Trying to keep our driving to a minimum daily we made a stop in Madison, WI for the night on our way to Minnesota. I reserved a Bed & Breakfast on Lake Mendota right outside of downtown.  Gardens of many different flowers, herbs and fruit trees surrounded the B&B with a beautiful view of the lake from the backyard. 

Strolled downtown for a bit in the afternoon with a visit to the famous “Wando’s” Bar the birthplace of “Jump Around”. 

Later, I found a pizza spot just 3 blocks from the B&B, Salvatore’s Tomato Pie.  After some research we noticed the owner is from Trenton, NJ so we were all in and it didn’t disappoint.  Right across the street from Salvatore’s was “Vintage Brewery”, so a quick stop there for Mike to enjoy a flight before dinner.

The next morning, we enjoyed continental breakfast in the dining room before our drive to Minneapolis.  Arrived late afternoon and enjoyed a quick walk around town to stretch our legs a bit.  No particular plans for arrival day but needed a stop at Target to get a few things we were low on then off to dinner.  We found this great underground restaurant “Hell’s Kitchen” which is not associated with Gordon Ramsey’s.  It is employee-owned with a cool vibe, great service and delicious food we highly recommend if anyone is visiting the area. 

Our second day in town we drove to the “Mall of America” late morning/early afternoon.  This place is amazing, we spent about 3 hours just walking around and shopping in a few stores.  We enjoyed a quick lunch in the food court as well.  In the middle of the mall is the Nickelodeon area(amusement park) as well as the Lego store and a two-story M&M store.  We eventually found home plate from the old Twins Stadium “Metropolitan Stadium” in front of one of the rollercoasters, which we knew was somewhere in the middle of Nickelodeon.  It was not clearly labeled so we had to search for it, pretty cool!

That afternoon two friends, Sharon & Mike (Minnesota), whom we met on a Mexico vacation 6.5 years ago traveled to meet us for the game.  We were lucky to spend some time with them and enjoy some drinks pre-game. When we arrived at the stadium they showed us a lot of things we may have never known to experience if we were on our own.  It was also Prince Night, and we received a purple Prince T-shirt giveaway entering the stadium as well as fireworks after the game.  Many statues surround the stadium, there’s also a nice upper-deck area similar to the Hall of Fame Club in CBP. We were able to talk to the organist (Sue) prior to the game, which was pretty cool. The metal flags in the picture has “Devin Smeltzer” on the roster who also played in the Tri State Arsenal Program as well.  He was traded to Miami his final season there and is still playing for Miami in AAA and has been called up occasionally to play with the pro-team.

After spending 2 nights in Minneapolis, we have a few days before a game in Milwaukee due to the MLB schedule so we’re headed to Green Bay for the weekend.