I believe Maria Montessori might like a word with the “pioneer” John Holt. Her entire philosophy is predicated on creating a “prepared environment” (Holt’s grocery store) which allows students to follow their curiosity and explore knowledge at their pace and depth. That’s why Montessori schools have guides instead of…

High school life hack.

I always tell people, you can always find the true Minnesotan when the weather is -15 and they say “doesn’t ice cream sound good right about now?”

^^^ There can’t be enough said about the State Fair. All other’s pale in comparison.

Woohoo, shout out to my old hometown Excelsior!

As far as uptown Minneapolis, the Hennepin part of uptown is nice, I prefer the Lyn-Lake side though....Iron Door, Blue Door, Hasty Tasty, Lago Tacos have great food, there are two brewpubs and a sake brewery, a VFW thats modern in the front but still has the old-school section in back, and the arcade bar Up/Down--go…

Oh and the rivalry between the cities is a win for everyone as the St Paul Winter Carnival is a hoot and the multi-day Aquatennial in Mpls in August has the longest and best fireworks show I’ve ever seen in person. Parking sucks for both, I recommend public transit or biking for both.

Not enough stuff about museums! The MN history center in st paul is fantastic and really fun for kids as is the children’s museum only a few blocks away. The Walker has modern art and a newly remodeled sculpture garden in downtown mpls that I adore.

I didn’t get in on the original submissions. My two cents on the area and responses to some items in the article:

If you are from much further south, bring a light jacket even if you think you won’t need it. My wife and daughter acted like they were going to freeze to death walking from the rail to a restaurant one evening in August. 

Just wanted to give a shout out to the Red Cow’s 60/40 burger. 60% ground beef, 40% ground bacon, and 100% the best burger I’ve ever eaten. They have a great tap beer selection, too.

+1 to the Spoon & Stable. We were in Minneapolis back in May and stopped in there just to sample some desserts. So, so good.

The Twin Cities is the intensely foodie food scene that nobody outside of MN really knows about until they show up. If you love fried chicken, both cities have Revival. And the food hall trend is expanding, St Paul’s West 7th is getting Keg & Case soon (www.kegandcase.com), Minneapolis has Midtown Global Market ( https…

Juicy lucy or not the MN/St. Paul restaurant & bar scene is on fire. 

DO come during the winter, the colder the better. Dress warmly, go outside, stop into an ice cream parlor. You might consider coming during the St. Paul Winter Carnival at the end of January. Why? Well, you’ll have a lifelong memory and story to tell. 

Agreed. If you’re into pizza there’s Pizza Luce and Black Sheep. Cossetta’s does have a fancier sit-down restaurant that I’ve never been to (Louie’s), which might be good. 

I’m just going to start this battle. Cossetta’s as a restaurant is only worth visiting if you’re doing something within a few blocks, like going to the XCel. It’s not worth the trip otherwise.

This series had a massive effect on me growing up as well. While the politics are spot-on, the blind rage and accusatory tone of this post don’t comport at all with the friendly, forgiving tone taken in the books. I like Coville’s approach better.

Oh my god. My Teacher Flunked the Planet specifically is why I’m a socialist (well, that and my super progressive parents who encouraged and cultivated it). Bruce Coville in general is just phenomenal and I have plenty of goof memories of reading his books... but I remember very clearly, very vividly, the sequence in…

I often ask myself how I ended up so radically different from my family, politically speaking and otherwise.