Minnesota Hotels

We made this a five day trip by leaving work at 3 p.m. Mon. and driving 6 hours to Ames Iowa to spend the night. Tuesday morning we were off early, stopping in Albert Lea and getting picnic supplies. We arrived in Minneapolis at 11 and headed straight to Lake Calhoun for lunch on the lake. It was beautiful. After a brisk walk we headed for the Mall Of America where we were to meet our tour bus at 2:00. We always allow plenty of time to get where we're going. We have been temporarily lost in many cities and at some time we knew this would be another one. For this reason we always arrive early. ...

We flew out of Indy and arrived in Minneapolis around 1:30 in the afternoon. We checked our luggage so we had plenty of room to bring home our purchases! After collecting our bags, we caught the complimentary shuttle to our hotel, the Sheraton Bloomington. There was a large convention at the hotel while we were there but it didn't bother us much ( other than some slow elevators at times! ). The hotel was great and the beds were awesome. The hotel has a complimentary shuttle to the Mall of America so that was great. We took the 3:00 shuttle over and began exploring the mall. We didn't really ...

Did you know there is prickly pear cactus in Minnesota? Southwest Minnesota’s landscape differs dramatically from that of the metro area. There are tall prairie grasses, wildflowers, quartzite cliffs, and roaming buffalo. You can experience it all at Blue Mounds State Park in Luverne, about a three hour drive from the Twin Cities. (Directions) I first heard about this park in Minnesota Monthly magazine. They had a several page article about this overlooked park. I was most intrigued by the fact that there were cacti growing in Minnesota so I was all about checking this place out. Plus, I am ...