Winter Break is finally here! I’m sure your schedule is already jam-packed with visiting friends and family, eating at that restaurant you love, and doing everything else you have thought about for the past month as books and papers loomed in front of you – but just in case you’re running low on fun activities here are some fabulous things to do in Minneapolis in the winter…
- Have dinner along a window table at Cafe Lurcat, overlooking Loring Park covered in snow and lit be streetlights… sigh…
- Watch the Holidazzle parade (of course)
- Go ice skating on lakes, ponds, and community center fields (or check out indoor open skate times at local rec centers if you like your skating weather above -10 degrees…)
- Try rock-climbing indoors at Midwest Mountaineering for free
- Pick a lane at Bryant Lake Bowl, Elsie’s or Stardust Lanes
- Be a kid again and play board games at a bar or coffee shop like Chatterbox Pub
- Go ice-fishing
- Grab some hot coffee and go people-watching in Uptown
- Play shuffleboard at the Herkimer
- Saddle up to the bar at the historic Band Box Diner for classic breakfast, straight from the griddle
- Challenge your creativity at Paper Source in Uptown
- Warm up with sizzling pizza at Pizza Luce – open late!
- Get competitive with the hipsters at the Uptown VFW on bingo night
- Watch Purple Rain and go to a concert at First Ave
- Cross-country ski at Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis
- Explore your inner author at Open Book literary arts center in the Warehouse District
- Get cozy with melt-in-your-mouth pot roast and a glass of red wine at the Modern Cafe
- Sample wines from around the world at Lucia’s in Uptown
- Catch performance artists from around the world at the Cedar Cultural Center on the West Bank
- Grab a bite to eat at NBA City and then catch a Timberwolves game
- Take a class at Intermedia Arts and let loose your inner artist
- Begin to build your future art collection at the MCAD annual student art sale
- Take a tour of holiday lights with MetroConnections
- Fly kites during the annual Lake Harriet Winter Kite Festival
- Bundle up and go watch amateur and pro athletes compete in the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships in January on Lake Nokomis