Allyson's Summer Bucket List
I’m a transplant to Minneapolis. I moved here after college and intended to stay a year, maybe two. I’ve now lived here for over a decade with a marriage, a dog, a house, and a child to show for it. I love a lot about living in Minneapolis, and summers are in my humble experience the best time to experience the city. We try to stay in Minneapolis over the summer as much as we can.
When I’m asked why I live in Minneapolis I always respond with a boast about our park system. It’s one of the best in the country, and there’s so much to do. My ideal summer in Minneapolis includes spending plenty of time in the parks, and biking everywhere I can.
Bike Life
I try to bike as much as I can in the summer. On nice weekends I’ll attach a trailer to my bikes, ply my daughter with snacks, and be out for as long as she will tolerate. My favorite place to ride is the Minnehaha Parkway trail for for how beautiful and calming the creek is, and for how easily it intersects with many of the places I want to go.
I plan on taking the Minnehaha trail to Lake Nokomis for family beach days and kite flyings, and to the Lake Harriet bandshell to take advantage of the free concerts in the park all summer.
We’ll be buying anything we might need from Angry Catfish Bicycle Store, a well-stocked store whose very knowledgable staff will give a toddler free stickers for her new helmet. And we’ll always buy a coffee while we’re there.
Dining Al Fresco
Dining outside is one of my perennial pleasures in Summer. We try to eat most of our meals on our deck during the summer. I’m hoping to level up my outdoor cooking game with Rooted Kitchen by Ashley Rodriguez, an old favorite food writer who pulls together impressive meals that focus on fire and foraging. When not eating on our deck, or at a friend’s, my family and I love to go to a few local places.
Heather’s in South Minneapolis is one of our neighborhood favorites for nailing that difficult trifecta of great food, great patio, and a great kid’s menu. For celebrations my first choice is always All Saints in Marcy-Holmes. It’s the perfect place to sip a cocktail and snack on the focaccia with charred scallion butter and one of their gorgeous seasonal salads, indoors or outside.
We love a brewery for a casual get together, and we prioritize ones that are safe and welcoming for our three year old to hang out and explore. Minneapolis has so many great options, but our personal favorites are the riverfront patio at Pryes, the South Minneapolis gem of Wild Mind Ales, and the enormous backyard beer garden off Basset Creek at Utepils in Bryn Mawr. Obligatory Saint Paul shoutout for the hippie cheerful Bang Brewing which is nestled in their own small plots of prairie plants.
Other places to go
This will be the year that my family and I finally go to a Pizza Farm!
I’m more of a casual than a rabid sports fan, but I love going to a game. We are planning on taking our daughter to a Saint Paul Saints game this year. And if we can make the date night schedule line up right, we’re hoping to get tickets to see the Loons play at Allianz Field.
And of course we’ll go to the State Fair. It wouldn’t be a Minnesota summer without visiting at least once. Personal highlights include admiring the work at the Fine Art building like the above piece, getting honey ice cream from the Agricultural Building, and ranking the favorite foods with friends afterwards.