Thrifty Travel Fun: Minneapolis, MN

Thrifty Travel Fun: Minneapolis, MN Read Post

Minneapolis Minnesota

Thrifty Travel Fun: Minneapolis, MN

Mulling over family trip destinations? The City of Lakes boasts endless family-friendly activities, from a healthy selection of museums to endless fresh air adventures. Add the three activities below to your list - your kids may even discover a passion for puppetry!

Photo by Manicosity / Flickr

1. In the Heart of the Beast, Minneapolis' very own puppet theater, offers colorful, friendly, Saturday morning puppet shows for kids, for a small suggested donation. Show leave the kids considering a future in puppetry? Stay afterwards for a Make-n-Take workshop!

2. Tracking down the local farmers' market is always a fantastic way to soak up some local culture, and even better, the Midtown Global Market hosts Wee Wednesdays: you and your little tyke can dig in to some free, educational programming and hands-on activities, and the little one will even be served a free lunch afterwards at a nearby restaurant.

3. Leave the bustle of the city behind and let the little ones play at fairies in the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary. Fifteen acres of preserved land make the Sanctuary the oldest public wildflower garden in the nation, and give brave adventurers plenty of space for exploring this Midwest wonderland.

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Mississippi Road Trip Day 3: Bemedji to Lake Itasca to Minneapolis

Mississippi Road Trip Day 3: Bemedji to Lake Itasca to Minneapolis Read Post

Minnesota

Mississippi Road Trip Day 3: Bemedji to Lake Itasca to Minneapolis

The Rundown

High point of the day: We visit the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota. Wading through the waters, we walk across the river where it starts its 2,552 mile journey to the Gulf of Mexico. The kids put on their swim suits and jump around in the cool, fresh water. We see loons and a snapping turtle.

Quote of the day: “If you want to write about something provocative you should cover the controversy over where the real headwaters of the Mississippi is," says Maris Kurmis of Minneapolis, who we meet at the headwaters. "Some people think it's Lake Itasca but others insist it's Elk Lake. People round here can get really worked up over this."

Low point of the day: A mother duck and her ducklings are waddling across the freeway between Lake Itasca and Minneapolis. My husband changes lanes to avoid them but the semi-truck behind us runs right over them. The urban-wilderness interface is often unkind to the little creatures.

Photo of the day: The headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota.
Sound bite of the day: Nels Tryggestad was dropping a fishing line into the Mississippi River in Little Falls, Minn., between Lake Itasca and Minneapolis.

Miles: 254 miles
Total miles: 574
Hours in car: 7
Total hours in car: 11
Weather: Sunny, clear, 85 degrees

Expenses
Hotel: $76 (Best Western Bemidji Inn)
Breakfast: free at hotel
Lunch: $13.69 (Lueken’s Village Foods/picnic of two sandwiches, fruit salad, cranberries)
Itasca State Park entrance fee: $5
Pressed penny: 51 cents
Soda: $2
Gas: $31.76
Dinner: $16.30 (Morey’s Fish/picnic of peeled shrimp, smoked salmon, cheese and crackers)
Dessert: $4.26 (Culver’s Frozen Custard/one medium)
Coffee: $1.70
Total: $146.96
Total for trip: $335.21

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Mississippi Road Trip Day 2: Monticello to Bemidji

Mississippi Road Trip Day 2: Monticello to Bemidji Read Post

Minnesota

Mississippi Road Trip Day 2: Monticello to Bemidji

The Rundown

High point of the day: We stop at the Boondocks Cafe in Wadena on our way to northern Minnesota and the waitress gives my husband a free slice of cheesecake for Father's Day.

Low point of the day: It's pouring down rain outside. Our waitress at the Boondocks Cafe tells us there was a tornado warning last Thursday, the night of the town parade. The police department directed the spectators into the restaurant basement. I begin to worry about the weather.

Quote of the day: "What's all that stuff on your sandwich?” my 4-year-old son Dante asks his father about the turkey sandwich that is drowned in gravy at the Boondocks.

Sound bite of the day: Boondocks Cafe waitress Laureen Huttenen shares the day's specials.
Photo of the day: An 18-foot-tall Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe in Bemidji, Minn.
Miles: 200 miles
Total miles: 320
Hours in car: 4
Weather: It's raining! It's pouring!

Expenses
Hotel: $86.25 (Best Western Chelsea Inn, Monticello)
Breakfast: free at hotel
Lunch: $21.41 (Boondocks Café, Wadena, Minn.)
Dinner: $25 (Dave's Pizza/I read on Chowhound.com that it's as good as what you get in Italy, and the thin crust pizza slathered in a fresh tomato sauce and heaped with tasty mozzarella is really that good. Who would have expected this in northern Minnesota?)
Total for the day: $132.66
Total for the trip: $188.25

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