I got back from Minneapolis last night, after having the best weekend ever visiting Kara and all that the (other) cheese state has to offer.
First off, Kara already refers to Valleyfair as "her" or "our" park, so I think that means she likes it. And I even caught her saying, "Yaaaaaah" a few times. She's being assimilated.
Naturally I watched Fargo the day before, just because I like how they talk up there. Not everyone talks like that, but when they do, it makes me laugh. It's not a bad thing, it just amuses me. It gives the place character.
The people all seem so nice, and what I thought would be some stuffy conservative Midwest locale is actually ridiculously diverse. My first clue was when the 50+ year-old woman at the Alamo car rental counter had her nose and her lip pierced (body piercing is clearly more culturally accepted there than it is here in Ohio). By the time I got into the world, I noticed that there were a great many people from the Middle East, Asia, etc. It was far from the white bread land I expected.
Development seems a lot more spread out. Things looked less dense as I flew in and out of town, which might have been somewhat skewed since I was coming from and going back through Chicago. Yes, there are Home Depots and Target stores everywhere, but it's not the wall-to-wall development you'd see in, say, Columbus, Ohio. That's a good thing.
Being there for only two full days, of course my priority was Valleyfair and the Mall of America, but there is a lot I feel like we didn't get to do. I'd like to check out the bigger casino (it's no Vegas I'm sure, but why not?), find good restaurants, maybe see a Twins game, and just generally see the city. It just wasn't the dull city in a field I expected.
Anyway, trip reports for Valleyfair and MOA are forthcoming...