The Twin Cities - Minneapolis and St. Paul (The M&M Trip)

This is another post in the series documenting our trip to the states of Minnesota and Michigan back in the summer of 2015.  Our daughter, Kyra, was 16 and out of school on summer vacation, so she joined us on our two week whirlwind tour of the M&M states.

Here in the northeast, you’ll find mostly privately owned RV parks or campgrounds operated by State Parks Departments.  Camping travelers don’t seem to have the support of city, county and regional governments like they do in other areas of the country.  So I’m always pleasantly surprised to find these gems when I’m on the hunt for a base camp for our explorations or a place to land for an overnight stop as we crisscross the country.

My lucky find in the Twin Cities area encompassing Minneapolis-St. Paul was the Lebanon Hills Regional Park Campground.  Lebanon Hills is about 20 miles south of Minneapolis and only 10 miles southeast of the Mall of America in Bloomington.  As I write this post, the campground is enjoying an 8.8 rating on CampgroundReviews.com.

No, that's not us.  Just wanted you to see the lovely setting.

The campground offers several different types of sites – full hookup, electric only and no hookups – and even has a laundry room to accommodate the needs of travelers.  Lebanon Hills kept us away from the hustle and bustle of the Twin Cities, but close enough to them to make the commute a breeze.

That's us!

Since we were working with only a two week allotment of vacation days and careful decisions about how to spend our time were a necessity, we missed out on all that St. Paul had to offer.  Instead, during our second full day in the Twin Cities area, we concentrated on biking around Lake Calhoun, immersing ourselves in a historic event that occurred 145 years ago and finding the World’s Largest Boot – an absolutely delightful way to spend my birthday, if I do say so myself.  There are definite advantages to being the family’s trip planner!

Minneapolis is known as one of the most bikeable cities in America.  According to the Our Streets Minneapolis website, “As of 2014, Minneapolis had 226 miles of bike lanes and trails and more of them per square mile (5.8) than any other major city in the country.”  Our excursion in Minneapolis involved biking the shoreline of Lake Calhoun, the largest lake in Minneapolis and one of the city’s Chain of Lakes.  (Note: The name of Lake Calhoun was changed to Bde Maka Ska subsequent to our 2015 visit as a nod to the area’s Dakota heritage.  Bde Maka Ska is an English approximation of the Dakota term for “Lake White Earth” or “Lake White Bank.”)

Minnesota’s unofficial nickname is Land of 10,000 Lakes.  Actually, there are over 11,000 lakes in the state and Minneapolis has at least 22 of them.  The residents of Minneapolis are never far from beautiful green spaces and it’s obvious they are appreciated.  The bike trail around Lake Calhoun was busy and very much worthy of the traffic.  It was an experience we all enjoyed but it did confirm our preference for quiet, less trafficked trails.

Following our biking adventure, we headed south to Northfield, Minnesota.  Why Northfield?  Well, I’ve always been interested in the history of the American West, and it was in Northfield that the Jesse James/Cole Younger gang met its match in September of 1876.  According to legend, in early September the eight members of the James-Younger gang rode into Mankato, Minnesota, to rob the town’s bank.  For some reason, they decided to abort the plan and, instead, rob the First National Bank in Northfield.  That decision would lead to the demise of the gang and the death of five people – three gang members and two of the townspeople – when the residents of Northfield defended their bank and defeated the robbers.

As the legend goes, acting cashier Joseph Lee Heywood was killed by the robbers when he refused to open the bank vault.  Town resident Nicholas Gustafson received a head wound in the melee in the street from which he would not recover.  Townspeople shot and killed gang members Bill Stiles and Clell Miller and wounded the three Younger brothers, Cole, Bob and Jim.  Frank and Jesse James escaped completely.  The three Youngers were captured and Charlie Pitts was killed two weeks later during a gun battle in Hanska Slough near Madelia, Minnesota.  The brave citizens of Northfield are given credit for breaking up the infamous James-Younger gang and the posse out of Madelia received credit for capturing the Younger brothers.  Northfield honors its heroes at The Defeat of Jesse James Days Celebration, held each year on the weekend after Labor Day.

History was made right here in Northfield.

From Northfield, we drove east for about 45 minutes to our last stop in the Twin Cities area.  Welcome to the town of Red Wing, Minnesota, situated on the Mississippi River and home of (you guessed it!) Red Wing boots.  In the very early 1900’s, shoe merchant Charles Beckman became frustrated when he couldn’t find comfortable, high quality boots and he decided to make his own.  Over 100 years later, the impeccable reputation of Red Wing boots is a testament to the company’s continued use of quality materials and excellent craftsmanship.

To celebrate the Red Wings Centennial in 2005, a group of over 60 Red Wing employees and retirees constructed the World’s Largest Boot in the original Red Wing shoe factory on Main Street in Red Wing.  The boot, a replica of the company’s classic 877 style work boot, took 13 months to complete with an investment of over 4,000 hours in its design, engineering and construction.  If you were to create the World’s Largest Boot, exactly what shoe size would that be?  Well, how about a size 638 ½ D!  Let’s just say that this boot is B-I-G!  To fit properly in the World’s Largest Boot, you’d have to be the World’s Largest Person at 120 feet tall!

Quite the project, wasn't it?!

The boot is on display at Red Wing’s Flagship Store on Main Street in Red Wing.  In addition to the regular retail shop on the main level, the building also houses the Red Wing Museum on the upper level and an outlet store on the lower level.  This is exactly the kind of quirky stop we love.  It’s something unusual and intriguing that celebrates one of the many unique stories which, when stitched together, form the fabric of honest-to-goodness life in America.

Following our adventures in the Twin Cities area, we pointed our truck northwest toward Lake Bemidji State Park where we would have the most frightening experience of our journey.  I hope you’ll join us – misery loves company!