JULY 1 2009
AMERICANWAY 39
JEANNEttECoopERMAN
wasborn inSt. Louis, earnedadoctor-
ate inAmerican studiesatSaintLouisUniversity, andworksasa
staffwriter for
St. LouisMagazine
. For perspective, she travels.
6.
TwinCiTies
You jusT Can’T
talkaboutMinneapo-
liswithout talkingabout St. Paul. The cities
are equidistant fromMinnesota's St. Paul–
Minneapolis International Airport and are
easily reachable by the speedy and conve-
nient Metro Transit light-rail. In less than
10 minutes, you can get to
Historic Fort
Snelling
, located at the confluence of the
Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. There,
you’ll see reenactments of 1820s military
ceremonies, blacksmithing, and carpentry.
Head in the opposite direction of His-
toric Fort Snelling and you'll find the
Mall
of America
, in Bloomington. The largest
mall in the country has become a bit of a
cliché, but yourvisitneedn’tbe.Feed sharks
at
Underwater Adventures Aquarium
,
the world’s largest underground aquarium
(located beneath themall), or feel what it’s
like to pilot an F/A-18Hornet at
A.C.E.S.
Flight Simulation
.Youcanalsohangout in
the four-story
Lego Imagination Center
,
where you’ll be in esteemed company:
For-
tune
pronounced these bumpy little plastic
bricks the “toyof the
[
twentieth
]
century.”
If you’re in St. Paul come dinnertime,
stop into
Heartland
. Founding chef Lenny
Russo blends categories in this restaurant
that are at once organic, Midwestern, and
contemporary. If you’re headed forMinne-
apolis, try
Moto-i
, thefirst sakebrewpub to
open outside Japan. Since sake is themain
attraction there, don't settle for sipping
just one; instead, order a flight so you can
sampleand share. The food isphenomenal,
and themood ishipyet relaxed.Andbestof
all, thanks toanaffordablemenu, youwon't
break thebank.
TheTwinCitiesarewidelyknownfortheir
artandarchitecture.Doas theMinnesotans
do and admire the Frank Gehry–designed
Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum
,
which foreshadowed Gehry’s Guggenheim
Museum Bilbao. The
Minneapolis Cen-
tral Library
, designedbyCesar Pelli, is also
worthcheckingout,andthereareevenmore
reasons thanbefore to visit the
Walker Art
Center
, thanks to a stunning expansion by
Herzog&deMeuron, the firm that created
London’s Tate Modern. Another draw is
WolfgangPuck’s 20.21Restaurant andBar,
located inside themuseum.
AW
