely ours! This is our Chicago Style Chili Dog, Philadelphia Hoagie, New Orleans Beignet, and Darwin, Minnesota’s Twine Vine Wine!!!*** We had the genius idea to put cheese INSIDE of the burger patty . . . instead of on top of the burger patty. And that’s pretty much as far as our claim to culinary fame goes. Who needs anything else?! (Except for the fact that we're known as one of the best culinary centers of the world!!!)
***(This wine, sadly, doesn’t exist, but I’ll go in 50/50 with anyone to make this vineyard a reality! It has to be in Darwin, MN, obviously.)
We’ll also take a walk through the heart of downtown Minneapolis, so that we can fully feel the city in our feet, our ears, eyes and hearts, having done downtown St. Paul walking on Saturday. A way to even things out. To say farewell . . . but not goodbye.
This is where it’s all led up to.
Time for an iconic end to the Weekend Experience.