Minnesota Is Surprisingly Awesome

You might have seen a few weeks ago when I posted some pictures from girls' weekend over Memorial Day. It was four of us who met in college and became those types of friends where you know you'll be in each other's lives forever. Since leaving college, we've taken root in different parts of the country (Chicago, St. Louis, Oklahoma City, and Minneapolis--hence the coffee mugs), and so far the only time we've seen each other is at weddings.

For Memorial weekend, we decided to meet up in Minneapolis, which is where our friend Erin lives.  I'll just be honest here and say that I wasn't expecting much. I'd never been to Minnesota before, so admittedly I was judging the book based on the cover, but I just thought the biggest (and only) perk of the trip was going to be seeing my friend.

I didn't plan on falling in love with the city quite like I did, and now I feel like I just have to tell everyone about what a cool state Minnesota is. Did you know that Minnesota is one of the healthiest states in the country? Maybe I appreciate this more because Oklahoma is routinely at the bottom of the list, right there next to the other Southern states.

Shocking, I know. It's probably all the fried food. Did you know at the Texas State Fair last year they served fried butter? Fried. Butter.

Minnesota actually has bike lanes, and apparently it's like China, where everyone bikes everywhere. Erin and her husband, Alan, bike all sorts of places, even in the winter! When we were there, it was pretty chilly, and people were just pedaling down the road without a care in the world down lovely trails and bike paths.

Another awesome thing is that Erin lives across the street from a weekly farmer's market. My eyes bugged out of my head at that one. I freaking love farmer's markets!

Apparently mini donuts are a big Minnesota thing, so of course I got some. Fresh out of the fryer. So cute! I EAT ALL THE DONUTS!

Another thing I like about Minneapolis is the weird spoon sculpture. It reminds me of the Bean in Chicago. Both serve no purpose except as a strange and expensive tourist attraction. I love it.

Minneapolis is a old city with some cool history. Erin took us to the Gold Medal flour plant, which was cool, especially since it's right across the river from the Pillsbury plant! How awesome is that?

We hit up the Mall of America, which was fun, and Lauren and I rode a roller coaster! 

I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend in Minnesota. Pretty much the only thing I didn't like was this French restaurant we ate at on Friday that had portions that probably would only feed a tiny bird. 

I finished my tiny slice of quiche and was like, is my second plate coming soon? Oh wait. Nevermind I can eat these five pieces of lettuce. 

So that was a bummer, but maybe that's another reason the people of MN are so healthy. I, on the other hand, went back to Erin's hose and raided her fridge. Tiny portions are for the birds. 

See what I did there?

The point? Don't knock Minnesota till you've tried it!

Now excuse me while I go jump in the lake. 

Literally.

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