I’ve been to 41 US states

Last weekend, Wisconsin, and this weekend, Minnesota, one state to the west.

I’m in Minneapolis, to get a feel for the city while Sloane interviews for a job. It’s too bad we don’t have time for a longer trip—two of my remaining eight states are Minnesota neighbors: North and South Dakota.

We stumbled right into the the Twin Cities marathon tomorrow—the other twin being St. Paul, the capital city—which we only realized upon texting our only friend in Minneapolis, who happens to be running the race tomorrow (go Jun!). Marathon weekend is quite bad for flight and hotel costs, but very good for seeing a city on its liveliest day of the year. Plus the Gophers are playing tonight (football), and the Vikings are playing tomorrow (also football), so it’s a Big Weekend.

Like Milwaukee a week ago, it’s 60 degrees and the sky is blue blue blue.

Yesterday we walked around Northeast (“Nordeast”) and St. Anthony Main, trendy neighborhoods on the north side of the Mississippi River, which cuts through the city. I was surprised to find the Mississipi this far north! It starts in northern Minnesota and goes all the way to Louisiana, but it is not the longest river in the US—that title belongs to the Missouri, apparently. St. Anthony Falls, the aformentioned neighborhood’s eponymous waterfall, is the only true waterfall on the Mississippi, and its lock serves as the river’s head of navigation, where cruise ships (and other ships) stop.

The riverfront has all sorts of walking paths, pretty bridges, and little islands. There are abundant walking, running, biking trails both around downtown and in the ’burbs.

People are really nice here. This morning I ran around Lake Harriet and its neighbor to the north, Bde Maka Ska. The run put me in a terrific mood, dispensing more runner’s waves and appropriately brief eye contact than usual.

I almost but did not go to the Mall of America, this country’s largest shopping mall. I’m sure it’s a spectacle, but a 20-minute YouTube tour scratched that itch. I did accidentally end up at another mall, briefly, and walked by a soda shop called Sota whose logo is the state of Minnesota with a straw stuck in the top. Genius, except I think they call it pop here.

Minnesota is vast. I keep thinking of that word, vast, because around here you can see so far in every direction, and the sky is so whole. Sightlines in the coastal and Appalachian states I’m used to only go as far as the next hill.

The early verdict is that I think it would be nice to live here.