Saint Paul. I abbreviated it for the longest time until I realized that it's officially spelled out…read morein full. So, I do just that until I get tired of the extra keystrokes. When I lived in Rochester, MN, and travelled to and from Winnipeg, I rarely cut through Saint Paul. The shortest route was highway 52, Interstates 494, 94, and 29, and kept on going until it was highway 75 past the US-Canadian border. Minneapolis got more of my attention back then. Out of curiosity, I took the longer route back to Rochester one time and stopped at a gas station in Saint Paul. It was my first introduction to the city. I knew that I needed to get a better understanding of the city than a gas station. A year after getting laid off and having moved back to Winnipeg, I returned to Saint Paul to see John Mayer at Xcel Energy Center. I got to soak in the riverfront, which is the Mississippi River. The show was fantastic, which introduced me to Guster, a band that I have followed and love to this day. I got to grab some dinner nearby before the show. I loved the casual vibe and how relaxed everyone was around me. I also visited the Minnesota State Capitol, which is in Saint Paul. Parking was crazy, but it was worth seeing for the first time. I'll need to revisit it. Saint Paul has grown on me. I am probably in Saint Paul a lot more these days than Minneapolis. I find the former charming and comfortable. For the last three years or so, I have returned to the Twin Cities to take in Minnesota Wild games. I park at RiverCentre's ramp and make my way over to Xcel Energy Center. I have parked once by the Science Museum of Minnesota, which is next to RiverCentre's parking ramp. I have probably seen more NHL games at Xcel Energy Center than any other arena in my life. There isn't a bad seat in the place. The Wild get better over time. The food is yummy. The staff are friendly. I can also get sucked into getting Wild gear at the Hockey Lodge. Normally, an airport tends to be in a suburb of the city that it's named after. Toronto Pearson International Airport, for instance, isn't in Toronto. It's in Mississauga. Many folks can't spell or know where it is, so they give up. The cool thing about Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport is that it's in Saint Paul. It's convenient to get to. The shopping there is fantastic, especially when you have a layover and have nothing better to do. Every time I return to Saint Paul, I am always discovering something new. I never grow tired of it. On my last trip in late December-early January, I found Shepard Road, which hugs the Mississippi River and, in turn, has a bunch of bridges. My quick photo that I snapped doesn't do justice to how gorgeous the bridges and views are as the sun sets. It's incredibly picturesque and enjoyable to drive along the road. I am thankful to be able to rediscover Saint Paul years after having moved back to the GTA. I enjoy returning as a tourist and honourary Minnesotan. It does feel like my home away from home whenever I visit. (87)

Minneapolis maybe more renowned around the country, but St. Paul holds down the fort. It has plenty…read moreto offer in the way of parks and eateries and should not be overlooked.

Even with Covid they've done a great job. The live music is great! Good to see all the local…read morevendors and farmers there as well. Tollefsons for dinner and Shortie's sweets n treats for dessert! Great time and when the weather is warm it's nice to get some fresh air and walk around. Big park for kids to play on as well.

I finally stopped by the Eagan Market Fest after two years of living here. I love it! Previously,…read moreI would just go to the St. Paul or Minneapolis Farmer's Markets to get my share of locally grown vegetables. Now I won't have to. The Eagan Market Fest offers a good variety of vegetables stands, local art, and other food stands. It's also apparent that they want this to be a family affair, so there are tables set up so people can buy food and enjoy it on the grounds. Additionally, there's usually live music - a nice touch. Note that this market fest is only held on Wednesdays from 4pm - 8pm from late June to early September.

I like quirky things. It was like a match made in heaven when I moved to Minnesota years ago…read more There's a lot to discover in this state that I once called home. I remember seeing Spoonridge and Cherry, a sculptural fountain in Minneapolis that featured a gigantic silver spoon with the most cheerful cherry with a full stem. I loved it so much. I ended up getting a set of notecards featuring this fun piece of art and sharing my delight with others. I haven't changed over the years. I still like seeing cool, quirky items. Last month, I found out about the world's largest raspberry in Hopkins. I deliberately paid it a visit after work, before heading to a Minnesota Wild game several Thursdays ago. This massive raspberry wasn't difficult to find. It's on a fairly quiet street. I thought that I'd be parking on a side street, but it's right in front of a small parking lot. I backed into a spot and took my time admiring this sculpture. Hopkins takes its gigantic raspberry sculpture seriously. I crossed the street to get a good photo of this raspberry and noticed that the sewer cover had a raspberry on it. Wow! This raspberry is 22 feet tall. It's on a steel green vine. The whole sculpture weights a thousand pounds. I hope that no one decides to steal it on e dark even because it's awesome and heavy! This sculpture made its grand appearance at the Hopkins Raspberry Festival back in July 2017. There is a plaque in front of it. I love learning about the history behind sculptures. Hopkins is the raspberry capital of the USA. This massive raspberry honours John Feltl Jr, the father of the Hopkins raspberry industry. As an added bonus, there's a peace sign with lettering next to it steps away from the large raspberry. I loved seeing them. It was my first time in Hopkins. I need to return to support the raspberry industry and say hi to this fun raspberry sculpture again. (160)

I was without words when I saw this. It is indeed a large raspberry and I don't know…read more It hangs from a 22-foot-tall stylized steel vine and weighs 1000 pounds. It's 10 feet wide and12 feet tall. It was unveiled as part of the kickoff of the 83rd annual Hopkins Raspberry Festival. The nearby plaque reads, "The World's Largest Raspberry was officially unveiled on July 8th, 2017. It was made possible by the combined efforts of the businesses, community services organizations and citizens of the city of Hopkins, Minnesota. It is a symbol of the rich history of the raspberry industry in Hopkins that made it the Raspberry Capital of the United States of America. The sculpture is also in honor of John Felti Jr, the father of the raspberry industry in Hopkins." There is street parking nearby. [Review 20740 overall - 151 in Minnesota - 1722 of 2023.]

Setting for the book "Lake Water For Chocolate", and I hope it's not too late to write this review…read moreof Lake Street. I also hope it's not too choco-late. Minneapolis is a hell of a city and a good City for food. I think it's underrated as a city in general, but for food people actually realize that it is a pretty special place. It's sort of in the same school as Detroit and Chicago and Milwaukee in this regard, with Chicago being the granddaddy and standard-bearer, and the others being exceptional if somewhat smaller. Buffalo and Cleveland could also be considered in this group. All of them lakeside, brutally cold Great Lakes cities and all of them with incredible ethnic food choices as well as amazing and unique American food. Lake Street is one of the crown jewels of the MPLS scene. It has masses of great little ethnic places to eat and the two shining examples of what Minneapolis has been and can be are along this street. The first is the Mercato Central which is a real and amazing Latin food court with every kind of Mexican and Salvadorian shop you can imagine. It's very special and knowing some Spanish will help you a lot in here. It's been around for a long time. It is to the Latin Community what the Hmong Town Center is to the Vietnamese. Then there is the Midtown Global Market. This is much more geared towards hipsters and tourists and college kids and so-called Foodies. It's a little bit artificial but still contains a lot of cool stuff. Many of the things in here are actually Minneapolis area restaurants that decided to have an additional stall in here. There are some gems hidden amongst the cliches. Both markets are spectacular and must be visited. Almost gave it 4 stars because of traffic issues in the Midtown area, so hopefully they'll figure that out. Put in some roundabouts or something. Traffic circles, for the uninitiated. Now I'm Lake for my next review, and then I have to meet Barbie, who says she wants to show me her Lake, so I can sample her Lake's-treat.

My favorite street in the entire Twin Cities. I especially like East Lake Street for its…read morehigh-density of Mexican restaurants, but all of Lake Street is fine by me. I would never live more than walking-distance away because I have everything I need right in my own neighborhood.

This old suspension bridge first opened in 1855, over the Mississippi River. Nowadays it's for both…read moreauto and pedestrians. The river banks remind me of Frankfurt, with even less spots for sit down. Maybe this is better, the river seems empty, wihout so many boats for hire. Grain Belt Beer sign is still up there.

I want to get a digital Pin with a Hen on it. It's called a Hen E-Pin…read more One of the most famous bridges in the Great Lakes region, this carries people in and out of downtown Minneapolis between the city and the college area. It's a wide bridge that looks old-style and gives the city an extra amount of character as if Minneapolis didn't already have enough amazing character already. It's also right in the heart of The Nightlife District so it's a bridge that you will cruise over again and again when you're looking for hot people in the summertime - when it feels like everyone else's winter time. I'm pretty sure Cali winter and Houston winter is hotter than Mini-summer. Floridian winter too. As for the cruising... Don't even try doing that in the winter. Don't even be in Minnesota in the winter. Nobody has any skin out anyway. Well not completely out. Well OK they do. Show offy girls be crazy yo. I would know. (Pouts) (Flexes)

It's been too many years since I saw the old area of WBL. Much has changed for the better…read more Preserved old buildings, cute and sometime quaint shops. Easy walking. Driving can be tricky in these towns as they have to reconfigure and cut off formerly through streets to slow down traffic. There is amazingly plenty of free parking through town. This town is ideal for taking a self guided walking tour and end up at the lake.

Earlier this month, I dropped by White Bear Lake (WBL), the city, to check out a bunch of food…read moretrucks at Cub Foods. I was so pleased to see a nice assortment of food trucks and folks dropping by to support them and their good eats. What struck me when I arrived in WBL was the water tower. Most are rather standard with the city or town's name on it. This tower is one of the nicer ones. It has a white bear casually popping his head above water. I love it! You can basically see this tower from anywhere in the city. The city is named after the actual lake, which is one of the larger lakes in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. This city has a lot of lakes. In the summertime, sailboat-riding and tubing are popular. In the wintertime, the lakes freeze. As a result, activities such as ice fishing, snowmobiling, and cross-country skiing are popular. I've been told that I need to drop by on a Thursday night. There's a Marketfest festival that happens every Thursday night in downtown WBL that features food trucks and games for all ages. It sounds perfect! I had a good introduction to WBL. I will return to discover more. (76)

When I lived in Rochester and headed up to the Twin Cities, I probably hung out in Bloomington more…read morethan any other area. Why? Three words: Mall of America. It's crazy that MOA has been there for thirty years. I literally had my road atlas guide me here. I have good memories of shopping at MOA for hours with my colleagues who happened to also be Canadian, my good friend from Winnipeg who came down here with her boys and parents, my mom, and by myself. Whether you are at tourist or a local, there's plenty to see at the largest mall in the US. It's not the largest one in North America, though. Canada takes that title with West Edmonton Mall. MOA is where the old Metropolitan Stadium was where the Minnesota Twins used to play before Target Field was built in downtown Minneapolis . It was well before my time. However, when you visit Nickelodeon Universe amusement park, there is a plaque that commemorates where home base used to be. When I lived in Minnesota, there wasn't an IKEA. With such a strong Scandinavian base, you'd think that Minnesota would be littered with IKEA stores. Nope, I ended up travelling south to a Chicago suburb for my do-it-yourself fix. I moved away and guess what? There's an IKEA in Bloomington. Figures! Bloomington is next door to Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport (MSP), which is technically in Saint Paul. Bloomington is a suburb of Minneapolis. It is situated north of the Mississippi River, which flows northbound to Winnipeg and beyond. There is a lot of greenery. I believe that the city is closing in on having 100 parks. So, you want a change of pace, you can unwind away from brick-and-mortar stores. I spent a lot of time at the Olive Garden in Bloomington. Rochester didn't have an Olive Garden, so I'd drive up to get my fix. The restaurant is thankfully still there. It'll always have a special place in my heart. It likely kicked off my usual order of chicken scampi, raspberry lemonade, zuppa toscana, and tiramisu. My dear friend had pointed out that there's a good Indian restaurant across from MOA. There are two in the area, so I'll need to hit both of them. Since it is a touristy city and is the fourth largest one in Minnesota, you can find a bunch of hotels, eateries, and more. Bloomington is great. It's worth visiting, whether you are new to the area or frequent it often. It's never dull and I always feel safe here. (86)

If you come here to get beers, it's Brewmington. If you jeer this place, it's Boo-mington. And if…read moreyou don't like Mondays here, it's The Bloomingtown Rats. Located in the southern part of the Minneapolis area, this is a very business-oriented suburb which features the massive airport for the region but also the even more massive Mall of America which is literally the biggest mall in America. It's a fairly wealthy suburb and has a lot of Caucasian elements - affluent, ethnically homogenous, not too much authentic international food, lots of chains - but also some cool places and some interesting local culture. But the main focal points are definitely the airport and the mall. Which are close together. When I come here it's usually to go to the mall cuz as much as I'm not a big mall person, Barbie really is and this is the ultimate Mecha of malls. I said Mecca but that too. I think.

If you want a warm welcome to St Paul, MN, (Literally) attend the welcome hat ceremony. You can…read moreexplore the history museum, obtain the warmest hat you'll ever own, learn about some great local businesses and resources for newcomers -- and meet other newbies to the Twin Cities. This is a great event -- and I encourage anyone to participate that still feels like a 'newbie,' even if you've lived here for months.