Minnesota Travel Guide

Minnesota is a state in the Midwest of the USA. Known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes, it technically has well over 15,000. The northern tip of Minnesota that juts into Lake of the Woods is the most northern point in the lower 48 states of the USA.

Minnesota Travel Guide - Regions

* Twin Cities
* Northwestern Minnesota
* Northeastern Minnesota
* Southern Minnesota

Minnesota Travel Guide - Cities

* Bloomington
* Chanhassen
* Darwin
* Duluth
* Frost
* Mankato
* Minneapolis
* Moorhead
* Northfield
* Rochester
* St. Cloud
* Saint Louis Park
* St. Paul
* Stillwater
* Winona
* Virginia

Minnesota Travel Guide - Other Destinations

* Mall of America
* Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
* Flandrau state park
* Voyageurs National Park
* Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
* Lake Superior
* Minnesota Zoo

Minnesota Travel Guide - Talk

The stereotypical Minnesotan dialect as popularized in the film Fargo is more prevalent in northern and rural parts of the state than it is in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, but it is by no means non-existant even there. The dialect is characterized by long vowels (especially Os as found in the word "boat") and a sing-songy intonation.

In addition to a unique dialect, Minnesota also has seveal phrases and colloquial expressions that can be overheard somewhat frequently. These include:

* You betcha (You bet)
* Hot dish (Casserole)
* Oh yah (Yes)

Minnesota Travel Guide - Getting There

Three Interstate Highways travel through Minnesota. I-90 and I-94 travel East-West, while I-35 travels North-South. Several other national and state highways also travel through the state.

The Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) a major hub for Northwest Airlines, while regional airports exist in Duluth (DLH), Rochester (RST), Saint Cloud (STC), Brainerd (BRD), Bemidji (BJI), Thief River Falls (TRF), Hibbing (HIB), and International Falls (INL).

For rail travel, there are Amtrak stations in La Crosse (Wisconsin), Winona, Red Wing, Saint Paul, Saint Cloud, Staples, Detroit Lakes, Fargo (North Dakota), and Grand Forks (North Dakota). These are served by the Empire Builder daily, which runs from Chicago to Seattle/Portland.

For bus travel, both Minneapolis and St. Paul are served by Greyhound.

Minnesota Travel Guide - Getting There

The Metro Transit offers bus and light rail services to the Twin Cities and their surrounding suburbs. Average fare for either service is typically $1.50. The fare buys the rider a pass that can be used to ride on or transfer to any Metro Transit bus or train for 150 minutes.

The relatively new light rail service offers a visitor-friendly line that connects the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), the Mall of America, the Warehouse District, and downtown Minneapolis among other places.

Minnesota Travel Guide - Things To See

Twin Cities

* Walker Art Center and adjacent Sculpture Garden, near downtown Minneapolis.
* Science Museum of Minnesota, in downtown Saint Paul.
* Gutherie Theater, newly opened, June 2006

Duluth

* Canal Park
* Glensheen Mansion, locally famous "haunted" mansion.
* Great Lakes Aquarium

Rochester

* Mayo Clinic, an internationally-known hospital.

Outstate

* Itasca State Park, home to the Mississippi River headwaters.
* Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), part of the Superior National Forest.
* Pipestone National Monument, home to Native American petroglyphs.

Minnesota Travel Guide - Events

* Minneapolis Aquatennial
* St. Paul Winter Carnival
* Minnesota Irish Fair

Minnesota Travel Guide - Drink

In Minnesota, as in the rest of the United States, the drinking age is 21. If you appear to be under the age of 30, expect to be asked for a photo ID when entering a bar or making a purchase at a liquor store. Unlike other states, you cannot buy alcohol in a grocery store, unless it is 3.2 beer, which is a low-alcohol beer containing only 3.2% alcohol by weight (4% alcohol by volume) that quite frankly, isn't very good. Some grocery stores don't even bother selling 3.2 beer even though they are allowed to. If you want regular beer, wine, or other alcoholic products, it can be purchased at a liquor store. Please note that liquor stores are closed on Sundays in accordance with Minnesota state law, meaning that you cannot purchase any alcohol for home consumption on that day. This is less of a problem if you are near a neighboring state with less restrictive liquor laws. Residents of the Twin Cities region have been known to make the short drive to Wisconsin on Sundays to purchase alcohol.

Minnesota Travel Guide - Protected Lands

Minnesota is home to a wide variety of public open space and park lands. Minnesota's first state park, Itasca State Park, which is the official source of the Mississippi River, was established in 1891. Today Minnesota has 71 State Parks. The state has two national forests, the Chippewa National Forest and the Superior National Forest. Inside of the Superior National Forest on the northeastern border of the state, lies the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which encompasses over a million acres and 1000 lakes. The state also has 53 state forests and numerous other wildlife preserves and regional parks. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is in charge of managing state parks and forests.

Minnesota Travel Guide - Cities and Towns

The capital city of Minnesota is Saint Paul, located in the east-central part of the state along the banks of the Mississippi River. Saint Paul is adjacent to Minnesota's largest and most populous city, Minneapolis; together they and their suburbs are known as the Twin Cities metropolitan area, the 16th largest metropolitan area in the United States and home to about 60% of the state's population as of April 1, 2005. The remainder of the state is known as Greater Minnesota or Outstate Minnesota.

Minnesota cities with estimated 2005 populations above fifty thousand are, in descending order: Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Rochester, Duluth, Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Plymouth, Eagan, St. Cloud, Coon Rapids, Burnsville, Eden Prairie, Maple Grove, Woodbury, Blaine, Lakeville, and Minnetonka. Of these, only Rochester, Duluth, and St. Cloud are outside the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Minnesota's population continues to grow, but most of that growth is in the urban centers. Of the state's 87 counties, 40 lost population between 1980 and 2000, however two of the fastest growing were Sherburne and Scott which are part of the Twin Cities metro area.

Minnesota Travel Guide - Fine and Performing Arts

The Twin Cities area is considered the capital for the arts in the upper midwest. Major fine art museums include the Weisman Art Museum, the Walker Art Center, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Attendance at theatrical, musical, and comedy events across the area is strong, which may be attributed to the cold winters, the large number of colleges and universities, and a generally vibrant economy. In 2000, 2.3 million theater tickets were sold in the Twin Cities region, which is more theater seats per capita than in any other American city, except New York City. The Minneapolis Fringe Festival is an annual celebration of theatre, dance, improvisation, puppetry, kids’ shows, visual art, and musicals. The festival consists of 876 performances over 11 days in the summer and is the largest non-juried performing arts festival in the United States. The Guthrie Theater facility, which opened in 2006, boasts three separate stages at a convenient urban center overlooking the Mississippi River. The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Minnesota Orchestra are full-time professional musical ensembles providing concerts and educational programs to the community.

Minnesota Travel Guide - Entertainment

Minnesotan musicians from all genres have been popular over the years, producing such nationally-known acts artists as Andrews Sisters, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, and Prince in the 1980s.

Minnesota and Wisconsin have also contributed significantly to comedy in its different forms. Ole and Lena jokes can't be fully appreciated unless delivered in the accent of Scandinavian-Americans. Garrison Keillor is known around the country for resurrecting the old-style radio comedy with A Prairie Home Companion which has been on the air since the 1970s. Local television had the satirical show The Bedtime Nooz in the 1960s, while area natives Lizz Winstead and Craig Kilborn helped create the increasingly influential Daily Show decades later. Joel and Ethan Coen have produced many films featuring dark comedy, and numerous others brought the offbeat cult shows Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Let's Bowl to the national cable-waves from the Twin Cities.

Minnesota Travel Guide - Popular Culture

Stereotypical Minnesotan traits include Lutheranism, "Minnesota nice," hot dish (casserole), lutefisk (a pungent preparation of fish from Scandinavian recipes that include soaking the fish in lye), a strong sense of community and shared culture with other Minnesotans, Minnesota's form of Upper Midwest American English (including Scandinavian-sounding words like "uff da"), and a distinctive type of upper Midwestern accent. The book How to Talk Minnesotan made fun of these stereotypical traits of Minnesotans.

The Minnesota State Fair, advertised as The Great Minnesota Get Together is the icon of state culture. Its 2006 attendance of 1,680,579 visitors lends credence to to its significance. Although the fair covers a wide swath of genres including fine art, science, agriculture, food preparation, 4H displays, music, the midway, and corporate merchandising, the Minnesota state fair is known for the displays of seed art, butter sculptures of dairy princesses, the birthing barn, and hundreds of varieties of food on a stick (such as Hot Dog on a Stick). Other annual festivals in the state include the Aquatennial, the Saint Paul Winter Carnival, the Mill City Music Festival, and the 10,000 Lakes Music Festival.

Minnesota Travel Guide - Outdoor Recreation

Outdoor activities are major parts of the lives of many Minnesotans. Fishing is popular in Minnesota; more than 36% of Minnesotans fish, which is second only to Alaska. During the winter ice fishing is popular, as it has been since the arrival of early Scandinavian immigrants. Hunting is another common activity. Families frequently own or share cabins on central and northern tracts of land in forests and adjoining lakes, and weekend trips out to these properties are common, particularly in the summer. A concern for environmentalism is shared by most state residents in one form or another, which is sometimes attributed to the popularity of these outdoor activities.

The 71 state parks which protect diverse landscapes in a state of nature are quite popular. As with other North Woods states (such as Wisconsin, Michigan, and Maine), residents like to joke that the mosquito is the state bird because of their high populations in these areas. In reality, Minnesota's state bird is the common loon.

Minnesota Travel Guide - Transportation

Transportation in Minnesota is overseen by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Principal transportation corridors radiate out from the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area and Duluth. Major Interstate highways are I-35, I-90, and I-94, with I-35 and I-94 passing through the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, and I-90 going east-west at the southern edge of the state. In 2006 a Constitutional Amendment was passed in the state, requiring sales and use taxes levied on motor vehicles to be dedicated to transportation, specifying at least 40% toward public transit. There are nearly two dozen rail corridors within the State, most of which go to or through Minneapolis-St. Paul or Duluth. There is water transportation along the Mississippi River system and from Lake Superior ports.

Minnesota's principal airport is Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), the headquarters and a major passenger and freight hub for Northwest Airlines. MSP is also a hub for Sun Country Airlines, and is served by most other domestic carriers. Large commercial jet service is also provided at Duluth and Rochester, with scheduled commuter service to six smaller cities via Eagan-based Mesaba Airlines.

Amtrak's Empire Builder runs through Minnesota, making stops at Midway Station in St. Paul and five other stations. Intercity bus service is provided by Greyhound, Jefferson Lines, and Coach USA.

Public transit in Minnesota is currently limited to bus systems in the larger cities and the Hiawatha Line light rail corridor in the Minneapolis - St. Paul area.

Minnesota Travel Guide - Nicknames

* "Land of 10,000 Lakes"
* "North Star State"
* "Gopher State"
* "Land of Sky-Blue Waters"
* "Bread and Butter State"

Minnesota Travel Guide - Stay Safe

Minnesota has one of the lowest crime rates in the nation.

Article Source: Wikipedia