I just returned from a four day weekend trip to Minnesota and South Dakota for a wedding. Flew in and out of Minneapolis and then put a lot of miles on a rental car.

I’m not sure what I expected on my first trip to the bigger of the Twin Cities. Maybe Prairie Home Companion characters walking among the downtown highrises. It was a lot more like NYC than I expected. Big city with more elbow room than you usually get in a big city. Nice, vibrant, walkable downtown. Lots of people exercising and strolling in parks and around lakes. I’m sure winters are another story, but a comfy day in August made me want to visit again.

Just in case you’re ever there. My restaurant recommendations include Solara, a Spanish tapas restaurant where your dinner will be made up of many little appetizers of your choice. Vincent is a wonderful French restaurant offering lunch and dessert for $12.50 at the time I wrote this. A bargain for white tablecloths and carefully prepared food. They even offered a salad of watermelon, fresh tomatoes, basil, cheese, thin sliced radishes and olives that I duplicated at home today with decent success. Don’t knock the combination ’til you’ve tried it.