For a few different reasons, I started doing urban walks around Minneapolis/St. Paul areas in early July. It started out with just walking, but it got boring. I then figured why not take pictures of local businesses and areas of interest, learn more about my fine metro during these walks and spread some local love online? This makes these walks fun.
I have a regular walking buddy now, started a #mspwalk hashtag on different social media outlets, and it’s indeed starting to gain interest where folks have asked if they can join in. The more the merrier, I say. Here are some examples of how we like to navigate:
Take the new Green Line LRT into St. Paul to the Fairview Ave. station, and trek back to the U of M Prospect Park station to catch the Green Line back to downtown Minneapolis. A lot of businesses suffered during the Green Line construction due to road construction. Now they’re back with new opportunities. A few new places I visited:
Bonnie’s Café in St. Paul – An old-fashioned breakfast and lunch diner. Folks on Yelp have raved about their hashbrowns and roast beef hash.
Bonnie’s Cafe on University
Caffè Biaggio – Home style Italian food. Never been and it looks quite nice. Tripadvisor has them ranked #17 out of 784 restaurants in St. Paul:
Caffè Biaggio on University
Another trek we took included walking the Hiawatha Trail to the Franklin LRT, then decided to go east a bit.
Stopped in at Hoffman Guitars where they do repair work for major brands, and even make custom guitars. Plus, I gained a new friend. Meet Nikki, their cute shop dog:
Nikki, Hoffman Guitars’ shop dog
Took a quick photo of our walking partner-in-crime for the day, Rob. He’s a co-owner of Tracy’s Saloon in the Seward neighborhood. They went through renovations during the winter and are now back with a newer, updated food menu:
Tracy’s Saloon on East Franklin
One last trip included a Blue Line LRT trip from downtown Minneapolis to the Hiawatha/Lake station. Headed west on the grid towards the Midtown Global Market (how have I never been?), then jumped on the Midtown Greenway back east, then north on the Hiawatha trail to hit the Franklin LRT station back to downtown.
Being part Scandinavian, I just love Ingebretsen’s, but have never had lingonberries. I must have some of these preserves:
Lingonberry preserves at Ingebretsen’s on East Lake Street
Certainly not new, but the Midtown Greenway is just awesome. Whether you’re on a bike, foot, or even Rollerblades (I’m old-school), you cross under so many of these bridges without crossing a single street:
Midtown Greenway bike trail
There will be plenty of close-to-daily ventures and look forward to sharing them and related information with you here at street.mn. Join us! Just search on your favorite social media outlet for the #mspwalk hashtag and you’ll find us. We love to use grids, urban trails and public transit to make these treks both resourceful and fun.