|
Roll over Chicago! You'll love the people, culture, lakes, skyline, restaurants
and general buzz of this unpretentious yet highly stylish city.
OutUK's Adrian Gillan has been sampling the MidWest hospitality.
|
Twin Cities Pride brings ten days of events climaxing in
the Parade & Festival here every June, with loads of great LGBT events in the 10 days or so
leading up to the big event.
The Twin Cities Pride Website has all the details. Outside of Pride,
any time's good to visit - apart from the mid-winter November-March freeze, perhaps!
WHAT TO DOQueer culture vultures, get your skates on! A Top 10 US art museum, the newly-expanded Minneapolis Institute of Arts represents over 5,000 years of world history, with an especially fine Asian collection. The Walker Art Center boasts stunning, expanded, modern art galleries, adjoining the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. And the Frank Gehry-designed Weisman Art Museum also offers a small collection - amidst the priceless Minnesota Uni campus cute-fest!The $125 million Guthrie Theater is home to three state-of-the-art stages, stunning public spaces and breathtaking views of the still-mini-yet-mighty Mississippi, which starts in Minnesota; and which is best explored on a Segway Magical History Tour, gliding along on a NASA-technology two-wheeler as you enjoy the history of the Minneapolis Riverfront area, from 10,000 BC to the present, in just 2˝ hours - no sweat! |
|
Take an interactive ride on the 8-story "Flour Tower" at the Mill City Museum,
set in the ruins of a century-old mill and documenting
Minneapolis' rise via "Flour Power".
Like the whole of Minnesota, Minneapolis is blessed with much greenery, plus its "Chain of Lakes" - just south of Uptown and great for a stroll or drive. Also venture, out-of-city, to Minneapolis' neighbour twin-cum-rival, St.Paul - home to huge churches, government buildings and historic residences; to the Science Museum of Minnesota - a highly-interactive, buzzing and educational place, great for kids of all ages, offering "surround movies" on its gigantic Omnitheater screen. |
Mall Of America.
| |
| To spend those dollars don't miss the Mall of America - the largest (and expanding) US retail and entertainment complex, boasting 520 stores, 60 restaurants, seven nightclubs, the Underwater Adventures aquarium and the US's largest indoor family theme park. | |
WHERE TO EATYou'll never be at a loss to find great places to quell those hunger pangs at all price levels. Don't miss out on two gay-run café-cum-eateries - popular, cosy Riverside hangout, Wilde Cafe & Spirits; and quaint, casual, candle-lit Barbette, serving French fodder avec local organic ingredients. |
 I-35W Bridge in Minneapolis lit with Pride. Photo: RCDIGITALPHOTOGRAPHY |
| Minneapolis is also blessed with some of America's finest eateries. Try Hell's Kitchen for a heavenly breakfast, brunch or lunch; 20.21, at the Walker Art Center, for an Asian-influenced menu of California cuisine, competing only with skyline views; Cosmos at Loews Minneapolis Hotel - perfect for a relaxed breakfast, high-powered lunch munch or launch pad into town; or the modern, energetic, imaginative and healthy Spoonriver, next to the Guthrie Theater, serving carefully-sourced American fare, including veggie & vegan items. | |
WHERE TO BOOZE & DANCETime to imbibe and jive? Don't miss the amateur nude showering competitions on a Sunday night at Saloon - the crowded Downtown gay dance club and video bar on Hennepin Avenue. This is a long-running, sizable LGBT bar with a convivial vibe, daily events & traditional pub grub. Just along the road, Gay90s is still deemed the "mega mall" of gay clubs, featuring drag shows and two levels of dancing, despite attracting its fair share of the straight crowd.For a change of scene, make the short trek to Minneapolis' oldest gay bar, 19, near Loring Park. It's a low-key, gay-friendly hangout with darts, pool tables and a patio. | 
|
|
The Brass Rail Lounge is a buzzy gay nightspot offering cocktails, DJ's & dancing, plus a VIP room in modern surroundings. They have a range
of entertainment both gay and straight and great drink specials.
Jetset Underground is a local neighbourhood New York-style lounge geared toward the gay community. On Saturday night their resident DJ is incharge of the music,
so you don't really need to request "Uptown Funk" or anything by Beyonce. Or Taylor Swift. It's a gay bar, remember?
Weekend nights fill up earlier than at the other bars in the area. It attracts skinny boys in skinny jeans and pretty women in even prettier cocktail attire.
LUSH Lounge & Theater is an upbeat, modern gay bar offering cocktails & classic American fare, plus late-night dancing & events tucked away in Northeast Minneapolis. The Theater has a full schedule of drag brunches, drag shows and other live performances that will require a ticket to enter. It's decorated in black and white, with plush, white seating, black walls, a full bar, and VIP booths. The Lounge, or front bar, is warm and inviting with green velvet curtains, warm brass lighting, a massive tropical mural, butcher block tables and gold and black seating as well as walls covered with art and climbing, green vines. Up by the Guthrie, on Washington Avenue South, dip into the eagleBOLTbar which falls somewhere between a neighborhood bar & grill and a gay nightclub. It's been around for more than 20 years and caters for a mainly for an older gay crowd, more into dress code, and with an "industrial" feel. To "take airs": tour the Lakes. WHERE TO STAYTwo of the best located and classiest places to stay are Loews Minneapolis Hotel, a stunningly stylish Downtown hotel, rising 20 floors over the city, boasting amazing views, sumptuous beds and mind-blowing showers; and The Chambers Hotel, a genuinely unique Downtown hotel-cum-gallery, brimming with contemporary art, not least from Britain - everything from Emin to Hurst and Hume - like a hip art gallery you sleep in! Check out its Red, White & Blue bar too!GETTING THEREIcelandair flies daily to Minneapolis-St.Paul from the UK with flights from London Heathrow, Manchester and Glasgow, via Iceland - Details at: www.icelandair.co.uk.
USEFUL WEBSITES Revised June 2023. | |