Things to do in the Twin Cities:

Breweries!

Recently there has been an explosion of really great breweries in the Twin Cities. You'll notice that there are a lot of hipsters in Minneapolis. The one redeeming factor of hipsters is that somehow their beards, skinny jeans, and one speed bikes help them make fantastic beer. If you're trying to kill some time, try doing a brewery pub crawl – the north side of downtown Minneapolis has brew-pubs every few blocks. If you're just trying to check out one or two here are some of my favorites: Surly Brewery (it's huge), Summit Brewery (St. Paul area), Fulton Brewery (Downtown Minneapolis right by the new baseball stadium), and for those wanting something other than beer I've heard that Sociable Cider Werks (hard ciders) is also great.

Mall of America (Free to go):

This is in Bloomington, a southern suburb of Minneapolis and is the largest mall in the United States. It's fun to walk around even if you're not looking to buy anything (the people watching is great too). The place is so big that they have to have several of the same stores because it would take too long to walk to the other side of the mall. In the middle of the mall there's a big Nickelodeon theme park similar to a six flags. In the bottom of the mall there's a huge aquarium with sharks, etc. It's big enough to have a theme park. And an aquarium. Inside of it. Worth seeing.

Minneapolis Sculpture Gardens (Free):

This is a big area just barely outside of Downtown Minneapolis, and is a fun area to walk around to kill a few hours. There are a lot of old mansions in the area, and the sculptures throughout the park and pretty neat (some of them you can play on too – added bonus!)

Stone Arch Bridge/St. Anthony Main (Free):

The Stone Arch Bridge is a pedestrian bridge just north of Downtown Minneapolis that crosses the Mississippi river. The bridge is a really pretty area where you can see the river go over a fall and catch a great view of the downtown area. On the north side of the bridge is an area called St Anthony Main, which in the old days was an industrial part of town, but has now been renovated to include a park and a lot of great restaurants/pubs right along the river.

Minnesota Zoo ($18 teen/adults, $12 ages 3-12, Free ages 0-2):

The zoo is in the southern suburbs of the Twin Cities and is actually a really impressive zoo, with a lot of exhibits both inside (if it's cold) and outside (if you're brave enough to face the cold). This is a great place to spend a few hours, with or without the kids.

Como Zoo (free)

The Como Zoo is much smaller than the Minnesota Zoo and is just outside of St. Paul. Even though it's smaller than the Minnesota Zoo there's still a lot to do and see here, and the best part is that it's free.

Science Museum of MN ($):

I know what you're thinking: "A science museum!? What kind of person do you think I am?" While I won't answer that question, I will say that the museum is actually really cool. Giant dinosaur fossils, cool science experiments that you can play with throughout the museum, and lots of neat history throughout. The museum is also in a neat area just outside of Downtown St Paul with great views of the river valley, across the street from the hockey arena, and walking distance to a nice downtown area.

Restaurants

Butcher and the Boar ($$): If you know me (Jaysin), you know I don't like spending money.The Butcher and the Boar restaurant is my exception. The place is expensive – you can expect to spend about $60/person after food and drinks, BUT the food is unreal and you get a lot of it.The restaurant is in Downtown Minneapolis and specializes in various types of ecstasy inducing grilled meats. So good.

The Lowry ($): Just outside of downtown Minneapolis, this restaurant has fantastic breakfast, and although I've never been there for it, I've heard their lunch and dinner is equally tasty.

Vivo ($): In the southern suburbs of the Twin Cities, this restaurant has great food all day long. Really tasty, so you can't go wrong