Minneapolis, MN 2024

I have 3 sisters. From oldest to youngest, there are 18 years between us. Needless to say, with all of our schedules and different life obligations, it is so hard to try to find time to go away together.

This spring, our youngest sister graduated from graduate school and we took it as an opportunity to PLAN THAT TRIP! Life is way too short not to and I am hoping we continue to take a trip because it was an absolute blast!

This time we needed a quick trip, so we decided to head 5 hours north to Minneapolis. Our youngest sister, Courtney, planned the whole thing and it had the perfect combination of things to do!

So, here is what I would recommend:

If you are driving and come near Mankato, MN, you must stop for a quick bite to eat. We stopped at Nolabelle Kitchen and Bar and I am still dreaming of the Peach and Bacon Grilled cheese— Thick cut bacon, peach preserves, goat cheese, and jalapeno?!?!?!?! YUM!! Plus the town was absolutely adorable. If you have a few hours, I am sure you could find some cute shops or things to do as well.

We checked into our hotel and went exploring. We walked around the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden which had sculptures everywhere from various artists. We loved the wind chimes in the trees and taking pictures with the Minneapolis skyline in the background. They also were setting up an art festival for the next day, we weren’t able to come the next day, but I am sure this area has something going on all the time. Then we headed to the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden. It was great to walk around in the city and see nature and learn about the different in bloom flowers. The weather was beautiful, so to have the opportunity to stay outside was wonderful!

We ate dinner at Motoi in the Lyn-Lake area. It is the first sake brewpub outside of Japan and had some amazing cocktails with different saki. We had the Moto mule and the Okinawa Brass and both were tasty! One of the things I love about going to eat with my sisters….we order so much and share! We ordered the shishito burrata, Okonomiyaki (bacon and cabbage pancake, katsu, qp mayo, and bonito), brussel sprouts, classic ramen, many different steamed buns, bibimbap, mushroom ramen,