I often share “Fits on the Road” posts when I travel to different locations. Today, I thought it would be fun to share what I did during my parents’ recent visit to MY city…A Fits on the Road Stay-cation- Twin Cities edition!
They arrived Sunday afternoon from LaCrosse WI, where they had visited my younger sister, who was there visiting her in-laws. For the Sunday of their arrival, I had pre-booked four tickets for a Summit Avenue Walking tour that began at 2 pm.
Tickets were only $9/each. We met at the James J. Hill house with about 8 other tourists. Our guide worked for the Minnesota Historicial Society and she was wonderful! The focus of the tour was on the architecture, the history, and the preservation of these beautiful old homes.
It was really nice to learn about the history of this gorgeous street. I often run past all these houses during my run club’s Capitol Run, but I had never stopped to really look at each of these beautiful homes. Well worth the time to slow things down.
The below house is the oldest standing house on Summit.
The tour takes about 2 hours, after which we popped into the St. Paul Cathedral for a quick look as well (so pretty!)
We also checked out the McNeely Conservatory by the Como Zoo. There was a cool bonsai tree exhibit going on that my parents enjoyed and of course the flowers and ferns are always lovely.
The Como Zoo is right nearby too, though I’m not a fan of zoos…they usually make me sad.
So pretty.
We had dinner at the Blue Door Pub, where my parents had their first Jucy Lucy- a Minnesota tradition!
Monday of their visit was cold and rainy, but we stuck with our plan to explore the quaint town of Excelsior. I had hoped to stop by Excelsior Brewing, but they are closed on Mondays. Instead, we grabbed coffee and went for a brisk stroll.
Even though the weather was cold, we still stopped for some custard at Adele’s.
Lunch was at Lagos Tacos, of which I didn’t get a picture. The rest of this afternoon was spent at our house. We are about to begin a pretty large remodel on our house and my dad is incredibly handy, so Dustin and he did quite a bit of “pre-work” in the basement.
Eventually, we took a break for dinner at Pizzeria Lola. Pizzeria Lola is probably one of my favorite pizza places in the Twin Cities (other than Punch Pizza of course.)
Tuesday morning, my parents requested puppy dog tails at Isles Buns! This tiny bakery is always a crowd-pleaser, as long you don’t mind the sugar overload!
After breakfast, we went to the Mill City Museum, which is an AWESOME place to take visitors. I can’t recommend this museum enough. I just love it, for adults or for kids. It was my first time catching the “Minneapolis History in 19 minutes” movie, which was so great!
Once again, the rest of the afternoon was spent doing work at the house (and taking Matilda for walks), until we had a tasty dinner at Trattoria Tosca in Linden Hills.
Though the weather could have been better for the visit, I still think I was able to show my parents a few highlights in the Twin Cities. However, I’m always looking for ideas of other things to do with visitors (especially my family!)
If you have some favorites/recommendations, please share in the comments!
Wow — what a fun few days! I love the puppy dog tails at Isles and it’s been too long since I’ve had one. I didn’t know about the Summit walking tours — I’m going to have to check that out!
Haha, the puppy dog tails are so good 🙂 but definitely an occasional treat!
Puppy dog tails are one of the best kept (or not kept) secrets in Minneapolis, I swear 🙂 We always grab a dozen when we have visitors in town overnight!
Exactly! So good..it is kind of a “secret” though, since its just a tiny place…they definitely do good business!
For all the years I lived in Saint Paul and runs I’ve done down Summit Avenue, I’ve yet to do the walking tour. That will be changing this summer… thanks for the great tip! I think I need to talk my parents on it, too, during their next visit 🙂 You could visit Stillwater, too! Or, the caves… are those in Saint Paul, too? And, Minnehaha! I love this city 🙂 I’m now jones-ing for a puppy dog tail… those are SO GOOD!
Great suggestions erin, thank you! I have been meaning to check out the caves and do the gangster tour…On my to-do list!