maria_so

We just bought tickets to go see Keane in concert in May. We'll be flying in Friday afternoon (arriving around 4:30) and the concert is at Maplewood that night.

Can anyone tell me what there is to do in Minneapolis for a weekend? We would have all day sat and sun (and sat night) free. We would stay in downtown (looking at doubletree hotel on 215 Fourth Street South - is that a good location?). We love the arts and love to see the nightlife and great restaurants. Thanks in advance for all your help!

WhereAreWe

Walker Art Center, Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Museum of Russian Art are all in Minneapolis.

Guthrie Theater, Orpheum, State and Pantage Theaters are also all in Minneapolis.

There's more but that's a decent start. Go to http://www.citypages.com/ for events and listings of museums, performances, etc.

pijeta

When in May are you going? The later, the more chance you'll have nice weather for outside activities.

Here's a few things I can suggest:
- Tour the Walker Art Center and MN Sculpture Garden.
- Go to a Twins game.
- Head to the Mall of America.
- Go to the Minnesota Zoo.
- Shop/walk/eat on Nicollet Mall.

What type of food and price range are you looking for?
What type of nightlife do you want (dance clubs vs. casual bars)?

The location should be good for your hotel, but I've never stayed there, so I can't comment specifically.

Have a great trip

luvinhsv

Minneapolis in May is so great. I hope you have nice weather. Typically, you can expect pleasant temps that time of year! For nightlife you'll want to check out the Warehouse District. That would be several blocks from the Doubletree, but not too bad. You might want to check out the Graves 601 hotel (probably pricey!). That would put you in the center of the action. During the day on Saturday or Sunday, take a cab to the Uptown area and walk around Lake Calhoun. Cab ride from downtown probably around $12-$15. Citypages.com will give you a great guide for other things to do/see. Have a great trip to my hometown! I love Minneapolis (except a little thing called winter!)

maria_so

Hi All! Thanks so much for the recs! Well, we plan to get a car (since we have to drive the the Myth venue in Maplewood on Friday. The dates are May 15 and leaving Sunday around 7pm on May 17. Soooooo glad to hear about the weather!!!

Price for restaurant maybe around $160 for 2 people for a night max? We're into more of a casual bar people rather than the club scene. The reason for the doubletree is because I can get it for advance purchase of $87/night on those nights but will look at other hotels in the area of Gaves 601 (if that one is too pricey).

We like the idea of the pedestrian type of area where we can walk, site see, and grab food. Is there such a little area or is that uptown?

Thanks for the great suggestions!

tchoiniere

Look at the Nicollete Mall. Huge pedestrian area full of shops and restaurants. I went to Brits Pub last year and liked it

dfr4848

Consider a short (30 min) drive to Stillwater on the border with Wisc. Old river town with lots of shops and restaurants, very walkable.

The Twins are good option, but we have a LOT more fun going to the St Paul Saints games (minor league team). Fun, family oriented atmosphere with some great food vendors. Great announcers. The way baseball should be.

MollyM

If you're into art, definitely hit at least one of the museums. The Walker is fantastic, combined with the free sculpture garden next door. Uptown is my favorite area. Definitely go take a walk around Lake Calhoun; it's absolutely gorgeous. Many fun, "unique" restaurants in that area, too. I love Chino Latino (a really fun scene for a night out) and Figlio. The Uptown Diner has the best breakfast. Get Sebastian Joe ice cream for dessert or after your walk!

If you're into pubs, downtown's Brit's Pub and The Local are a lot of fun. Enjoy!

maria_so

Hi All! Yes, I did a search on Minneapolis here last night and have a list going for great restaurants. We did end up booking the doubletree only because of the great deal and I talked to the concierge there and he assured me everything is a close walk to the hotel.

So far, here's what we have planned:

May 15: Arrive at 4:40, get rental car and check in at hotel. Grab food close by then head out to Maplewood. Concert starts at 7pm. Head back to hotel, find a bar for drinks if not too tired then retire to the room

May 16: Site see in Minneapolis - (please add any must sees)
St Peters Cathedral
Walker Museum
maybe lunch at uptown or dinner then do the walk around the lake?
Drinks somewhere fun.

May 17: More site seeing.
Head to airport around 5 for a 7pm flight.

cherrybomb

If you are going uptown, no need to take a cab, the bus is perfectly fine and will get you there in 15 min. The #6 on Hennepin from downtown or the #17 from Nicollet will take you to up Hennepin, #4 on Hennepin from downtown will take you up Lyndale and the #18 will take you up Nicollet aka "eat street"

I'd do the lake walk after lunch on your May 16 day.

Why this on your list? St Peters Cathedral, not sure what there is to see.

You have Loring Park to tool around and the Walker sculpture garden. perhaps having lunch at one of the restaurants on Loring Park would be a good fit...

For drinks uptown, there is Barbette, which is nice. People seem to like Chino latino; if it is nice out, Stella's has a roof bar. Cafe Lucia is nice, There is a tapas/wine bar on the corner of Lake and Lyndale--I forgot the name at the moment--remembered-- Bodega. On 26th and nicollet is Azia for dinner/drinks, the cocktail lounge is nice.

maria_so

Hmmm. I was breezing through the posts here last night with recs for Minneapolis and thought I saw one where they say the church is beautiful and we wanted to check it out if it's close by.

Thanks for the wonderful suggestions. I'm not sure about where each thing in our list is so I'm sure I have us jumping from one area to the next. If you guys want to suggest an itinerary suggestions, I would be more than happy to see it!

Thanks!

WhereAreWe

Are you talking about the Basilica in Minneapolis? I don't know what St Peter's Cathedral is (or if there even is one in the Cities, I'm not really a church person).

The Basilica is a few minute walk from the Walker, which is a few minute walk from Loring Park. Probably would take 10 minutes to drive from there to Uptown if you want to eat there. There's also a Wolfgang Puck restaurant in the Walker. So, you're really not jumping around at all with your initial itinerary for the 16th.

Lake Calhoun is nice but crowded and a bit cruisy in summer. It's one of 3 lakes in that immediate area. Lake of the Isles is directly north of Calhoun, quieter and has a lot of expensive residences along the way. Lake Harriet is directly south of Calhoun and is probably in-between in terms of number of people using the path, also has some nice homes but not like Lake of the Isles.

I hope you don't care if you make it to the Myth by 7, because it'll be a bit of a rush to get there if you plan on checking in to the hotel and getting something to eat first. I always have to wait probably at least 10-15 minutes for my luggage at the airport, and add in the time to get your rental car and drive through rush hour traffic and you'll be lucky to be checked in by 6pm.

maria_so

Hmmmm. Maybe we'll just grab dinner on the way. According to google maps, it's only a 25 min drive to maplewood. How long is the drive from the airport to downtown? We have that expess service a/hertz and it never takes us long to get our rental car.

The main reason for the trip was the concert and although keane won't probably start till 8 or so, we don't want to take a chance on missing any of their songs. Is there a restaurant by the venue?

WhereAreWe

Airport to your hotel should be about 20 minutes but will certainly be a bit longer because of rush hour. You're going the opposite direction of most of the traffic that time of day but you'll still hit some slowdowns.

If your plane gets to the gate at 4:40, I'd guess it'll take you 10 minutes or so to get to baggage claim, then another 10-15 minutes to get your bags (now 5:05). You'll have to go down a level and then walk a bit to get to your rental car (allow at least another 10 minutes for that) so it's now 5:15. 30 minutes to get to downtown is hopefully doable for rush hour, and then you still have to check in and get up to your room. Based on all that, I think you'll be lucky to be in your hotel room by 6pm. I live 5-10 minutes south of downtown just off I-35W and it's usually at least 45 minutes from the time I touch down until I get home, and that's without the rush hour traffic and walk to a rental car factored in (and of course, no hotel check in either).

Anyway, I can't answer your question about restaurants near the Myth as I've never been out there. It looks like it's right by the Maplewood Mall so there has to be a bunch of chain restaurants in the vicinity.

maria_so

I looked up restaurants near the address of myth and saw there's a sushi place (Osaka) so I think after we check in, change quickly and go. I suspect we'll be hungry by then and since the sushi place is only a couple blocks away, we can eyeball the time. We. An save time by not checking in luggage. After all, it's only a weekend trip.

Thanks for the advice. How's the weather like in mid may there? Is it warm yet or are we talking still coldish? Keep in mind we live in Houston so a 70 is a little cold for us since we're. Of used to it. Let me correct that - I am not used to it. DH is from England so he's plenty used to the cold. Thanks!

FrankS

May weather in the twin cities can(& will) go both ways. Expect cold, warm, hot , rain, maybe snow, even tornados during your time there(maybe all in the same day). All the while its beautiful. As for action and nightlife, you are going to the right place. Sushi? there is a really good place in Eden Prarie, but thats a ways from your hotel.

cherrybomb

NAMI downtown has good sushi, if memory serves, it is on the corner of 4th Street and 1st Ave

maria_so

sorry, i needed a restaurant near the venue which is in maplewood which is why the sushi idea...

yellowrose477

I agree with Whereweare. It's going to be really tough to get to Myth by 7:00 without eating on the way. You won't be out of the airport before 5:30 in my estimation. With rush hour you won't be at the hotel until 6:15 or so. How about going from the airport right to Maplewood? Then you would have time for a meal before the concert. Otherwise you will be late to the concert, but if that doesn't matter to you - go ahead with your original plans. The Osaka restaurant you are talking about is inside Maplewood Mall and is just one of the food court restaurants along with Taco Bell (although I think that one closed) and Panda Express, etc. There are some nice restaurants around the area like Outback Steak House - but then again the restaurants are all going to take time to sit down and eat. There are a lot of fast food places there which you may need to do if you eat beforehand.

maria_so

thanks for the advice. i guess we can play it by ear that day. if we're running late, then we can just grab take out and if it feels like we have time, we can stop for food. can you recommend actual restaurants in the area close to myth (besides outback steak house)? many thanks!