Let me tell you a little bit about Minneapolis and Minnesota, the “Land of 10, 000 Lakes.” I was born and raised throughout the southern half of the state, the last 30 years were spent in the the St Paul area. My travels have taken me to most every region. We will be visiting there again next week. It has a lot to offer. I n this review, I will concentrate on the main metro area.
The Twin Cities: Minneapolis and St Paul comprise the greater part of the metropolitan area, but you might recognize Bloomington as the home of The Mall of America. The area population is over 2 million and reaches into bordering Wisconsin. I believe it now is the 17th largest metro area in the states, those figures change slightly with every census. About half the total state population lives in this area.
Minneapolis is the larger of the twins. It is home to more of the banking and insurance interests and therefore holds greater commercial power. Downtown Minneapolis is impressive, with many skyscrapers, most notably the IDS Tower. The main campus of the University of Minnesota is here. The U has the largest student enrollment of any school in the U.S. Its major sports teams play in the competitive Big 10 Conference, providing great entertainment each year to thousands. It is also home to professional sports. The baseball Twins and football Vikings compete in the enclosed HHH Metrodome. The dome is named after Hubert Horacio Humphrey, longtime U.S. senator and also vice-president in the Johnson administration. The basketball Timberwolves are based in Target Arena. The Guthrie Theater is named in honor of early folk music legend Woody Guthrie, the father of Arlo Guthrie ( Alice´s Restaurant, etc.)
St Paul is older but smaller. Originally called Pig´s Eye, named for the first trader here who opened shop on the banks of the Mississippi river in the early 1800´s. It is now the capital city. The capital building is impressive, built from marble mined in the state. A festival, Taste of Minnesota is held on the lush capital lawn each Independence Day week. Besides great music and nightly fireworks, there are dozens of kiosks offering foods from around the state. The stately (LOL) state supreme court building is next door and the impressive St Paul Cathedral is located across the freeway, as is the massive Science Museum of Minnesota. A state-( there I go again) of-the-art Childrens Museum was recently built next to the Mississippi river. Summertime brings regular visits by Mississippi steamboats carrying tourists along the river. The professional hockey team, The Wild, will begin their second season of operation in October in the highly praised and beautiful Ex-cel Sports Center. The city hosts a street rod show every friday and saturday night throughout the summer. Classic car buffs from the area have a main street shut off and devoted to them for cruising up and down, showing off their prize autos to downtown visitors. The Minnesota Symphony, touring Broadway plays and musical, along with other cultural events can be found at the Ordway Center. The outlook for St Paul has improved greatly thanks to the risk taking and innovative sitting mayor Norm Coleman, a transplant from New York City. St Paul is the world headquarters of 3M company, AKA Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing.
The two cities are only separated by the Mississippi, but they each have their own distinctive personalities. Minneapolis is more fast paced. Some would say a little stuck-up. St Paul is slower and more conservative. All in all, they usually work together pretty well for the betterment of the state.
It wouldn´t be right to write about the twin cities without mentioning the weather. There are four full and distinctive seasons. Spring and fall are beautiful, with warm days and cool nights. Summer is great, too, with all the nearby parks and lakes, but August can be very hot and humid, with a ton of mosquitoes, sometimes referred to as the official state bird. Winter is not fun. It can be cold and dreary. It is southern Minnesota, though, and not nearly as cold as it is further north. To combat cabin fever St Paul hosts the annual winter carnival. It is approximately 10 days of winter related events. Minneapolis hosts a week of parades if the weather allows.
Enough for now. Thanks for reading.
gagu