Sightseeing in Minneapolis might begin with the Chain of Lakes—Lake of the Isles, Lake Calhoun, and Lake Harriet—just a few miles west of downtown; in all, 16 lakes are located within the city limits and more than 1,000 are in close proximity. Minnehaha Falls, the point at which Minnehaha Creek plunges into the Mississippi River, was made famous by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his poem The Song of Hiawatha. A life-size statue of Hiawatha holding his wife Minnehaha is located on an island just above the falls.
For those with an interest in Minneapolis's historical roots, the American Swedish Institute maintains a turn-of-the-century 33-room mansion that displays Swedish immigrant artifacts as well as traveling exhibits. The Ard Godrey House, built in 1849 and the oldest existing frame house in the city, features authentic period furnishings. Minneapolis's early history and development are captured at the Hennepin History Museum.
Fort Snelling, a historic landmark dating from 1820 overlooking Fort Snelling State Park, has been restored to its frontier-era appearance and is open six months a year. At the Minnesota Zoo, seven trails lead to exhibits in natural settings. The Minneapolis Planetarium, with a 40-foot dome, projects over 2,000 stars. More than 1,000 acres cultivated with numerous varieties of trees, flowers, and shrubs make up the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
In both Minneapolis and Saint Paul, business and the arts go hand-in-hand. The Five Percent Club consists of local businesses and corporations that donate five percent of their pretax earnings to the arts, education, or human services. This investment results in such high-quality institutions as the Guthrie Theater, named for Sir Tyrone Guthrie, which ranks as one of the best regional and repertory theater companies in the United States. The Walker Art Center exhibits progressive modern art in an award-winning building designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes, which has been judged among the best art exhibition facilities in the world. The center, housing a permanent collection that represents major twentieth-century movements, also sponsors a program of music, dance, film, theater, and educational activities.
The Minnesota Orchestra, performing at Orchestra Hall on Nicollet Mall and at Ordway Music Theater in Saint Paul, presents a season of concerts that includes a great performers series, the weekender series, a pop series, and a summer festival. Family holiday concerts are performed at Christmas time. The Minnesota Opera performs traditional and new works at the Ordway theater in Saint Paul. Touring Broadway musicals and musical stars perform at the restored Orpheum Theater. The Children's Theater Company offers a world-class theater education program for young people. International theater professionals work with student actors and technicians to present productions of the highest quality. The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, adjacent to the Walker Art Center, was designed by landscape architect Peter Rothschild; it consists of four symmetrical square plazas that display more than 55 works by Henry Moore, George Segal, and Deborah Butterfield, among others. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts showcases world art in a collection of more than 100,000 objects from every period and culture.
Minneapolis celebrates March with a St. Patrick's Day Parade and a Spring Flower Show. The Minneapolis Aquatennial, established in 1940, is a 10-day extravaganza held in late July with a special theme each year; the Aquatennial Association programs over 250 free events that focus on the city's proximity to water. Many Minneapolis festivals honor the city's Scandinavian heritage. Other festivals celebrate ethnic cultures with music, dance, food, arts, and crafts. Uptown Art Fair, one of the largest such events in the country, is held on a weekend in early August.
The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome is home to two of the city's major sports franchises; the Minnesota Twins of the Central Division of baseball's American League and the Minnesota Vikings of the Central Division of the National Football League play their home games in this domed stadium, conveniently located downtown. The National Basketball Association's Timberwolves play at the Target Center. Women's National Basketball Association team the Minnesota Lynx came to the Twin Cities in 2000. Sports fans can also attend major and minor sporting events at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, which fields Big Ten teams like the Gophers, who play to sellout crowds.
Minneapolis is one of the country's most naturally beautiful cities, enhanced by 107 playgrounds, 8 community centers, 7 municipal golf links, and 16 lakes within the city limits. The abundance of easily accessible water makes possible a full range of water sports and activities in both summer and winter. Four thousand acres of city park land are available for swimming, canoeing, sailing, windsurfing, waterskiing, roller-skating, and biking along with softball, tennis, and golf; about 136,900 acres of land are set aside in the Twin Cities region for parks, trails, and wildlife management areas. Winter sports include skating, skiing, snowshoeing, and ice fishing.
Minneapolis is the originator on a grand scale of the "second floor city" concept, integrating essentially two downtowns—a sidewalk-level traditional downtown and a second city joined by an elaborate skywalk system. Nicollet Mall, completed in 1967, redefined the urban downtown and eliminated the element of weather as a deterrent to the shopper. This all-weather skywalk system connects an indoor shopping center whose four major department stores and hundreds of specialty shops cover 34 city blocks. Shopping activity is also a part of the City Center mall, undergoing renovations in 2005. St. Anthony Main, along the historic Mississippi riverfront, consists of old warehouses and office buildings converted to a shopping center. Suburban Bloomington is home to the largest mall in North America, the Mall of America.
Elegant dining is possible at The 510 Restaurant, Goodfellow's, and Rosewood Room, named by Food and Wine magazine as Distinguished Restaurants of North America. Dinner cruises on the Mississippi River are offered during the summer.
Visitor Information: The Greater Minneapolis Convention & Visitors Center, 250 Marquette South, Ste 1300, Minneapolis, MN 55402; telephone (612)335-5827 or (800)445-7412