The Twin Cities share the Mississippi River, but have little else in common. In general, Minneapolis has fashion, culture, and reflective glass, while St. Paul has a greater small-town feel, more enjoyable baseball, and the state Capitol. Together, the Twin Cities are a typically sprawling American metropolis with an atypically wholesome reputation: safe, liberal-minded, welcoming to strangers, and inclined to go to bed early. Don’t fret, there’s enough to keep the visitor fully entertained.
The best place to stop and get a feel for the Twin Cities is at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, on Lyndale Avenue along I-94 (daily 6 am–midnight; free). This is one of the city’s finer urban oases, with over 40 works of art ranging from Henry Moore to Claes Oldenburg’s Pop Art “Spoonbridge with Cherry.” Running over the I-94 freeway, a sculptural footbridge adorned with words from a John Ashbery poem connects the sculpture garden to Loring Park and the pedestrian greenway to downtown (a roller blader’s heaven). Next to the garden is the Walker Art Center (closed Mon.; $6; 612/375-7622), rightfully renowned as one of the nation’s finest contemporary art museums, and an architectural marvel.
Across the Mississippi in St. Paul, the Minnesota History Center (closed Mon.; $8; 651/296-6126), off I-94 at 345 W. Kellogg Boulevard, will further convince you there’s more to Minnesota than meets the eye. Start with the Tales of the Territory historical exhibit on the third floor, to ground yourself in the mid-19th century setting in which the state of Minnesota rapidly emerged out of a thickly forested Indian territory. There’s also a truly interactive Music in Minnesota section, where you can record your own version of the Twin Cities’ disco smash, “Funkytown,” or dance in a re-created 1940s swing ballroom. Exhausting? Maybe. Worth it? You bet!
One advantange of visiting the Twin Cities: Baseball fans have a choice. The major-league Minnesota Twins play indoors at the Hubert Humphrey Metrodome ($5–25; 612/338-9467), off I-35W at the 3rd Street exit. The unaffiliated, independent, and generally anarchic St. Paul Saints play outdoors at usually sold-out Midway Stadium ($4–10; 651/644-3517), 1771 Energy Park Drive, north of I-94 at the Snelling Avenue exit. The fun-loving Saints fans cheer as freight trains rumble past the outfield fences, and take an inordinate amount of pleasure from the fact the team is sponsored by trash collection company WMI.
