Guide To Minnesota For The Holidays
Make the most of the winter holidays by enjoying the best Minnesota has to offer. Here are five exciting special events, combined with unrivaled cuisine and lodging choices, rolled into one getaway guide for the holidays. Out-of-towners traveling to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport (MSP) can find taxi, limousine service or rental cars. Your lodging destination should be no more than 20 minutes away. Flyers to Duluth airport can choose between taxi or car rental to get to their destination.
Best of Duluth for the Holidays
Bentleyville Tour of Lights
Bayfront Festival Park
700 Railroad St.
Duluth, MN 55802
(218) 740-3535
www.bentleyvilleusa.org
Dates: Through Dec. 28, 2013
Fitger's Brewhouse
600 E. Superior St.
Duluth, MN 55802
(218) 279-2739
www.brewhouse.net
Canal Park Lodge
250 Canal Park Drive
Duluth, MN 55802
(218) 279-6000
www.canalparklodge.com
Three million lights and the tallest Christmas tree in the U.S. are less than a 2.5-hour drive north of the metro area. Its only 45 minutes by plane. New York City's famous Rockefeller Plaza Christmas Tree is only half the height of this Duluth-based monster. America's largest walk through a lighting display is spectacular and best of all, it is free. Warm up after the walk with a burger and beer at Fitger's Brewhouse. The more adventurous can try an elk burger, a Lake Superior smoked fish wrap or a vegetarian specialty. Wash it down with Witch Tree E.S.B. or Big Boat Oatmeal Stout, two cask-conditioned medal-winning ales. Spend the evening with local or touring entertainment. That's all anyone would need for a long winter's nap at Canal Park Lodge. Get a room with a beautiful view of Lake Superior and relax in a whirlpool.
Best Family Kwanzaa Celebration
Minnesota History Center
345 W. Kellogg Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55102
(651) 259-3000
www.mnhs.org
Date: Dec. 28, 2013
from noon to 4 p.m.
Plan for a day of storytelling, music, dance, fashion, crafts, food demos and an art activity with family and friends. Kwanzaa celebrates seven basic values of African culture over seven days. The History Center chooses one of the seven days of Kwanzaa each year to celebrate the value of that day. The seven core principles are unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.
Best Family New Year's Eve Celebration
Miracles of Mitch Foundation New Years Eve Celebration
www.miraclesofmitch.org
Date: Dec. 31, 2013 from 5 p.m. to Midnight
Join 500 people in a kid-friendly New Year's celebration made especially for children with cancer. Miracles of Mitch Foundation makes this event possible. Starting with a social hour at 5 p.m., followed by a special banquet, the kids will have a hard time waiting for the magician and comedian at 7:30 p.m., activities, dance and snacks, culminating in a balloon drop at midnight. You can take in another great party at Rock the Universe by going next door to Mall of America. Meet Nickelodeon characters, dance, sing with a party band and then start the family countdown to 2014 at 10 p.m. The next day, back at the Hilton, executive chef Eric and the hotel staff will welcome New Year's Day with a fabulous brunch.
Best of Minneapolis
Marquette Hotel
710 Marquette Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55402
(612) 333-4545
www.marquettehotel.com
La Belle Vie
510 Groveland Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55403
(612) 874-6440
www.labellevie.us
The 2013 British Arrows Awards
The Walker Art Center
1750 Hennepin Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55403
(612) 375-7600
www.walkerart.org
Date: Through Jan. 6, 2014
Brit's Pub
1110 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, MN 55403
(612) 332-3908
www.britspub.com
Pull into the IDS Center parking ramp at Seventh and Marquette in the middle of downtown Minneapolis. After settling into your suite, enjoy the ambiance at the MARQ VII Lounge. Or go to Basil's Restaurant for a nice dinner while overlooking the Crystal Court in the IDS Center. The next morning, enjoy a free breakfast buffet for two. Then, head for the Skyway level and grab a Starbucks. Get on the Minneapolis Sky Way System to Macy's, JB Hudson Jewelers, Gaviidae Common Shopping Mall or Saks Off Fifth all within a block. Take your car or cab a few blocks away to the Walker Art Center for a matinee screening of the 2013 British Arrows Awards. Formerly called the British Television Advertising Awards, this eclectic mix of wit and genius from across the pond cites the best television, online, outdoor and cinema ads. After the show, you are ready to go across Hennepin Avenue to La Belle Vie. It is the "ultimate Twin Cities dining experience," according to Jeremy Lggers of the Star Tribune. Plan for at least a three-hour experience. You will never forget it. End your evening with an after-dinner drink at Brit's Pub on the way back to the hotel and recount the Arrow Awards.
Best of St. Paul
The St Paul Hotel
350 Market St.
St. Paul, MN 55102
(651) 292-9292
www.saintpaulhotel.com
Historic Cathedral Hill - Dacotah Building
W.A. Frost and Co. Restaurant
374 Selby Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55102
(651) 224-5715
www.wafrost.com
American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition
Minnesota History Center
345 W. Kellogg Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55102
(651) 259-3000
www.minnesotahistorycenter.org
Date: Through March 16, 2014
Check in at a Minnesota landmark, the St. Paul Hotel, on Market Street. Then see the first comprehensive exhibition about an era that is talked about with great nostalgia to this day. "American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition" relives the simultaneous struggles and success of the suffragettes and the temperance movement and the passage of the 18th Amendment in 1919. Vivid accounts of Carrie Nation, rumrunners, bootleggers and legends like Al Capone show what it was like to live in the much-storied era. Where else would one go, once imbued with a vivid memory of the earlier era, than the historic Dacotah Building, likely to have been frequented by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the most famous chronicler of those times and places.
Robin Johnson was born in Annandale, Minn. and graduated from Richfield High School and then the University of Minnesota where he studied Political Science, Business and Industrial Relations. A writer for Examiner.com, he also consults with a variety of organizations and individuals helping them develop and grow. His work can be found at Examiner.com.
