Eat, stay and play at Mall of America

When it opened 30 years ago, Mall of America was the largest shopping center in the country. It still holds that title today — and boasts more attractions than ever. Beyond its 520-plus shops (charging no tax on clothing and shoes, mind you), the mall’s bragging rights include a movie theater, comedy club, aquarium, escape room, esports venue, mirror maze, miniature golf, laser tag and more. Kids will be floored by the number of head-spinning rides at Nickelodeon Universe, the nation’s first indoor theme park, and the LEGO Store’s towering menagerie of wild animals built from tiny plastic bricks.

From full-service restaurants to fast-casual food courts, meal options abound: Start with a paneer tikka kati roll from Hot Indian before tucking into a steaming bowl of char siu ramen from Ichiddo Ramen and finishing with a fruity Mexican paleta from La Michoacana Purepecha.

Family-friendly amenities including stroller and wheelchair rental, storage lockers and lactation rooms make it easy to spend a full day (or weekend) here, and there are more than 20 hotels within walking, driving or shuttling distance for when you’re finally ready to pass out. Sleek, contemporary picks like the JW Marriott and Radisson Blu are directly connected to the mall; both sport indoor pools, and the latter is pet-friendly to boot.

Catch a rollicking outdoor concert

The biggest names in show business usually stop in the Twin Cities when they’re on tour, and the schedule gets especially busy in summer. 

Target Field kicks off its first TC Summer Fest on July 14-15 with a packed alt-rock/pop bill featuring everyone from The Killers and Flaming Lips to Imagine Dragons and Death Cab For Cutie. 

The 8,000-capacity outdoor amphitheater at Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake hosts a Rock and Rockets music festival with fireworks and a free Gin Blossoms and Lit concert on the Fourth of July. Other top acts for summer 2023 include Rob Zombie, Steve Miller Band, Daryl Hall, and 3 Doors Down. 

And let’s not forget Festival Field at Surly Brewing Company, staging top acts throughout August and September. This year's schedule includes two nights with Nathaniel Ratliff and the Night Sweats and evenings with Ween and Train. 

Dine at an award-winning restaurant

Minnesota's first five-star hotel, Four Seasons Minneapolis is anchored by two new restaurant concepts from celebrated chef Gavin Kaysen (Spoon and Stable, Demi).

But those aren’t the only A-games in town. After Ann Kim (Young Joni, Sooki & Mimi) earned the title in 2019, three Twin Cities toques were 2022 finalists for the James Beard Foundation’s prestigious Best Chef Midwest award: Yia Vang of Union Hmong Kitchen and Hilltribe; Mexican chef Jorge Guzmán of cozy Kingfield restobar Petite León; and Sean Sherman, a.k.a. The Sioux Chef, co-owner of the acclaimed Native American restaurant Owamni. Sherman and his business partner Dana Noelle Thompson, a lineal descendant of the Wahpeton-Sisseton and Mdewakanton Dakota tribes, are uprooting centuries of colonial influence and reclaiming Indigenous food through inspired menu items such as wild rice-stuffed quail and bison tripe with white nixtamal.

Another memorable tasting experience awaits at Travail Kitchen and Amusements in Robbinsdale, a rooftop cantina helmed by Mike Brown, Bob Gerken and James Winberg. The spring menu veers from playful "octo tacos" and comforting cumin lamb dumplings one minute to roasted chicken with leek ash, trumpet mushroom mousseline and truffled jus the next.

See a thought-provoking show at the Guthrie Theater

The best theater ushers spectators to another time and place. At the storied Guthrie playhouse in Minneapolis, the programming runs the gamut: Summer highlights include heavy hitters like Murder on the Orient Express (May 13-July 2) and Into the Woods (June 17-Aug. 13), as well as the "reimagined western" Shane (July 15-Aug. 27).

Although backstage tours are paused due to the pandemic, the building itself, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, deserves its own standing ovation. Among its more notable features: the Amber Box, a yellow-hued glass room jutting out of the face of the boxy blue building, and the Endless Bridge, a 178-foot walkway cantilevered off the front, where, in summertime, visitors can bask in meditative views of the churning Mississippi River.

Embrace the summer tradition of the Minnesota State Fair

They don’t call it the Great Minnesota Get-Together for nothing. Our state fair (Aug. 24-Sept. 4) is the largest in the country by average daily attendance. Why does it get such an impressive turnout? Because in the span of a single day, visitors can take a magic carpet ride down a Giant Slide, watch Princess Kay of the Milky Way get her likeness carved in butter, eat every deep-fried food imaginable (on a stick!), witness a live cow birth, admire paintings and sculptures from some of the most talented artists in the state, and root for the best-dressed lamini at the annual Llama-Alpaca Costume Contest.

Add to that a grand slam lineup of headliners for the Grandstand concert series (The Black Keys, The Chicks and hometown heroes The Hold Steady, to name just a few) and you can see why people travel from across the Midwest to experience our liveliest summer happening.