OVERVIEW

Minneapolis, never knew you were so windy! Home of the Twins, University of Minnesota and the Vikings. Also home to the Mall of America, one of my personal favorites. Also, home to a super nice Zoo and the Aquarium - inside the mall!

GETTING THERE

Have you ever had one of those days where absolutely nothing went right? That was pretty much our travel day to Minneapolis. Everything from bomb threats on air planes, to forgetting to bring Xando's medicine to the doggy hotel, to family ending up in the hospital. And it wasn't even 12 noon yet!

ARRIVAL

So, obviously we made it. Family is happy and healthy, most importantly. Also, we overnighted Xando's medicine to the doggie hotel. Thank goodness for 800-petmeds.

Oh, and they are pretty sure the bomb threat was a prank for someones birthday. What is wrong with people?!

TRAVEL AROUND TOWN

Oh my gosh, the light rail. It takes you everywhere and it costs nothing! Well, next to nothing. Like 1-2 dollars. We got tickets every time, but no one ever checked them (and we rode it alot). Plus, it seems like most other people get on and off, so maybe you don't even have to pay. I'd feel guilty, but if you are in a jam and need to get somewhere without mula this is your best option.

We took the light rail and it dropped us off a block from our hotel. It was a very noisy ride (all the kids ride it back from school) but the good news is, we were not bombarded by scary, aggressive (likely homeless) people like we were in San Fran.

HOTEL - GRAVES 601 WYNDHAM HOTEL

Its super European. If you're from Europe, I'm sure you will feel right at home. The problem is, we're not. And I like having doors on the shower, it keeps the water in!!

The pluses - super secure. Its set up this way because it is so darn confusing. You have to get on the elevator, get off at the 4th floor, then take two right turns and get on another elevator. It got to be annoying taking two elevators down every time we had to come and go.

The pluses, it looks really nice. The downfall is it is totally not practical. There is one hook in the bathroom and it was too high for me to reach. Also, there is a glass wall that goes about half way along the length of the shower, and then its just open. Water goes all over the floor.

Also, the lights were a little confusing. Some turned everything on, some turned some things on and off. Oh my lord, I just want one dumb light switch! It really shouldn't be this complicated.

The pluses, super fabulous location. We could walk to the Twin's game (yay!). We could also walk to a bunch of restaurants because we were right downtown.

The downfall is it was so annoying to have to get in and out of the hotel, and getting ready in a shower with water everywhere was annoying, and so was getting on and off more than one elevator. Every time I had to leave the hotel, I left annoyed. So, I wouldn't stay here again.

VINCENT'S, French Food

This was recommended by our European hotel guy. It's within walking distance from our hotel, and was voted the "Best Food" at some contest thing they had a Target Stadium.

Its French food, and super well made. I had scallops and Greg had muscles with french fries. We also both had the Buffalo Burrata. Its sort of like caprice, except over a pea puree. Its definitely complex, and it works. I'm not a huge fan of peas, but hey, if I had to eat them, this would be how.

You HAVE to get dessert here. I had the Vincent's childhood favorite, its cookies, homemade ice cream and this overly chocolaty syrup. Greg got the cheese plate. The cookies are amazing, so is the ice cream. I didn't like the syrup though, it was just way way too much. Just try it before you put it on.

Oh, and the fries taste just like McDonald's. Its so strange. Except, they are better made. Not sure what's up with that.

BUS TOUR!

We took the bus tour and got to see a ton of Minneapolis. They have this all glass library that is neat looking. Also, the Mary Tyler Moore house they used on the show is here. I got pics!!!

There's some neat history behind some of the names. There's a love story about "Lake Harriet", a kernel named the lake after his wife.

Also, there's the Minnehaha creek. Its suppose to be a huge water fall, but unfortunately there was a drought, so it was like a big stream over the falls!

Apparently President Johnson came to visit, and they wanted him to see the falls, so they flooded them with fire hydrants so he could see them. There's a cement block by the falls with his foot print.

THE NEWS ROOM

This was recommended by the lady at the hotel. The problem was, the menu was huge. And, the food was borderline totally gross!

Don't get the lobster bisque, its the worst in the world. I felt so bad for Greg. It came and looked like water and they clearly microwaved it because it was like clumpy at the top and stained over the side of the cup. Way, way, way disgusting. Also, don't get the pizza.

The only thing I'd recommend it the tomato and mozzarella (caprice) sandwich. Its not fresh mozzarella (nothing at this place is fresh), but its pretty good.

Don't go here. Its just gross, and the outdoor seating it totally uncomfortable.

GO TWINS @ TARGET FIELD

There's a lot of great places to take pics in this stadium! AND they have corn dogs. So in need of some good food after yesterday!

We had so much fun here. We got on the big board too!! We sent in our picture and they put it on the board. People here are pretty nice, totally different than Philly! They are pretty accepting of other fans. You'll see signs on bars like "Welcome Iowa". In Philly if you aren't a Philly fan, they spit in your food and beat the crap out of you. Definitely a different experience! Home sweet home : )

The Phillies haven't played that well this year, but the Twins take bad to a whole new level. I think if the Phillies played half as crappy as the Twins did in this game, the fans would storm the field and stone the players with random food stand items. I think the Twins could use a lesson in Philly passion.

Good things about Minnesota - they are super accepting of people in general. Any sexual orientation included. It is nice to see.

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Had to buy a sweater because it was cold!!! We kept seeing signs for "Cheese curds" so we decided to try them. All I have to say is yuck. YUCK, YUCK! If you like cheese drenched in salt, then this is for you. If not, then stay away! Maybe there is a sauce that you could combine with it to make it taste better. Its just yucky on its own though.

They had a navy seal and 3 other people in the navy parachute down from airplanes. They did it during the anthem. So beautiful!

The wind here reminds me of Chicago! Two seasons, summer and brutal, brutal winter!

Also, heard people talking about PSU at the game. SO sad. So heartbreaking. So totally disappointing.

BAR LA GRASSA

This place was listed as the best Italian restaurant in Minneapolis. That must mean that Minneapolis has terrible Italian food. Everything was overpowering. Over seasoned, over the top.

The Midwest is definitely known for their meat/cattle/steak foods. I'm much more of a pasta-seafood type. The Midwest is just not up to par in these categories!

MALL OF AMERICA STADIUM - Vikings

Its really tight seating in a dome. Its also REALLY loud! They have this terrible miniature screen that you can barely see. No wonder they threatened to leave if they didn't get a new stadium. They totally need one!

Funniest moment ever - we were sitting in front of two fans that were complaining about Philly fans. They were complaining about some Philly fan that came and tried to start a fight with someone there. They said they were going to have the beat the person up. They rambled on and on about how terrible the Philly fans are.

I was laughing, and Greg slowly turns his hat around so the big "P" was now facing them. It just got quiet, then they started laughing and saying how we are getting a better reputation now. It was the funniest thing ever. So, FYI, not all Philly fans are bad. We are just really passionate!

Besides, we always route for the home team (at least I do, sometimes Greg doesn't). Vikings won in overtime. It was pretty exciting at the end of the game.. we weren't sure if they were going to pull it off!

MANNY'S STEAK HOUSE - After the game

So, I just heard a bunch of really loud guys making a huge ruckus, and I was annoyed. Greg was excited because it was the Vikings defense. They were eating dinner really close to us.

I was really a bit traumatized by this place. They had a big long table they would wheel around that displayed all of the food pre-cooked so you could see what you were ordering. Um, gross first of all. Why do I want to see uncooked meat and animal organs on a plate?

The worst part was they had a huge lobster on a plate. They picked it up to go through their spiel (like I don't know what a freakin lobster is, seriously) and the little legs started moving! I felt so bad for the poor thing. They have the poor things tied up sitting on a plate all day.

I mean, I get it, people are going to eat them. But they shouldn't torture the things. The poor lobsters must be so scared.

I wanted to grab them and take them with me and release them into the ocean. The problem (as Greg very sternly reminded me *sigh*) is that there is no way to easily access the ocean from the mid-west. UGH. These people are a bunch of barbarians. I want to stick Peta on them.

Needless to say, I completely lost my appetite and could barely eat anything here. And the waiter had the nerve to tell me the lobster is not a puppy. Seriously?

MINNEAPOLIS ZOO

So, for a few days after being traumatized at Manny's steakhouse, I could not bring myself to eat meat. That pretty much limits your diet, so I ate a lot of mac and cheese. That's one thing they can cook out here.

The zoo was super nice - lots of open space. They had a new black bear exhibit opening this coming weekend, and we got to see it early! This is definitely one place where they take care of the animals. The animals have big open areas and definitely have good homes here.

Everything is "Russian" themed. So all the animals are pretty much cold-weather or indoors. They have to do this because of how cold it gets in the winter here.

LA BELLE VIE

YUM. Best food and service by far! By a mile! I had this amazing salad, and Greg ordered some type of sweet potato gnocchi. We both got the lobster tail for dinner. Dessert was their in house-made ice cream and chocolate mouse/cake thing. It was yummy.

Its formerly a hotel and they turned it into apartment buildings / a restaurant. Its super nice. Definitely recommended.

MALL of AMERICA

We did the ENTIRE walk. Oh, my lord! I wore comfy shoes and my feet were still tired! This place is gigantic! It reminds me a lot of KOP, except with roller coasters, aquariums and a big Lego thing.

Also it seems like a lot of middle income stores. Not as many high end designers (like KOP). They had stores on multiple levels! It was kind of crazy. I definitely did some damage to the Express here. They had way more inventory than we do locally, and they actually had multiples of my size! That NEVER happens!

AQUARIUM

Its a smaller aquarium, its in the basement of the mall basically. We did the walk through and saw some super cool seahorses that I've never seen before. They breed them there, and some of them are so tiny that they are hard to see!

TUCCI inside the mall

So wow, this place is the best restaurant we've been too in Minneapolis. And we didn't even plan this one! Its a small mid-western chain. They have like 6 or 8 places all in the mid-west. There is only one Tucci's though.

This place is AWESOME. Now this is Italian. They get all their food locally and everything is super fresh. We ordered the mozzarella sticks and bruschetta. I've never had fresh mozzarella sticks before. Its seriously like a whole new world. I don't want to ever go back!!! They were amazing. Until you've eaten fresh mozzarella sticks, you've only had sub-par versions. I Just wish I knew someplace in Reading I could get something like this!

I ordered baked pasta, and oh my lord, it was amazing. Greg ordered gnocchi with ricotta cheese. Wow, I was full and wanted to keep eating.

Really great food flavors, this place would make Chef Ramsey proud! Will definitely, definitely come back here! This place was BY FAR the best food in Minneapolis.

IKE'S at the Airport

Hey, its breakfast food. I got the omelet and Greg got eggs benedict. The eggs benedict was overdone, but my omelet was good. Its airport food, and its edible! Oh, and we are flying back on an Eagles plane. Booo, but still cool.

BYE BYE MINNEAPOLIS

We had a lot of fun here. It wasn't ever too hot or too cold. Its a small town so there's not a ton to do, but there's definitely some neat attractions.

I'd recommend seeing the stadiums, and definitely would love to see the new Vikings stadium in a few years. The tours are not always factually correct, FYI! Also, would love to come back and see the waterfalls when they are not having a drought!

And will definitely, definitely come back and eat at Tucci's and do some more shopping.

I <3 Minneapolis (only in the summer!!!).