NSF Bridge Workshop
Things to do in the Twin Cities
The Minneapolis-St Paul metro area is home to amazing dining, shopping, arts and entertainment, sports, and natural attractions that will keep you busy before and after the workshop.
Dining
Minneapolis features an array of dining experiences from local hot spots, to acclaimed chefs, to casual dining. Restaurants within walking distance of the hotel include The Loring Pasta Bar, Sally’s Saloon and Eatery, Stub and Herb’s, The Leaning Tower of Pizza, Applebee’s, and Restaurant Alma. For an interesting breakfast experience you can try Al’s Breakfast in Dinkytown. Twin Cities must tries just a short cab or bus ride away include La Belle Vie, named by Gourmet Magazine as one of "America’s top 50 restaurants in 2006"; and Wolfgang Puck’s 20.21, an Asian/California fusion restaurant, that sits atop the Walker Arts Center and offers gorgeous views of the Minneapolis skyline. Downtown Minneapolis offers several Irish pubs, including Brit’s Pub and Kieran’s, live jazz with your meal at the Dakota or Rossi’s Steakhouse, and unique dining experiences at Manny’s Steakhouse, Hell’s Kitchen, Solera, or Fogo de Chão.
Shopping
The Nicollet Mall is shopping central in Downtown Minneapolis and a short cab ride away. This pedestrian walkway includes Macy’s, Off Fifth, Barnes and Nobles, Marshall’s, along with unique boutiques and great restaurants, and also is home to the retail chain Target’s headquarters. For those who want to venture outside downtown, a trip to the Mall of America (MOA), the country’s largest enclosed shopping and entertainment complex, is a necessary stop and just a 25-minute light rail train ride away from downtown (it is the stop just beyond the MSP airport). MOA features more than 520 stores, 60 restaurants, Under Water World, and Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park. The MOA experience is amazing at any age. And don’t forget that Minnesota has no sales tax on clothing!
Arts and Entertainment
Minneapolis boasts more theater seats per capita then anywhere but New York. Be sure to check out one of its 30 venues, including three Tony Award-winning theaters: The Children’s Theatre Company, The Guthrie, and Theatre de la Jeune Lune. Only Chicago and Washington, D.C., have more museums than the Twin Cities – check out the Alexander Ramsey or James J. Hill houses, or the Science Museum of Minnesota, or the Minnesota Transportation Museum, all located in St Paul. The Walker Art Center, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the Weisman Art Museum (only minutes walk from the Radisson hotel – and free of charge!) offer a great way to spend your afternoon. The Minnesota Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis and the Minnesota Opera at Saint Paul’s Ordway Center round out the region’s spectacular contributions to the arts.
Sports, Fitness, and the Outdoors
The Twin Cities is home to five major sports teams: the Vikings, the Wild, the Timberwolves, the Lynx, and the Twins. Professional lacrosse and soccer teams, Gopher sports, and the minor league baseball team, the Saints, mean that whatever your taste in sporting events, the Twin Cities most likely has it. Minnesota is home to more golfers per capita then anywhere in the country, and the area’s 170 golf courses prove it. Fishing in one of Minneapolis’s 22 lakes is a popular past-time, as is enjoying its 237 acres of parks, or walking, jogging, or biking the city’s 50 miles of paved trails. It is no wonder that Men’s Fitness rated Minneapolis as the nation’s "most athletic city.