Hello from Minnesota

This trackable's goal is to reach as many U.S. states and territories as possible before returning home to Minnesota.

Greetings from Minnesota! I hope this little travel bug makes it across the whole USA.  Never been to Minnesota?  Here are some my favorite things about my home state:

- Minnesota means 'clear water' in the Dakota language.  We're known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes.  We're proud of them all, including Lake Superior, Lake of the Woods, Mille Lacs and more.  Even our downtown area has lakes.  Lake of the Isles, Lake Calhoun, and Lake Harriet are just a few miles from downtown Minneapolis and have great walking paths; they are easy to get to if you are in town for a visit.

- Did you know most of the movie Fargo was filmed here? The accents are exaggerated, but there is some truth to it :-). We are also home to the Minneapolis-St Paul International Film Festival (usually in March/April), the largest in the Midwest. If you are lucky you might be in town during the '48 hour Film Project' or the 'Found Footage Festival'.  Check out some of our historic & independent movie theaters (Riverview Theater, The Heights and the Uptown Theater), or live theaters such as the world-renowned Guthrie Theatre.

 - Lots of the Twin Cities venues and landmarks are easy to reach by Lightrail Transit or by bicycle; we are bicycle friendly . There is a transit line that runs from the airport/Mall of America into downtown Minneapolis. If you come to see the MN Twins at our amazing baseball stadium, you can get from airport to stadium in less than 25 minutes; you don't need a rental car.  Bike rentals are available at stations all over the metro area from NiceRideMN.org.  Our downtown areas are packed with good restaurants, hotels & things to do.  In June 2014 a new transit line is opening that will take you to St Paul, where you can visit the Children's museum, the Science Museum of MN, and the MN History Center, to name a few.

- We have great breweries, including Surly, Fulton, Summit, August Schell's, Pig's Eye, and Indeed. Thanks to a change in 2011 law, smaller brewers are allowed to sell their product on site.  Try out a taproom near downtown Minneapolis, like Indeed Brewing Company,  Sociable Cider Werks, 612 Brew, Harriet Brewing or Fulton Brewery.

- We like music too...and it's not all about Prince (did you see Purple Rain?).  Try the Minnesota Orchestra, St Paul Chamber Orchestra, or the Minnesota Opera, for starters. If that's not your style, no problem -- we have a ridiculous number of live music venues for every genre imaginable.

 - Yeah, it gets cold sometimes.  We've been known to have a few days/weeks in the negative 10-20 degree range in the depth of winter.  Could be worse: wayyyyyyy up north near Tower, MN it gets much colder (record low of -60 F on Feb 2, 1996). But don't let that scare you; it doesn't scare us.  Minnesotan's really get into winter sports and turn out in droves for the US Pond Hockey Tournament and cross-country skiing event, theTwin Cities Loppet.  We sled, skate and snow-tube; we attend the St Paul Winter Carnival or the 'Crashed Ice' event in Jan/Feb. We throw cups of boiling water in the air & post it on You Tube........

- It's BEAUTIFUL here in Summer, Spring and Fall.  Warm weather is a great time to canoe or kayak, visit the headwaters of the Mississippi river in Itaska, MN, backpack in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, boat on the St. Croix or Mississippi River.

Hopefully you'll come for a visit.  Unitl then, Happy caching!