The Travel Thread

[MICHHAWK]

I am in Annapolis MD right now. Lovely city.

[CrimsonNBlue]

Madison or Minneapolis? Jfish is your guy for Minneapolis.

Take public transport downtown or see if hotel has a shuttle.

Butcher and the Boar for dinner, it’s excellent.

I love getting cocktails at Ike’s. The Loon is also a fun and laidback hangout.

Tons of great patios this time of year. Maybe catch a Twins game, great location and park.

[jhawks99]

Madison is a layover on the drive up to Minneapolis. I'll be staying at her house while there. We have tickets for the twinkies one night. She's made reservations at one of her favorite restaurants as well.

Doesn't look like there's anything interesting close to the Sheraton in Madison.

Hey Mich, Annapolis sounds like a good time.

[CrimsonNBlue]

Ah, I see.

I think I’ve stayed in that Sheraton before, and you’re right, there’s not much out there.

You’ll have to go towards campus for stuff to do. It’s a fun town, though.

[jfish26]

How old is the granddaughter? If she's either young enough to be in a stroller for a long time, or old enough to walk the whole time, the Minnesota Zoo is terrific. As with any zoo, the danger zone is that middle ground where she won't want to be in a stroller, but she'll also get tired of walking.

I can recommend a dozen patios/restaurants downtown (lawn bowling at Brit's might be the right fit for the group), but some other kid-friendly options in the area:

* Science Museum of Minnesota (St. Paul) (could do Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, and Como Town (carnival-esque thing) on the same day)

* Minnehaha Park (Minneapolis); close-in park with river views and waterfalls

* Lake Harriet (Minneapolis); one of two popular, close-in public recreation lakes (other being Lake Calhoun), but better for families (two good beaches, lots of kayak and bicycle boat rentals, etc.)

* Afton Apple Orchard (Afton); apple-picking. Duh.

* Breakfast/coffee at Patisserie 46 (Minneapolis) - best bakery in the cities

You will note I have omitted the entire Mall of America complex. There's a ton to do there, and it's really quite good as mall-ish things go, but I figure you can get a lot of information on that pretty easily.

[jhawks99]

Thanks Jfish

Granddaughter is 3 weeks old. I'll be meeting her for the 1st time, as much as you can meet a 3 week old. My wife and younger daughter have to work all weekend, so I'm hitting the road about noon on Wed.

I'm all about going to the zoo, I used to take my kids at least once a year.
I'm sure we'll hit a lake, my daughter said the skeeters are bad this year.

My wife and I hit the giant mall when we were there last year. Hit the aquarium and had terrible burgers at the Hard Rock. We toured the Pillsbury mill when we were there as well.

Mostly, I'm just looking forward to bouncing the kid gently on my knee.

[japhy]

No trip to Minneapolis is complete in our family without a visit to Pizzeria Lola. I recommend the Lady Zaza if you can take the heat, and wash it down with a Surly Furious. This is my all time favorite pizza from my all time favorite pizza joint.

https://www.pizzerialola.com

[Geezer]

It's no Bengal Tiger pizza.

[jfish26]

No trip to Minneapolis is complete in our family without a visit to Pizzeria Lola. I recommend the Lady Zaza if you can take the heat, and wash it down with a Surly Furious. This is my all time favorite pizza from my all time favorite pizza joint.

https://www.pizzerialola.com

[Shirley]

It's no Bengal Tiger pizza.

^^^

(made me think for a moment...)

[japhy]

It's no Bengal Tiger pizza.

^^^

(made me think for a moment...)

Hey, he shouldn't drive all the way to the Twin Cities and eat food he can get at home. And the last people he should accept advice from as food critics is a pair of old farts who think the slop that shows up on their trays at the retirement village tastes good.

We just hired a new graduate engineer a couple of weeks ago. I took her to lunch at Grinders and as a test, suggested the Bengal Tiger. She loved it. I think she will fit in nicely here.

[CrimsonNBlue]

Ous - how useless is it to go to the Avon-Vail-Breck area in May?

[ousdahl]

Ohh! Depends on how you define useless. What do you plan to do?

That’ll be among the least crowded times to be in the Colorado mountains, but it’s also in between seasons, and limited in the sense the skiing is over but too muddy/snowy for most summer stuff.

[ousdahl]

May weather is a crap shoot. It’s mostly bluebird spring days, but with a handful of chilly soupy spells and a couple blizzards.

I’ve thought about if I didn’t live here and wanted to visit. May would be a likely month I’d personally plan to come, though I’d be camping along rivers at not super high elevations...btw May is some of the best fishing of the year.

Room rates will be way more reasonable, and maybe some offseason promotions around too. If you wanna just come chill and wine and dine and stuff like that, it’s a good time to do it.

Some businesses and stuff may be closed for the offseason for a week or two, but that seems to happen less and less every season.

[CrimsonNBlue]

Wine and dine and luxury accommodation is what we're looking for, so that doesn't sound too bad.

Not campers or fisherpeople, but would at least like to have scenery other than mud, which could be a concern?

[DrPepper]

CNB, if I state that I expect a review of your trip, know that I fully expect you to comply. I know people are eager to please me, so I hope you do not have an expectation of me to patronize you with an acknowledgement. My time may be too important for that.

[Shirley]

CNB, if I state that I expect a review of your trip, know that I fully expect you to comply. I know people are eager to please me, so I hope you do not have an expectation of me to patronize you with an acknowledgement. My time may be too important for that.

[ousdahl]

Wine and dine and luxury accommodation is what we're looking for, so that doesn't sound too bad.

Not campers or fisherpeople, but would at least like to have scenery other than mud, which could be a concern?

Scenery will still be top notch. Plenty of snow still capping the peaks, with relatively less to deal with in the lower elevations/around town. Mud is only really a concern if you come in May expecting to hike or bike some summer trail that otherwise might not be dry until July.

[NewtonHawk11]

Need some advice on a small trip.

Wife and I are planning on doing first get away for us since our honeymoon.

Keeping it in the states. Hopeful for July. Not more than 3-4 days. Wanting to go somewhere we've never been before. Kind of want to head north for a trip. Thinking Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Washington DC or New York. (Yes, I know I'm lame that I haven't been to any of those cities)

What's a good place for someone in their 30s, not really party people, just something that is somewhat cost friendly but still something that would be nice and enjoyable for us for a few days.

[CrimsonNBlue]

Those are quite different, and it depends a little on what you want to do.

For 4 days, though, you just can't go wrong with NYC and it's a big check mark off the list.

DC is the other one that would be worth 4 days if you're into American History. The rest are weekend trips.