My anxiety level was high right before this trip to Minnesota because everyone was talking about the winter snow storm that will be hitting Chicago and the surrounding areas, so I wasn’t sure if I can still go on this trip. The good news was that later in the evening, things cleared out and it didn’t snow at all in the area! Maybe some rain, and extreme winds so I decided to go right after I got off work!
Outdoors
Minnehaha Falls: I was planning to do some hiking here, but this is NOT a hiking trail. It’s inside a park where you don’t need to do any hiking to see the very well-known (in Minnesota) waterfall. It was frozen and it looked very scenic!
Fort Snelling State Park: I was expecting to hike someplace in Minnesota, so I was looking for a state park or anywhere else I can do some hiking near Minneapolis. I thought I would be able to spend some time hiking at Minnehaha Falls, but I realized this place is not for hiking. Thank to Google Maps, I was able to locate a good hiking place near Minnehaha Falls, which was Fort Snelling State Park, where I actually did spend time outside. The trail was covered in snow, but microspikes were not necessary.
Art: Walker Center & Sculpture Garden
I was trying to get to the outdoor sculpture garden to see the Spoon Bridge & cherry, which is one of the famous touristy places in Minneapolis (see the photo below) and I didn’t know anything about Walker Center (art gallery right next to the sculpture garden) until I got there. I didn’t know that every first Saturday of each month is free for visitors at the Walker Center.. and guess what?? The day I visited was the first Saturday in March!! With free admission, I saw lots of cool artwork!
After spending some time indoors at the walker center, I went outside to check out the sculpture garden. Yep, the spoon bridge & cherry was there and I took a bunch of photos. I also met two girls from Hawaii and we took turns taking photos for each other.
Shopping - Mall of America
I also went shopping in the evening to see the biggest mall in the US! I saw a lot of familiar stores like H&M, Zara, Barnes & Noble etc. so nothing was new, but still it was nice to browse through some of the stores! I didn't spend a whole lot of time here because I am used to seeing all these shops in Illinois but it was cool to see the size of the mall and to spend some time inside as well. There was an indoor amuseument park as well.
Final thoughts: I had a great time in Minneapolis! Hiking was fun, feeding my artsy soul was really rewarding and spending time inside shopping was also a good way to wrap up my travels. Next time, I should head north of Minneapolis to explore more of the hiking areas that are stunning. I wish I had more time and not have to worry about heading back home, but still it was a great way to see the beauty of Minneapolis.
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