svf8528

best coffee shop in the US. seriously.

So I picked up a copy of that book and saw that the Iowa State Fair was in it. I live in St. Paul, Minnesota (about a 5 hour drive), so my friends and I decided to check it out… lots of fun, lots of state fair food (like fried cheese on a stick), but nowhere near as big or as kitchy as the Minnesota State Fair. Thumbs up, but if you can only get to one come to Minnesota!

...when a place gets this much snow, gets this cold (and this hot!), and has mosquitoes the size of smaller states, there must be something keeping people here, right?

Right. Take a walk around Minneapolis’ Chain of Lakes, right in the city. Or wander around St. Paul’s historic “hills”: Cathedral Hill, Ramsey Hill, Crocus Hill. Drive down the Great Mississippi River Road to Winona—or drive up from Duluth to Grand Marais along the North Shore of Lake Superior. This is a seriously beautiful place.

Or, if you’re not so much into the aesthetics, check out the coffee shops. If you’re from the rest of the country, you’ve probably forgotten what life was like before Starbucks. Minneapolis and St. Paul have more local coffee shops per capita than anywhere else in the States.

More of a culture hound? The premier modern art museum in the country is here. Our fine arts museum is free. We have more theater seats per capita than anywhere but New York City. We have an “adult alternative” public radio station.

Scared of the weather? Just come in June, check it out. You’ll survive. You might even like it.

or maybe just my home. I’m not there now, and I miss it viscerally. When you’re there, check out my old ‘hood, Adams Morgan. Eat at The Diner, or Jyoti, or the New Orleans Cafe, or grab a $2 super slice of pizza or a $3 empanada or $5 falafel and then go get a blended chai at Tryst. On Sunday, head over to Capitol Hill for some flea-marketing at Eastern Market. When it gets too hot to be outside, take a cab to Max’s Best Ice Cream on Wisconsin Ave. and be sure to have a taste of the “Mozambique” flavor. Say hi to Max, an Iranian, or his Michigander wife Marcia. When you’re full, head back to Dupont Circle and wander into (and around) Kramerbooks, the best bookstore on the planet. Kill some time there, because you need to work up some hunger again – the bookstore’s Afterwords Cafe has awesome desserts. Wander over to 18th Ave, bypassing the too-busy-to-be-fun Lauriol Plaza and stopping by Rosemary’s Thyme for dinner outdoors and cheap happy hour margaritas.

Oh yeah, and there are some museums.

and ask for Muhammed. He has a beautiful house he’ll rent out to independent travelers.