Places to Visit in Minnesota: Part One

Whether you live in Minnesota or are traveling to the Land of 10,000 Lakes in the future, make sure you visit the following places. No matter your budget, you should be able to enjoy yourself without spending much money.

Chances are that your travels in Minnesota will start or end in the Twin Cities. Just minutes from the Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) International Airport you will find The Mall of America, the nations largest retail mall with approximately 520 stores.

Mall of America

The Mall of America is nestled in the growing suburb of Bloomington. With over 4.2 million square feet of space (2.5 million for retail) their is plenty of room to explore. You can be assured that all your shopping needs will be catered at MOA. Beyond shopping, you can also enjoy the largest indoor amusement park centered in the middle of the mall. This Amusement Park has changed names frequently in the past few years, but the rides and attractions remain the same. Legoland and Underwater Adventures are also big attractions for the family.

Water Park of America

The Water Park of America is situated a few minutes west of the Mall of America. The waterpark has a ten story slide tower that houses several individual slides. In addition to the slides, the park has a lazy river, wave pool, surfing simulator, swimming pool, and arcade. The waterpark is attached to the Radisson hotel, which will allow you a place to stay while you tour the metro area.

The Metrodome and Target Field

The Minnesota Twins call Target Field home while the Vikings are housed in the Metrodome. Although the Metrodome is not quite aesthetically pleasing, it is quite the experience to witness a game here. Since the stadium is enclosed it can get extremely loud inside, and has had decibel ratings higher than that of a jet engine. The Twins won two World Series in this stadium back in '87 and '91.  In October of 2009, the Twins played their last game at the Metrodome and moved to the beautiful Target Field for the 2010 season.  Target Field has been receiving rave reviews since it's opening and should be home for the Twins for many seasons to come.

Notable Events and Festivals:

Minnesota State Fair (Late August - Labor Day):

The Minnesota State Fair is one of the most well-known state fairs in the nation, with the largest daily attendance of all. Situated in Falcon Heights, adjacent to St. Paul, the fair is easy to get too. The fair typically runs for 12 days, starting in late August (around the 20th), and ending on Labor Day. The State Fairgrounds have numerous attractions which include: livestock barns, machinery hill, art exhibitions, the Midway Carnival, the 300 foot Space Needle, a Haunted House, and much more. The most popular attractions are the Grandstand shows featured every evening and the food. Food vendors throughout the fair sell just about anything on a stick from corn dogs to pizza to deep-fried candy bars.

Taste of Minnesota (July 2nd - July 5th)

This four-day festival typically starts on July 2nd and wraps up on the 5th. The festival is located near the banks of the Mississippi River on Harriet Island in St. Paul. Food, Music, and Fun pretty much some up this summer festival. The festival used to be entirely free, but starting this year they forced those in attendance to buy a $10 food voucher in order to get in. It's hard going to the Taste and not getting anything to eat or drink, so the $10 voucher is justifiable. Notable bands that have played at the Taste of Minnesota over the last two years are: Finger Eleven, Seether, Judas Priest, Chevelle, Staind, Bret Micheals, and Elvis Costello. Fireworks conclude every musical performance around 10 p.m., with the best fireworks display occuring on the 4th of July, for obvious reasons.

At the westernmost point of the Great Lakes you will find the port city of Duluth. Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world, can be seen from almost any location in the city. Duluth residents love the outdoors and you will too after visiting this beautiful city.

Canal Park/Park Point

There is no doubt that Canal Park is a tourist haven. Ice cream and souvenir shops, as well as restaurants clutter the area. Red Lobster, Old Chicago, Hells Kitchen, Timberlodge, Famous Daves, and several others are in Canal Park. At the end of Canal Park is the Maritime Museum and the iconic Aerial Lift Bridge that goes up and down as ships and barges pass into the Duluth/Superior Harbor. The boardwalk meanders its way along the shore of Lake Superior, and allows many to walk their dogs, roller skate, bike, or take a horse drawn carriage ride. Park Point is a long narrow strip of land on the other side of the Aerial Lift Bridge. At the end of Park Point is a small park and an airport. Although Park Point isn't very wide, it is 10 miles long, making it the worlds longest freshwater sandbar.

Glensheen Mansion

Duluth was once home to the most millionaires per capita. During that time Duluth's population was soaring and iron ore/taconite made Duluth and the surrounding area extremely rich. The cities position on the Great Lakes gave Henry Ford interest in creating Ford automobiles in Duluth, but the city declined his offer to produce vehicles in Duluth. So Ford chose Detroit as the perfect location to build his empire. While the population has since declined significantly in Duluth, all the mansions still remain. The most famous of these is Glensheen. Tours of the mansion are reasonable, very informative, and interesting. Despite the mansions size and beauty, it is most famous for the gruesome murder that occurred here. Just like something from a board-game, greed motivated the last surviving child's adopted daughter and her husband to murder her mother and her nurse to collect her inheritance. The weapon of choice was a candlestick...sound familiar....played the game Clue lately?

Split Rock Lighthouse

About an hour northeast of Duluth along Lake Superior's North Shore you will come across Split Rock Lighthouse. Split Rock is one of most highly photographed lighthouses in the world because of its location and history. The lighthouse is situated on a vertical cliff that drops 130 feet into Lake Superior. The reason Split Rock was built was in response to a number of shipwrecks that occurred on Lake Superior during the early 1900's. There is a fee to tour the lighthouse and the neighboring park, but for free you can stop about a 1/4 mile south of the lighthouse on Highway 61 and take a peak of the historic lighthouse.

Notable Events and Festivals:

Grandmas Marathon (Mid-Late June):

This marathon named after a local Restaurant chain draws in athletes from all over the nation. Starting in 1977, the marathon now boasts around 10,000 runners every year. The race starts in Two Harbors and finishes in Duluth at Canal Park.

Duluth Maritime Festival (Tall Ships):

The Tall Ships don't come to Duluth every year, but when they do it's a big deal. In August of 2008, when the ships last came, people came from all over the region to see Lake Superior full of pirate-esque ships and satellite sailboats sailing about. The highlights of the festival were the appearances of the USS Madeline and USS Niagara. Tours of the ships and private trips around the bay can be arranged when they are in town.

 Stay tuned for more places to visit in Minnesota