A Weekend in Dallas

Link to "A Weekend in Dallas" video

Friday

1)   Light Rail ($1.75)

Dana and I both parked our car at the 28th Avenue station in Bloomington. Luckily we got there at 6:30pm right when the ticket prices drop to $1.75 each. We took the light rail three stops north (less than 10 minutes) to the Humphrey Terminal.

2) Dinner at Airport ($10.78)

With a tightly packed schedule after work we found that the terminal was almost completely empty which meant we got through security and to our gate much quicker than we had planned for. We grabbed dinner at the Minnesota Wild Restaurant and Bar near our gate at Humphrey Airport (Terminal 2). It was a little spendy (as many airport restaurants can be), so we just grabbed some appetizers before the flight.

3) Spirit Airlines

This was our cheapest option for flying from Minneapolis to Dallas (as it usually is). However, with cheaper costs comes a lot of hidden fees and issues you may not have to deal with when flying other airlines. Some of these include, a large amount of delays, extra costs for luggage, and over booking the flight. You are allowed to bring one 16”x14”x12” bag (about the size of a backpack) on for free. For other regulations, see their baggage fee breakdown.

As for the flight itself, don’t expect any frills. There are no beverages or meals served (no peanuts either). Leg space is minimal, and we experienced a noisier cabin than usual. Basically, you should expect the type of people that cheaper prices attract. As for the captain and crew members, everyone was extremely polite and helpful. The captain had a sense of humor and was very welcoming. Overall, we had a good experience flying Spirit while on a strict budget. 

4) DART ($2.50)

Similar to the light rail in Minnesota, the DART is a rail line that runs through the Dallas area (and is much more expansive than Minneapolis’ system). I tried using the app on my phone to find a schedule/plan a trip, but the information on the app did not agree with the schedule posted online. I couldn’t find a purpose for its use on my trip, so I printed off a schedule from their website to bring with. We took the Orange Line into Dallas from the airport. We felt much more confident being the only line that ran out to the airport that we were headed in the right direction. As we were about to purchase our train tickets from the booth, a man stopped and gave us his ticket which had about an hour and half remaining on it. In fact, twice more people offered to give us their tickets once they were done using them. 

5) Uber Cab ($2.50)

We had about a mile to walk after we got off the DART to get to Nichole’s house where we were staying for the weekend. However, when we arrived she did not answer any of our knocks or phone calls. It was about 12:30am, so we called an Uber cab to come pick us up. Uber (like Lyft) is a newer business model for cabs. People sign up, drive their own cars, and use their phones to receive requests for riders. All payments are linked through the app (including tip), so there is no reason to handle cash during/after the trip. We took a ride about a mile southwest to an area with a couple hotels. The first place we stopped at we found that no one was on duty, and the other hotel in the plaza was about $150/night. We then called a motel that was another mile down the road which we ended up staying for $30/night. After the call, my phone died, so we had to walk the last leg.

6) Gas Station ($3.77)

It was getting close to 2:00am, and we were right around the corner from the motel. We stopped at a “Race Trac” gas station to pick up something to eat. Dana wanted some chocolate milk, but we quickly found that Texas convenient stores don’t love dairy as much as Minnesota/Wisconsin does. We grabbed a couple of fruits/vegetables and walked the rest of the way to the motel. 

7) Motel ($15)

The Meadowbrook Motel is $30/night but has all the classiness of a $25/night motel. For what we needed, it worked. However, we had to forgo clean sheets, cigarette smell-free room, deadbolt on the door, smoke detector, and a genuine feel of safety. We got there just after 2:00am so all we really needed was a place to fall asleep. No one was injured or kidnapped, so all in all, it was a successful evening. They don’t take checks or credit cards (or speak English), but they did answer the phone when we called around 1:00am (and were actually open when we arrived). If you’re near the Dallas Love Field Airport and need a place to sleep and also break your record for cheapest/scariest night in a motel, Meadowbrook Motel will do the trick.

Saturday

8)    Farmer’s Market (Free)
Dana and I woke up around 8:00am Saturday morning. We slept in a little later than we had planned for, but we also went to sleep much later than anticipated. Nichole and her boyfriend Travis had gotten ahold of us around 1:30am the night before and arranged to pick us up and take us downtown. Nichole was very apologetic about what happened the night before and brought us breakfast in the morning to make up for it. They drove us down to a lot with free parking where we walked to the Farmer’s Market. It seems like a pretty traditional farmer’s market, but the local shops and stands were fun to visit. We got to try several different types of food. One place we stopped was The Brownie Cottage which had some of the most obscure brownie flavors I’ve ever heard of. We taste tested the “Bacon Cheddar Brownie” which seems like a ridiculous concept, and it was truly a unique taste. It was a very dense brownie that was packed to the brim with flavor. We both really enjoyed it. I thought it was too rich to have more than a couple bites, but Dana claimed she easily demolish several of them!

9) Christmas Parade (Free)
After the farmer’s market we happened upon packed streets downtown. The 27th annual Dallas Children’s Health Holiday Parade was in effect. We hadn’t planned for the increased foot traffic, but these are the types of things that make traveling more fun. We weaved our way through the crowd while enjoying the parade. It took us a while to get to a safe place to cross, but since our stops were so close, we had the time to spare.

10) Thanksgiving Square (Free)

This was our first planned stop of the day. The farmer’s market was a bonus stop and the parade was basically an accident we happened upon. There are several monuments downtown that you can check out. If you are into the history this may be a good stop, but I would suggest only stopping by to check out the worship center at Thanksgiving Square. Unfortunately we were there a little too early to take a look inside. The center is open from 10:00am - 4:00pm daily.

11) Pioneer Plaza (Free)

Another free downtown stop, Pioneer Plaza has a little more room to roam around. The park seems like a good place to come with family and explore the area. It’s built in an interactive way that could make it feel like a playground to kids with streams to cross and rocks to climb. Connected to this park is Pioneer Cemetery which is over 150 years old.

12) Fountain Place (Free)

This just happened to be on our walk back North to Klyde Warren Park, so I thought it was worth checking out. I like stopping and seeing unique buildings and structures that different cities have to offer. Fountain Place is a cool building to take note of and has a unique entrance decorated with fountains. It might be worth a look if you are nearby, but it isn’t a stop you should go out of your way to make.

13) Klyde Warren Park ($10.71)

Walking through a city is one of the best ways to work up an appetite! I’m so glad we marked Klyde Warren Park as our lunch stop. I’ve seen pictures of this park absolutely packed with people, so it was nice to have been there on a more mellow day. The park itself is situated over the freeway; although; we didn’t notice much noise from the traffic. There is a stage with an open field where I would assume many concerts take place. They have free book rentals and games (in exchange for your driver’s license). At the time that we visited there was also a reindeer at the park. I got suggestions from several sources to check out The Butcher’s Son. All three of the burgers I ordered were extremely good but I liked the “Mac and Beefy” and “Southern Hospitality” the most.

14) Dallas Aquarium (Free)

This was another stop that I had not originally put on my list. However, Nichole enlightened us that there are several free exhibits on the walk up to the ticket counter. We strolled in and eventually made it to the Tree Kangaroo exhibit. The lady at the ticket counter said we needed to buy a ticket to look at it, but Nichole assured us that she was wrong. As we were looking at the exhibit the lady at the ticket counter told the security guard that we were trying to sneak in, but once he saw that we had no interest in actually going through the doors, he didn’t bother to say anything to us. So if you want to see the Tree Kangaroo, don’t listen to the ticket lady! If you do want to actually enter the Dallas Aquarium prices are about $20 per ticket for an adult.

15) 6th Floor Museum ($16)
I usually try to stay away from museums during these weekends, but the 6th Floor Museum is truly unique to Dallas. The 6th floor of the (then) Texas School Book Depository is where Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly shot President John F. Kennedy. The word allegedly is thrown into many of the exhibits as he was murdered before he could be brought to trial. No cameras are allowed on the 6th floor, but there isn’t anything too different from other museums. They have audio of Walter Cronkite breaking the news of the assassination to the public which gave an eerie feel to that particular section of the museum. There are also scale models and other recreations of the scene that day. The museum offers a free audio guide with headphones as you walk around, but I felt that the portion I listened to at the beginning was not that interesting. In fact, I felt like the first quarter of the museum, which largely covered the history and the state of the union, was not very interesting to me. However, I was fully engrossed and amazed at how much I didn’t know while walking through the rest of it. For $16/ticket I think this is a good use of time to be able to see where our 35th President had his final moments from Lee Harvey Oswald's perspective.  

16) Continental Bridge Park (Free)
Everything up to this point was walking from stop to stop downtown, so the four of us were ready to walk back to the car and head to Continental Bridge Park. The website we looked at made it seem like a modern, unique park that crossed the Trinity River. We were excited to walk down it; unfortunately, we were met with a line of police officers telling us that it was closed. One of the officers mentioned that a TV show was being filmed until 8:00, but he didn’t know which. Even though we were disappointed that we didn’t get to check it out, it gave us a really cool perspective of the downtown skyline that we hadn’t seen yet.

17) The Foundry ($12)
I received a lot of information detailing that Dallas had some really cool patio bars. I had to do some research to see which one I wanted to stop by tonight, and The Foundry was one of my top choices and very near Continental Bridge Park. Located on the same lot is Chicken Scratch. Basically, The Foundry serves the drinks, and Chicken Scratch does the food. We were able to order both from our waitress, so it wasn’t too different from dining at one establishment. We were there at 6:00pm and it was pretty quiet. I’m not sure if it’s because 60 degrees may be on the cool side of Dallas, or if the crowd doesn’t really roll in until after dinner. Either way, the mac and cheese was delicious and their cocktails were very good as well. The atmosphere definitely seemed upbeat and fun. I would think this would be a great way to spend a warm summer weekend evening.

19) Medieval Times ($39 Ticket $7.79 Drinks)
I had never heard of Medieval Times, but apparently everyone else has. Their website lists 9 cities that they currently operate in, so I decided it was unique enough (and I had to figure out what everyone was talking about). I actually discovered this by looking on Groupon where they had tickets listed as half off the price (Original price is about $40/adult). As far as I’m concerned, this was the best thing we could have done Saturday night. Food, entertainment, and a place to sit after hours of roaming around downtown made this the perfect venue. You get seated in random section. Whatever color that section is matches the color of your knight. I believe there were 8 knights/sections that all battle each other through a variety of games. After that, the (staged) jousting begins, and the winner of the joust has to battle the bad guy in order to save the princess. It all seems pretty typical, but the fight scenes were pretty entertaining. These guys were talking full swings with their weapons and missing each other by inches. It must take a lot of practice and even more trust to put on a show where they look to be really going at it. As for the culture of it all, Medieval Times does do a very good job of immersing you into the scene without forcing you into any awkward situations. The food I thought was fare (sorry, I had to). The meat was a little dry, but they offer a couple options (including a vegetarian main dish). There are several sides and dessert. It actually is quite the feast, and the above average quantity makes up for the average quality. Now that I’ve lowered your expectations a bit, you’ll probably think the food is amazing. You’re welcome. This was our last stop of the night. We got back to Nichole and Travis’ place around 11:00 and turned in shortly after midnight.

Sunday

19)    All Good Cafe ($6)
Dana and I felt significantly more rested without having to worry about someone breaking into our motel. We packed up and left Nichole’s place after saying goodbye to her four little chihuahuas. We drove down to deep Ellum where the four of us got breakfast at AllGood Cafe. I’m never a good person to ask about breakfast food because I enjoy all of it and think it tastes great; AllGood is no exception. I thought the food was great, the service was good, but the atmosphere was what set it apart. The decorations were unique and all the tiny origami cranes hanging from the ceiling was very creative. Nichole’s mom came and joined us for our first meal of the day and even picked up the tab for us! We left the tip, so our expense here was a lot less than we were expecting. Thanks Nichole’s mom!  

20) Deep Ellum (Free)
I really wanted the chance to just stroll through one of the districts in Dallas. With how busy I pack these weekends, it nice to just have time set aside to walk around and just take in the sights. Nichole and Travis acting as our tour guides told us that Deep Ellum is more of an up-and-coming neighborhood that’s seen a lot of growth and gentrification the past few years. The streets are decorated with all sorts of graffiti. The graffiti is so good that it has basically become an attraction to residents. As we walked through we spotted a couple smaller shops including an antique toy store that made Deep Ellum seem like a unique place for weekend shopping.

21) Cafe Brazil ($4.32)
We passed this during our walk through Deep Ellum, and Dana was ready for more coffee, so we hopped in. I don’t drink coffee, so maybe part of the magic is lost on me, but I thought the decor was cool. The walls and surfaces were painted very bright colors. There was some artwork for sale, and the general vibe was friendly. Dana seemed to enjoy her coffee, so she got what she wanted out of Cafe Brazil!

22) Trolley (Free)
We got a ride from our hosts back to the northern end of downtown Dallas where we hopped on the FREE trolley. I love finding the freebies like this to show you a city. This old streetcar is operated well into the night, so I imagine there is a good chunk of the population that leans on this mode of transportation to replace a car when getting home on the weekends. As for the day time, it was a cool way to navigate the city. The conductor seemed like he had been doing this for a while. He was very knowledgeable and was giving us quite the history lesson. Besides telling us his story about where Clyde Barrow (of Bonnie and Clyde) had his first job, he also told us that Klyde Warren Park was named after Kelcy Warren’s then nine-year-old son. He told us that as a condition of name the park after him, his son had to go clean the park every month, something he still does today (park opened in 2012). 

23) Truck Yard ($2.66)
This is actually another stop that was not originally on my itinerary; however, it ended up being one of my favorite ones! On our drive to Greenville Avenue, we parked nearby the Truck Yard. It’s another patio bar much like The Foundry. We stopped to get their “Rice Krispie Ice Cream Sammie” as their menu calls it. For $5, it’s a great deal! We walked around back to find a mishmash of colors, furniture, truck parts and anything else you would find in a literal truck yard. There were food trucks out back and a stage on the side. The bathrooms were decorated with license plates (see the last few seconds of the “A Weekend in Dallas” video). Overall it really blew me away; I wasn’t expecting the decor to be so unique. Although I should have expected it given it’s name. We just spent a few minutes walking around, but this place would top my list if you’re looking for a fun place to hang out and get some ice cream.

24) Greenville Ave (Free)
As I claimed in the video, we were running short on time, so we ended up just taking a quick walk through Lower Greenville. I originally wanted to come here to see some shops and get lunch. I had heard it’s a good place for bar hopping, and I couldn’t agree more. Sometimes it’s difficult for me to think about bar hopping in December. It was about 30-35 degrees warmer in Dallas than in Minneapolis this particular weekend, so I would have indulged if I had another night.

25) Top Golf ($27.07 Entrance $4 Food and tip)
I always try to find a good mix of free and cheap things in a weekend and couple that with one or two things that cost a little money. Top Golf falls in the latter category, but it wasn’t too expensive the way we did it. Each “player” has to buy a membership card for $5 (lifetime membership) and then you pay by the hour. At the time we went it was $40/hour per “player.” A player is basically a name on the screen (like in bowling). We just decided to be 2 teams of 2 and switch off, so for the 4 of us it was $80 (or $20/person). Also, since it’s a time limit and not a limit on number of swings, we could hack away as fast as we wanted to take full advantage. They serve food and drinks to your table (yes they serve alcohol), and there were batting cages and mini golf on site as well. I really liked spending the hour we did here, and I would definitely go back. As for now, I’m going to make sure I don’t lose my membership card.

26) Galleria (Free)
I looked into visiting both malls before deciding which one to stop at. NorthPark Center is very close to Top Golf, and I read an article stating that while it may not be as big as The Mall of America, it certainly is fancier. I felt like I needed to follow up that trash talk by checking it out myself. However, I landed on the Galleria because of the ice rink. I had originally planned on trying to skate there, but that quickly turned out to be impossible once we saw the line stretched out of sight. I was a little bummed out about not getting to try it out, but Nichole reminded me that I live in Minnesota and can skate there anytime I want. I was interested in taking a look at the ice though. From high up I couldn’t tell if it was real or a synthetic blend. The skaters didn’t look like they had much control, but that was probably for different reasons. Other than that, the four of us walked around and checked out some stores before we headed up to the attached hotel to check out the business center and print off Dana and I’s plane tickets. Our information wasn’t working in the system, so we had to ditch the computer to make sure we got to the airport on time.

27) DART ($2.50)
Nichole and Travis drove us to a nearby DART station for us to take to the airport. We said our goodbyes and thanked them for taking us around. We saved a lot of money/time by not having to rely on taking public transportation (especially on Sunday). We didn’t have to make any transfers this time and the DART brought us to Terminal A at DFW.

28) Airport (Food $4.32)
When we arrived at Terminal A we tried to use the kiosks to print off out boarding passes, but we were still having issues. We had to find the Sun Country check in counter (Our round trip flight called for Spirit outbound and Sun Country inbound). Unfortunately Terminal A only had a desk for American Airlines. The fastest way to get to our gate was through taking the Skylink (rail) once you got through security, so we had to step outside and catch the bus to Terminal D. We were really getting close on time, so we had to rush our way to the check in counter and through security once we got there. After passing through security we checked our flight and found it was delayed by an hour and twenty minutes; this allowed us to relax a bit and grab some food from Cousins BBQ and grab a drink for the plane ride before departing.

29) Cousins BBQ ($7.25)
Dana and I figured that while it’s not authentic southern cuisine, that throwing in some pulled pork would be a nice way to cap off the weekend. We hadn’t really added dinner into the mix as a plan since we were supposed to depart at 6:45pm. However, this gave us the chance to slow down a bit, eat some food, and explore the airport. One of the things that I thought was unique about DFW is the ubiquity of charger stands. I was going for a little walk while Dana was getting a drink for the plane, and I noticed that DFW has a lot of charger stands around the gate areas. I’ve been to lots of airports where I see people sitting on the ground with their laptops in the hallway just so they can plug in. I hope I start to see more of these charging stands in other airports as well. 

30) Light Rail ($1.75)
We ended up lifting off closer to 9 which meant we didn’t arrive back at the Humphrey Terminal in Minneapolis until 11:00. We took the light rail 3 stops down back to the station where we parked our car. It turned out to be a very full weekend! We spent just under 46 hours in Dallas and it was 53.25 hours “door to door.” To put that in perspective there are 55 hours between 5:00 Friday afternoon and 12:00 Sunday night/Monday morning. We squeezed almost every last drop out of our weekend in Dallas!

Cash Spending Summary:

Accommodations:                              $15.00

Travel (Inner City):                            $11.00

Attractions/Entertainment:                 $82.07

Food/Drink:                                        $73.60

TOTAL:                                            $181.67

An Afternoon in Page, Arizona

Link to the Video

Page is located right on the northern border of Arizona. Antelope Canyon rests on Native American (Navajo) land, and the only way to be able to see it is to book an official tour through one of Navajo tour companies. These tours largely appear to be the same no matter which company you book through. We chose Roger Ekis' Antelope Canyon Tours. You will notice their blue trucks with a canvassed seating area in the back (first picture from the video). 

Also, you will want to book at least a month in advance as it is very busy in the summer months. My girlfriend, Dana, and I weren't sure what our plans were going to be, so we tried booking the day before. Luckily, they had just had a cancellation for two people in one of their "Prime Time" slots. So, if you find yourself in the area on short notice, with several tour companies to choose from, it might be worth your while to call all of them in hopes of a recent cancellation. 

The Antelope Canyon tours have multiple outings each day. The Prime Time tour costs a little more, but it is scheduled so you arrive right around noon. This is actually very nice as the sun near its zenith and the rays stretch deep past the canyon walls reaching the floor!

With several companies, and tourists flocking from everywhere (we were one of very few from the US), you can imagine that it gets pretty crowded in these narrow caverns. The Navajo leaders that take you into the canyon keep you on a strict schedule pausing at appropriate times to allow you to take pictures. It may be tough to get many without other tourists in them, but if you move quickly and utilize help from other people on the tour, it can be done!

Lastly, they have a couple different options for tours. The "Sightseer's Tour" is the one that we booked and is basically everything I described above (about 45 minutes of walking through these canyons and back). They also offer an "Extended Tour" which is geared towards professional photographers (or anyone who will be attempting professional photos). Since multiple groups are on these tours, it's basically like "Extended Tours" are the 1st class patrons and the "Sightseer Tours" are those in coach. "Extended Tours" (as the name implies) are a little longer and are given more room and time at each stop to take pictures. That being said, we found the "Sightseer Tour" to be well worth it and the best fit for us. I would highly recommend anyone in the area to make an afternoon out of Page, AZ. Also, not too far down the road is Horseshoe Bend. To date this has been my favorite natural sight. With these two attractions right next to each other, it's bound to make an amazing afternoon for you!

A Weekend in Bayfield, Ashland, and Apostle Islands (Wisconsin)

Link to "A Day in The Apostle Islands" video

Overview

I had been planning a trip for about a month up to Ashland, WI with my girlfriend to visit a mutual friend and head out to the Apostle Islands. Last minute I decided to bring my camera with and do some recording depending on how nice of a weekend we got weather-wise. The forecast called for rain, but we lucked out with a couple of gorgeous days.

We headed up Friday with plans to camp in the Bayfield area. There are a couple campsites nearby that will run you about $20-25 a night. The Apostle Island Area Campground seemed to have a little nicer sites, but a tad more expensive with coin operated showers (but full bathrooms). Our other option was Darlymple Park which was a little more rustic for $20/night and a few less amenities (no showers, vault toilets).

After packing up everything we needed for camping and the weekend, my girlfriend and I started our 4.5 hour trek from Eden Prairie, MN to Ashland, WI. During the drive we got a call from my friend, Nicole, who offered her nearby cabin up as a means to avoid setting up camp during a rain out. We were looking forward to camping but in the interest of a free nearby cabin, we decided not to pass it up. We arrived at her place around 9:00 at night on Friday, started a small bonfire and Dana, myself, Nicole, and her friend Josh had some drinks while we enjoyed an evening without rain.

Passing a sailboat on the Madeline Island Ferry Line

Bayfield, WI (Free)

Saturday morning we drove up to Bayfield from Ashland (approx. 30 minutes). This town can be very touristy in the summer, and for good reason, as it boasts awesome views of Lake Superior, several streets of shopping, restaurants, and booths, and it's annual Apple Festival in October. It's a very quaint picturesque town with a great local feel. However, if you take note of some of the tremendous houses it won't surprise you that Bayfield is also a VERY expensive city in which to shop around. You could easily spend the better part of a day just walking around the town.

Madeline Island Ferry ($13.50)

This is the ONLY Apostle Island in which you can take a ferry to, which also makes it the busiest. Do be prepared to spend some money as the short trip across the river will not be cheap. If you plan on taking your vehicle with you to drive the scenic roads of Madeline Island, it will cost you about $25 RT. Additionally, each individual costs $13.50 RT, meaning a group of 4 (as we were) would be about $80. However, you can do as we did and park for free and just take the trip on your feet. The ferry departs every half hour (with a couple of them running at a time) and the ride across will take about 20 minutes. Check here for their complete cost structure and the ferry departure schedule.

Madeline Island (Free)

With only a handful of roads on the island it would be tough to get lost. There are a couple shops and restaurants that greet you right when you arrive; however, once you get past those it's nothing but quiet roads, wilderness, and park area with the exception of a few homes and even schools that remain on the island. Check out the map to plan a route!

Grampa Tony's ($10.47)

A small restaurant selling primarily burgers and a few other entrees, this eatery also offers an array of ice cream flavors to cap off the day after an excursion (or to fuel one). We stopped here to grab some food before setting off to explore. As far as the food goes, I really enjoyed my burger ("Tony Burger"); the rest of my group got chicken tenders which were nothing special, but did the job.

Bike Ride ($29.02)

Not too far up the road from Grampa Tony's is a bike rental shop - Motion to Go. They have a variety of bikes there for rent along with a handful of mopeds. Nicole and Josh hopped on a tandem bike while Dana and I decided that maybe we weren't coordinated enough to pull off such a feat. As expected bike rentals were also on the expensive side. At about $10/hour, you'll find getting a day pass and spending more of your time out there may be more worth it. We biked out to the state park where we spent about an hour and a half roaming around the cliff sides, climbing the rocks, and making our way through intricate tunnels. For anyone that likes the freedom to explore interesting places, it seems like you have the whole island to yourself at times. We returned our bikes shortly before the shop closed at 6:00pm (pretty sore from a long day).

Kayaking (Free - Nicole's Kayaks)

With numerous opportunities to get in the water, and the stunning Fall colors, we made sure to explore what we could. Dana and I hopped in a couple of Nicole's kayaks, while her and Josh elected to canoe. We took to a relatively intimate lake (Indian Lake) just south of Ashland. With a few nooks and crannies it was fun to explore some of the smaller channels and tributaries. While floating under a small bridge Dana and I discovered a small chapel on an island in the middle of the lake. Nicole enlightened us to the fact that it was built by her family years ago. We decided to get out and take a closer look. The chapel itself was open, so we took a peek inside and found books, tales, and accounts from as early as the 1880's. Alongside the chapel was a cabin turned museum as it was not in use but was fully decorated in early 1900's decor. The last structure we saw was the "Ut Hus." A look inside and there were two side-by-side toilets (for people who don't have stage fright). After that little detour we hopped back in our kayak/canoe and paddled around the rest of the lake, taking in the gorgeous Fall backdrop before returning to shore.

Dana and I's view of Indian Lake from near one of the islands

A Weekend In Minneapolis

Link to "A Weekend in Minneapolis" video

Overview

Having Minneapolis be the first city I spent the weekend traveling in ended up being a very good decision. Being that it is the city that I grew up in, it offered a good way for me to learn how to structure the weekend. The whole point of these weekend adventures is to showcase how to get away for a weekend, spend as little money as possible all without ever taking any time off of work. I set a couple rules in place for myself. For example, I have to work a full 40-hour work week, I can’t take more than a half day off on Friday, and I must return to work (or be back and ready) by no later than 9:00am Monday morning. The whole reason this idea came up is because of my love for travel. Between talking to friends and overhearing conversations I have found that some people view travel as a big adventure that needs intricate plans, lots of money, and the OK from your boss to miss work. These little “mini vacations” aim to disprove those theories and open up people’s eyes and show them how to have an amazing weekend without breaking the bank or taking any time off of work.

One of my ways to save money was to revamp how I did my accommodations. I decided to use couchsurfing.org as a way to meet new people AND cut costs. For those who don’t know, couchsurfing.org is a free website that allows you to find people in the area that you are traveling to who have couch space (or a spare bedroom if you are lucky) to let you crash for a night or more. It’s free to stay with people, and is a great way to learn a new city!

I traveled with two backpacks. The larger travel backpack is where I kept all my clothes, toiletries, and any other necessities for the weekend. The smaller backpack is where I kept all of my camera and equipment. I brought along with me two GoPros (one that I borrowed from a friend), a Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ70, a variety of accessories and GoPro mounts, and I also used my iPhone when I wanted to be more discreet or when time was limited with filming.

Seeing as though my first weekend adventure took place near home, I had to work a little harder to structure it in a way that would not allow me to use anything I wouldn’t have had access to if I were traveling to a city (i.e. no car, can’t stay at home, etc.).

At 5:00pm on Friday afternoon, I drove from my home in Eden Prairie, MN to 28^th Avenue (a light rail station that offers overnight parking in their ramp for FREE!). I chose this location because the light rail also services both major airports in Minneapolis, so anyone flying in would have access to a very similar starting point.

Since there is a mix of people who would do this sort of weekend travel alone vs. with a friend, girlfriend/boyfriend, or group of friends I also allowed myself to be joined by friends throughout the weekend as well as visited sites by myself. It ended up being a fantastic way to portray the different dynamics of traveling alone and with people.

Friday

1)   Mall of America ($2.25 for Light-rail ride)

I took the light rail from 28^th Avenue to the Mall of America (only 1 stop and could be easily walked to save money if need be) where I met up with my friends Colin, Dan, and his girlfriend Julie. It was tough to decide how to act with cameras on us so often, but I decided that I would just let the cameras roll, act normal and whatever happens, happens. After all, the weekend is all about me having as much fun as I can and recording it to share with others. The Mall (as most people from the area will refer to the Mall of America in particular) is some place I don’t go very often. I’m a guy, and I hate shopping. I just want to buy something and be done! That’s why I was surprised that I made it 4 hours there and never once got bored. For people that love shopping, or just want to see all the crazy and unique stores, the Mall is a place that will leave you satisfied. Also if you’re a girl (or guy) who loves shoes, the biggest DSW I’ve ever seen in a mall (or anywhere) is here. My girlfriend and I went there once and I hated it, which means you will probably love it.

2)   Mirror Maze ($4.00)

After strolling around and visiting some shops, the 4 of us headed up to the mirror maze. We actually found a Groupon for this. They normally charge $8 which I think is pretty steep, but the Groupon is BOGO. They are one of the largest mirror mazes in the world at 2500sq feet, and they allow you to go through it as many times as you want with no additional charge (without leaving the general area in between).

3)   Dick’s Last Resort (Dinner - $12.70 with tip)

After some more shops it was time for dinner. Dick’s Last Resort is a place I had heard of but never been. Apparently it’s one of those places that offers terrible service on purpose. I saw the waitress at the table next to us like the customers’ spoons. I don’t know about that. I think there is a line between bad service and spreading measles. Our waitress threw straws at us, wrote mean phrases about us on paper and turned them into hats, berated us about our cameras, and actually took one and ran around with it. They serve mainly seafood, but I got a sampler platter to share with Dan and Julie that I thought was excellent while Colin got the fish.

4)   Nickelodeon Universe ($17.37)

After that was my favorite part, Nickelodeon Universe (commonly referred to as “Camp Snoopy” before the transformation in 2006). We had found a coupon for this giving us 105 points for about $70. The good rides will run you 5-6 points per ride, so we ended up going on about 5 of them as a group, spending about 1 hour 15 minutes there total. Colin and I took the GoPros on the rides with us to get some unique shots. We were told along the way by some of the staff to not do this as it is a safety hazard. Therefore, I would not recommend whipping out any cameras mid plunge on “The Fairly Odd Coaster.” On the Orange Streak we actually entered part of the Log Flume’s cave and saw some old Minnesota Twins memorabilia. There is a chair that marks where Harmon Killebrew hit a 522-foot home run. Since the Mall of America is actually where the old home of the Twins stadium used to be (Met Stadium) they erected this memorial which is said to be the exact distance from home plate that the home run was hit (Home plate is also at the mall).

5)   The Chatterbox Pub ($8.75 including Light-rail)

My next and last stop for the evening was the Chatterbox, a bar with three locations in the metro area. I chose the one which is about a 15 minute walk from the light rail off of the 38^th Avenue stop. I was accompanied here with the crew from the Mall as well as my girlfriend, Dana who met us here. I chose this bar because of all the arcade, video, and board games they have to offer. This location has an NES and a Playstation 2 with several games for free use. They also have several arcade games (Paper Boy, Donkey Kong, and Frogger) that cost 25 cents/game. This bar actually doesn’t have a liquor license so they only sell beer and wine, but they also make a darn good strawberry lemonade sangria (because I'm classy). Although I didn’t order any food, I snagged a couple bites of Dana’s meal and I got to taste some of the best sweet potato fries I’ve ever had. They came with a seasoned sour cream and a kind of sweet caramel-y dipping sauce. I would highly recommend.  After a little bit, my couch surfing host, Ryan, met me there along with his roommate and another one of his friends. I got to talk to/get to know them all a little bit before we sat down and fired up Duck Hunt on the NES. Getting close to bar close (2:00am) we started packing up and Ryan called an Uber Taxi to come pick us up. This was my first time in an Uber vehicle. The guy was super nice, offering us gum, water, and a port to charge our cell phones ("In case we couldn’t wait the 10 minute drive and needed to respond to some tinder messages"). Ryan, nice guy that he is, refused to let me help pay for the cab. Ryan and his roommate led me up to their apartment in Northeast Minneapolis where they let me crash on the futon in their bonus room. I quickly got situated and turned out the lights somewhere around 2:30 desperate for some sleep as I was getting up around 7:30 in the morning to start all over again!

Saturday

Getting Ready

After about 5 hours of sleep, I actually woke up feeling pretty rested. Ryan had offered me some of his breakfast foods, and since I was eating out for lunch and dinner, I decided to demolish the box of Cocoa Puffs in the pantry. The morning started out with a lot of heavy rain putting a damper on my biking plans. I kept an eye on the radar and hung around the apartment for about an hour until it started to lighten up some. Biking around Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet has been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I’ve come up with so many excuses in the past (mostly me being lazy) that I was determined to not let a little rain stop me now.

6)   Bike Riding ($7.50)

I left Ryan’s apartment and walked downtown to find one of the bike rental stations. Minneapolis has a system of bike rentals that are docked throughout the city. I downloaded the “Nice Ride” app on my phone while walking to see where the docks were and how many bikes were available. After finding a bike, I rode the rest of the way to Lake Calhoun where Dana met me. I was happy to find that the rain didn’t deter her from coming out either. Even though it was only about a 3-4 mile ride from when I got the bike to reaching the lakes, I still felt exhausted. I couldn’t even make it to the location where I actually wanted to do the biking without wearing myself out! The bike rental system is available for day rentals but the system gets a lot cheaper if you are an annual pass holder ($85 for the year). For me it cost $6 to have the bike for 24 hours. There was also a usage charge. $0 for the first half hour and $1.50 for each additional half hour. However, there is an easy way to avoid this fee.  If you check your bike into any dock before your time hits a half hour, you can immediately check it out again at no cost and avoid the fee. With so many dock stations in the area, this is pretty easy to do. As for the actual ride Dana and I took a spin around Lake of the Isles and Lake Calhoun. The trails were extremely nice and the lakes were beautiful. I was a little upset about the rain, but I’ve never done this bike ride before and despite the weather it was still one of my favorite things from the weekend. I would highly recommend this trip if you get a nice day out as the sights are amazing. However, beware, on a normal day the area is packed with other bicyclist, picnickers, and other park goers. Even though it was a rainy morning, there were still 20-30 people we passed running and biking.

7)   Sebastian Joe's ($3.77)

After our bike ride, Dana and I stopped over at Sebastian Joe's (one block off of Lake Harriet) for some ice cream. I had been here once before on a date and absolutely loved the shop and its unique flavors. Walking there we passed a neighborhood book exchange, something Dana knew all about but I had never seen before. For those like me who didn’t know. It’s basically “take a penny, leave a penny” for books. Seems like a really cool way to find new books AND get to know your neighbors. As for the ice cream shop, it’s a cool, local shop that offers many “normal” flavors with a couple weird ones thrown in. The other time I was here I tried a garlic flavored one; it was quite baffling tasting that. I kept that theme going this time with something new. Dana got a chocolate and pretzel flavored ice cream (with chunks) and I tried the Surly Bender which is beer flavored with a hint of chocolate. This was truly a unique flavor. The beer flavor wasn’t too overpowering but it kind of tasted like there was carbonation IN the ice cream. Here is their full list of flavors (changes daily).

8)   Skyway ($3.50 bus ride)

After the ice cream I decided to forgo the trolley ride I had originally planned ($2 one-way) between Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun in favor of returning to Ryan’s apartment to change clothes. After that, I met up with Colin downtown to explore the skyway a little. The skyway connects nearly the entire downtown area with walkways on the 2^nd floor of most buildings. It’s great in the winter time as you don’t need to leave the warmth of inside to go to lunch, get your hair cut, run an errand to

Target, or shop for anything you would in a mall. During the workweek the skyway is packed and all the restaurants are raking in the cash. On the weekend less shops are open and the fast food restaurants close while most of the sit down ones remain open.

9)   Hell’s Kitchen (Lunch - $17.35 with tip)

I didn’t know where I wanted to eat today, but after spotting Hell’s Kitchen during our walk through the Skyway, I knew that is what I wanted. Hell’s Kitchen is known for their amazing breakfast food as well as their sandwiches. They make their own peanut butter and have their own ketchup as well. If you end up falling in love with either they also sell bottles of both for you to take home. It’s got dimmer lighting and is air conditioned very well in the summer time (a very relaxing atmosphere on a hot summer day). The service was excellent and there are plenty of unique new things to try on the menu. I got the Ham and Pear Crisp Sandwich. It came with lots of cheese and the added sweetness of the pears to the ham was a very flavorful mix. Since I’m all about trying new things this weekend, this option was something I couldn’t pass up. Make sure when entering/exiting the restaurant that you take a look up on the staircase and check out the chandelier made out of knives!

10)   Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA – Free)

After lunch, Colin and I made our way to the MIA. It’s just a few miles South of downtown which made it a pretty easy walk (about 40 minutes). We got there with a little over 2 hours left until they closed. The MIA has free admission (for everything except specialty exhibits within) and have a box for donations in the foyer. I hadn’t been to the MIA since I was in grade school on a field trip, so it was cool to make a trip back. I’m not too huge on the arts, but Minneapolis is a breeding ground for artists of all sorts, so there was no way I could really skip something like this and get the full experience of Minneapolis. The MIA is filled with mostly old artifacts from around the world. I found the first floor was mainly Asian pieces of art while the upper floor was American and European art. For those of you who really like the older discoveries like this, the MIA would definitely be a great place to visit. However, if you like more modern art, the Walker Art Center (near downtown) offers a large collection of various pieces (many of which change or rotate). I would suggest stopping by and seeing one of these two locations when in town. My personal suggestion would be the Walker, but it all depends on what type of art is most appealing to you. The Walker Art Center is free the first weekend of every month as well as the 3rd Thursday.

11)   Foshay Tower ($5 with student ID)

This was one of my favorite stops. Colin stayed at the MIA while I moved on to the Foshay Tower to catch a glimpse of Minneapolis from a bird’s eye view. With a student ID you can get a ticket in the lobby for $5 to ride the elevator up to the top floor. On the top floor is a small museum detailing the history of the tower. The Foshay used to be the tallest building in Minneapolis, but that record is now held by the IDS tower. I was hoping for a bright sunny day to view the city, but the sky had lightened up enough to make it a really cool stop! There are a couple shots that I took of my home town (Bloomington) that I was able to see about 10 miles away. Definitely worth a stop for $5. It’s $8 if you aren’t a student and is still worth it depending on how tight you are booked.

12)   Loring Park (Free)

A park right on the edge of downtown that connects the downtown and uptown areas. It’s a full size park with tennis and basketball courts and some beautiful fountains. It’s a great place to eat lunch (some restaurants line the park) or to stretch your legs. The squirrels in this area are so accustomed to humans that they will basically run right up to you and give you a hug. It’s a cool spot to walk through on your way to the sculpture garden but nothing you really need to go out of your way to see.

13)   Sculpture Garden (Free)

Proms, weddings, class trips, everyone comes here to take pictures in front of the famous spoon and cherry. The sculpture garden is a wide open garden with several larger pieces. On a nice day, this is usually pretty busy, so it might be tough to get a picture without anybody in it. You could probably spend a good hour here checking out the art pieces, and walking the grounds. The Walker Art Center is directly adjacent to the sculpture garden and has a little cafe inside if you get hungry.

14)   Bryant Lake Bowl ($32.37: $12 dinner, $5.37 bowling, $15 theater)

Bowling alley, restaurant, bar, theater. This little spot in the middle of Uptown has everything! I originally came here for the food and a drink and maybe bowling, and just decided to make a night of it. The food itself I found to be very good. I shared the fish special with Dana who joined me for dinner. While I thought the food was good, it wasn’t a huge quantity, so we ordered a big slice of carrot cake afterwards to fill our bellies, and it was absolutely delicious. They have a good array of beers and their own specialty cocktails as well. As for the bowling portion, we reserved a lane when we got there so we were all good to go after dinner. Games were $5 a piece with $2 for shoe rentals (I own shoes so I brought them in my backpack to save a little money). It’s old school, so you have to keep track of your score yourself on the sheets that they provide, but that adds to the charm of this place. It’s smaller (I think 8 lanes) but fits perfectly with the style of the location. While bowling, we looked at the schedule for who was performing at the theater tonight. It was a show called “A Drinking Game - Minnesota.” It was actually a pretty entertaining show. There were about 10 people who were doing a live-read of Jurassic Park. Anytime they said one of the buzz words they passed out prior to the show, the audience would take a drink (this rule also applied to the performers). Additionally, anytime a performer said another’s name, that person had to take a drink. About half way through everyone on stage was pretty far gone, and the audience was getting there too. I didn’t record any part of this show to devalue what they were doing (and not to get in anyone’s way) which is why you won’t see it in the video. Since theater is also a big part of Minneapolis (Guthrie, Orpheum, State, etc.) it was very nice to catch a show. While in the cities I would suggest seeing some type of theater (even just an amateur one like this!)

15)   Uptown (Free)

We got out of the show shortly after midnight and wandered around the nearby Uptown area for a little while. This is the area where mainly college-aged kids live and hang out. The streets are packed with pedestrians at night time. The Cafeteria and Stella’s are a couple more popular bars. The Cafeteria serves a chicken and waffles meal that is delicious. Stella’s is a seafood restaurant with a rooftop bar that gets very busy in the summer time. Rooftop bars are a great way to have a couple drinks on a warm Minnesota evening. During the day, there are shops and restaurants that you can occupy yourself for hours with. Seeing as though I already met my quota of drinks for the night, I decided to head back to Ryan’s apartment to gear up for Sunday.

16)   Al’s Breakfast ($10 with tip)

I woke up around 8:00 Sunday morning and immediately made my way for Al’s breakfast. Certainly a walkable distance from NE Minneapolis (35 minutes), it seemed to take an eternity to get there with how hungry I was. The line was about 5 people out the door when I arrived. I hopped into it and had about a 50-60 minute wait until I was seated. Once inside it was amazing to see how truly small the restaurant was. This was a spot I had never heard of before but is apparently well known by college kids and families alike. Once I was seated at one of their (about 15) stools, I quickly grabbed a menu and picked something out. With literally people standing right behind you waiting for you to eat and move, there is definitely some pressure not to dawdle. I went with the bacon waffle which was very thick and filling. The waffle itself looked pretty small, but it had no problem leaving me full and ready to do some walking.

17a)   Stone Arch Bridge (Free)

I don’t think I’ve ever actually been on this bridge. I know that they do a cool fireworks display over the 4^th of July, but walking along it seemed very new to me. The view of St. Anthony Falls, the skyscrapers, and Mill City Museum was a pretty spectacular sight; a lot of people were out and about too. Minnesota paths usually having a walking portion and a biking portion. You can see in the video that bikers use the middle lanes on the bridge.

17b)   3^rd Street Bridge (Free)

Another new walk for me. This connects downtown to the heart of St. Anthony Main where there are some great views, parks, cafes, and just a fun atmosphere in general. I just came up here to get a different perspective and walk somewhere new. Being a bridge you also drive on, there was a lot less foot traffic.

17c)   Washington Ave Bridge (Free)

The main artery connecting downtown to NE Minneapolis, this bridge was built (in its original form) in 1884. There is an informational sign commemorating the bridge’s history as you cross north to the Nicollet Island Inn. Also boasting a great view of the city made this a fun walk back and forth from NE Minneapolis to downtown.

18)   Nicollet Mall (Free)

During the workweek this is a pretty busy place. There are a lot of business people out for lunch here during the summer. Every Thursday there is a farmers’ market that lines the street selling fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other locally grown foods. The street is closed to regular traffic and only allows buses and police officers to drive on it. On 7^th Street and Nicollet Mall you can find the Mary Tyler Moore Statue that I visited just outside of Macy’s

19)   Target Field ($24: $14 ticket, $5 peanuts, $5 Dip n Dots)

The Minnesota Twins new ballpark as of 2010, Target Field is located rightin downtown Minneapolis. I bought myself a ticket from Stub Hub and roamed around the stadium with Charlie sitting in different areas and enjoying the game and the excellent weather. We stopped by the Townball Tavern on the club level where they serve drinks, food, and have a deck out back. Day or night, the views are great as the stadium opens up facing downtown revealing Minneapolis’ beautiful skyline. I hope to get to see one major event like this in each city that I travel to; it seems to be a great way to immerse myself in the local culture.

20)   Minnehaha Falls (Free)

As I stated in the video, this is one of my favorite locations (for obvious reasons). Depending on the amount of recent rainfall, the falls can either be trickling or gushing as they are in the video. On rare occasions in the winter, the falls will completely freeze over like they did over the 2013-2014 winter. This is a video I took while exploring the frozen falls. If you like nature and you get a nice day, I would recommend this as one of my top things to do in Minneapolis.

21)   Matt’s Bar ($4)

Charlie, Dana, and I made the effort to try both restaurants that claimed to have invented the Juicy Lucy. I had never been to either one before so I was pretty excited to try them both out! Matt’s was very busy, but it was a Sunday evening in the middle of the dinner rush; also, it did not seem to be a very large restaurant. We ended up waiting about 15 minutes or so for a table, so all in all it wasn’t too bad. The three of us spilt one burger and fries. We were told to give the burger a bit to cool down so it didn’t splash us with lava-hot cheese when we cut into i. As you can see in the video, it was dripping and oozing with cheese immediately. I liked it very much, and it was tough to stop after just 1/3 of it!

22)   5-8 Club ($5.75 including Light-rail back to my car)

Just a couple of miles down the same road as Matt’s Bar is the 5-8 Club. Same routine here. We grabbed a spot outside on the patio and ordered our burger. A few minutes later we got our food and feasted again! Since we were still hungry from our first burger we were able to make a pretty fair comparison. If you are interested in hearing which burger we thought was the better one, you can check out the rest of the video clip here.

Cash Spending Summary:

Accommodations:                              $0 (Couch Surfing)

Travel:                                                $16.75

Attractions/Entertainment:                 $60.74

Food:                                                  $80.82

TOTAL:                                            $158.31