Virginia

A vivd image comes to mind when I think of Virginia. We were on our way to North Carolina and South Carolina on a spring break trip in 2001 that would ultimately bring us to Florida. It's not a particularly remarkable memory, just a simple, peaceful one of driving through a forest of tall, slender trees while the sun shone through, its rays pushing their way into the forest while Dave Matthews Band played on the radio. I always think of Virginia as a beautiful, relaxing and serene state, and this memory perfectly exemplifies the sentiment in my mind. 

My most recent pass through the state provided a quick and delightful addendum to my already high opinion of Virginia. Mrs. Tires and I were driving down the highway from Washington DC to the Great Smoky Mountains during our great American road trip in the summer of 2012. As we stared out the window and enjoyed Virginia's subtle hills and leafy views, we saw a sign for Shenandoah Caverns Park. Curious, we pulled off the highway to check it out. While approaching the visitor parking lot, another attraction caught our eye - a replica of the Statue of Liberty. 

The statue was parked in front of a large building, and with our newfound excitement for the bizarre overtaking us, we pulled in there instead. After we parked, we noticed an even more strange and spectacular sight, a giant kootie. You might remember these from the children’s game. This ten-foot high statue brought huge smiles to our unsuspecting faces, so we wandered over there for a closer look and some photos. 

There were a few more statues outside. We photographed them mercilessly before heading into the business that hosted these marvels, American Celebration on Parade. 

The inside of the building was thoroughly decorated with festive streamers, beads and sparkles which drew us towards a huge, Mardi Gras-style court jester. 

Enchanted but slightly confused, we approached the counter to inquire about what we'd stumbled upon. Turns out it was a parade float museum. For a fee of twelve dollars per person, we could enter the museum and witness huge floats that were on display in some famous parades. Intrigued but budget conscious, we wavered on whether we'd go in. 

TRAVEL TIP: Not sure if an attraction will be worth the dough? Check out the postcard stand in the gift shop. The postcards will show you the highlights, and you can decide from there whether it will be worth it.

From the postcard collection

I followed my own advice, and we decided to skip the parade floats and save the twenty-four dollars. Our appetite for the bizarre had been satisfied by what we saw for free.

As we exited, we noticed a strange sight across the street, a cowboy hat-wearing frog looking through a magnifying glass. 

Maybe we weren't done with novelties after all. We headed over there and found The Yellow Barn, a strange Americana-themed museum. This one was free to enter, and it offered wine tasting and a general store in addition to several odd collections.

The true highlight of The Yellow Barn was the overhead model train set, which operated on several tracks perched above the wooden support beams of the building. A quarter made the trains run around the track for five minutes. Best quarter I spent all trip. 

The Yellow Barn offered another fun diversion, a petting zoo featuring many roosters and some freaky goats.

After some petting and more photos, we got back in the car and hit the road again. We ended up skipping the caverns entirely. This unintentionally funny postcard showed us all we'd need to know about what we missed. 

From the postcard collection

Many more surprises and delights were in store for us on that road trip, but our findings in Virginia will stay with us forever. It was fantastic to randomly stumble upon these roadside treasures. Our encounter made me love Virginia that much more. 

From the postcard collection

More on this trip:

Washington DC, Part 2: Tourist Edition
Maryland
Tennessee, Part 1: Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Tennessee, Part 2: Nashville and Memphis

Check out #raymanroadtrip2k12 on Twitter

Florida

From the Postcard Collection

When visiting Florida, highs and lows come with the territory. Sunshine, beaches, world-class vacation destinations and unique natural wonders are contrasted by bad traffic, hanging chads, bigotry and crazy people.

My trips to Florida have been no exception. Vacations in Disney World delivered life long memories, and also the most traumatic hotel experience of my life. A spring break trip in 2001 included a stop at a pristine, postcard-worthy beach that we'd have to risk our lives to fully enjoy, and a trip to a fantastic roadside attraction that was built on a bald-faced lie. My most recent visit with my comedy group Dirty Water involved several exciting spring training games interspersed between performances at the worst venue in our history. So buckle up and hang on tight, we're going on a roller coaster ride down I-95 in Florida.

Orlando

I was fortunate enough to make several family trips to Disney World when I was growing up, and I cherished every one of them. One of my fondest childhood memories is of a voyage on Disney's Big Red Boat, which involved non-stop fun on a giant cruise ship, including some encounters with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and company. The cruise was followed by three days in the Disney parks.

Epcot Center has always been my favorite park. I love Spaceship Earth, the ride within the giant silver golfball that serves as Epcot's anchor. The areas dedicated to various foreign countries are also quite enjoyable, as they offer rides, costumes and cuisine from several world nations without requiring a passport. I hope to return to Epcot someday to drink around the world, a practice accomplished by drinking an adult beverage in each represented country.

During one of my trips to Epcot, I played a prototype of a futuristic video game. It involved using a controller that replicated a guitar and strumming to the Aerosmith tune represented on screen. Fifteen years later, the game was released to the public. We know it as Guitar Hero. 

Pleasure Island has lived up to its name throughout my life. I have a distinct early childhood memory of whooping it up with my Aunt Betty and Uncle Danny at a can-can club on Pleasure Island when I was six or seven. Aunt Betty's hoots and hollers to the dancers are forever engrained in my memory.

Pleasure Island also hosted the first improv show I ever saw. I was fascinated by the quick wit and spontaneous humor displayed by the performers, and was so impressed with the scenes and songs they came up with off the cuff that I had to try it myself. Improvisational comedy became one of the great passions of my life, and I’d go on to become an improv comedian on a semi-professional level.  

The bad news about Pleasure Island is that it is closing and the area is being repurposed. Go figure. 

Another early influence on my entertainment career came via a visit to Disney-MGM studios. Though most of my family was ‘meh' on the experience, I absolutely loved it, mostly because I got to participate in the SuperStar Television recreation of Gilligan’s Island. I was cast as the Skipper, which meant going into a real imitation dressing room and then appearing on stage. Disney-MGM is now known as Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but thankfully, SuperStar Television still stands. 

Unfortunately, not all of the memories from my trips to Disney are positive. A spring break road trip in 2001 included a stop at Disney World to visit my friend Mike, who was working as an actor at the park. My poor college student friends and I were in need of a cheap place to stay during that visit, and we found a hotel on the outskirts of Orlando that offered rooms for forty dollars per night. After checking in, my friends Beth and Sean decided to do some floor exercises in the room. The scuzzy floors were already turning their feet black, so they pulled the blanket off one of the beds and laid it down on the ground for protection. Upon doing so, they noticed a small insect scurrying across the blanket. When they looked closer, they saw several more. A close inspection of the bed exposed that it was covered with hundreds of tiny spiders. They freaked out.

I assured them everything would be ok, and I calmly went to the office to report the infestation. I communicated my friends' concerns to the large Polish man behind the desk. My unconcerned approach to the situation was altered when the man gave me a shocked and concerned look, disappeared for a second, and came back with keys to a new room. "Better switch rooms," he said, "I think they're crabs."

With that, my attitude flipped upside down, and I freaked out even more than my friends had. We weren't talking the kind of crabs that lived in the ocean here. I ran back to the room and told everyone to grab all of their things, STAT. We packed in a flurry and ran out the door, each of us spazzing out in our own way.

We settled into an infestation-free room, but none of us slept well. We were so traumatized, we kept ourselves awake by scratching imaginary itches all night.

There's a bright side to this experience. In the future, no matter how bad a stay may be, it will never be as bad as our crab-infested hotel in Orlando.

West Palm Beach

West Palm Beach is gorgeous. My friends Jon, Sean, Beth and I visited during the previously-mentioned spring break trip on 2001, and we were able to squeeze a couple of hours of beach time into our packed road trip schedule. The most memorable moment from the beach was a shark sighting which had everyone scurrying out of the water. At first I didn’t believe the shark was real, so I asked a lifeguard, and he assured me it was legit.

"Cool!" I exclaimed in reaction.

"No," he replied sternly, "NOT cool."

St. Augustine

Legend is a funny thing. According to some legends, Ponce De Leon spent his whole life looking for the famed Fountain of Youth. According to a subset of those legends, he made it to Florida during his explorations. And according to an even more obscure collection of those tales, he stumbled upon the Fountain of Youth while kicking it in St. Augustine. This legend upon hearsay upon flat-out lie is the foundation of a delightful and enchanting attraction in St. Augustine called the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park. This place is so much fun, it makes visitors forget its total lack of validity.

My friend Jon and I checked out the park during our spring break trip in 2001, and we got a first-hand look at the river that supposedly contained the Fountain of Youth. The guided tour included a dixie cup full of water from the river. As implied by the postcard at the beginning of this post, the water is supposed to make those who sip from it young forever. So we've got that going for us! It tasted like copper.

The whole area that surrounded the alleged Fountain of Youth was really cool. It featureed exotic flora and the occasional peacock. We only had time for a quick stroll through the grounds. I'd love to return and explore the park further.

Some of the exotic plants that appear throughout the park

Peacocks roaming free on the grounds

Fort Myers

If I'm going to Fort Myers, it can only be for one thing - Red Sox spring training. The annual kickoff to the baseball season occurs in February and March of every year and involves several exhibition games between major league teams as they prepare for the upcoming season. The games are casual and fun, and the atmosphere is further enhanced by the beautiful weather. The Fort Myers public address announcer loves comparing the day's weather to the concurrent temperature in Boston, with Florida boasting temps in the 70s and 80s while Boston temps are in the 30s and 40s. Players are more accessible to fans during spring training, and can often be spotted signing autographs. One year I witnessed Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz offering their signatures, and the entire stadium seemed to be flocking toward them.

My Boston-themed improv group Dirty Water attended spring training in 2007. We were performing at the nearby Foxboro Sports Tavern, a Boston-themed sports bar, so we went to the Red Sox spring training games to market our show to Red Sox fans.  The games were fantastic, as we witnessed the early version of the team that would go on to win the World Series that year. In an unexpected twist, my friend and fellow troupe member Adam had the credentials to work at the stadium. While we spread the word about our performances, he was working the stands as a beer vendor. This meant we had our own personal beer salesman when it was time for a cold one. 

Unfortunately, the shows at the Foxboro Sports Tavern didn’t go so well.  The owner who booked us was really excited to have our show at his bar, but when we arrived, he was nowhere to be found. We were greeted by his evil brother, the co-owner of the establishment. It was clear the evil one wasn’t too keen on us being there, as he was a total dick to us the entire time. Furthermore, the venue was completely unequipped to host a show like ours, and we spent more time working through tech issues than we did entertaining the patrons. As if that wasn't enough, the evil brother tried to terminate our agreement after the first night. It was an ugly and unfortunate experience that left a bad taste in our mouths for years.

There's lots more to explore in Florida. I'm wondering what highs and lows await me as I check more Florida destinations off my list. Will I be attacked by an alligator when explore the Everglades? Will Miami steal my hard earned money by taxing me like crazy when I visit the publicly funded Marlins Park? Will my skin burn off in the scorching sun in Miami?

For now, I've got some great memories to hold on to when I think of Florida...even if they're tainted by sharks, lies, ass holes and crabs.

Must See in Florida: 

• Epcot (Orlando)
• Disney World (Orlando)
• Spring Training (Various locations)

Check it out: 

• Fountain of Youth (St. Augustine)
• West Palm Beach

Skip it: 

• Foxboro Sports Tavern (Naples, FL)

The "Next Time" list: 

• Everglades National Park
• Miami 
• Marlins Park (Miami)
• Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg)
• Jet Blue Park (Fort Myers)

One more shot for the road

Georgia

My friends and I visited Georgia on our way to Florida during a spring break trip in 2001 that also brought us to Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. We breezed right through without stopping, adoring their cute peach-adorned license plates and singing Georgia on my Mind. 

And that's my story about Georgia. 

Minnesota, Part 2

My previous trips to Minnesota included unexpected and delightful encounters with the Snoopy Axe Ride, an OCD polar bear and a giant Jolly Green Giant, as detailed in Minnesota, Part 1. Recently I revisited the state when Mrs. Tires and I embarked on a stadium chasing expedition to Minneapolis with our friends Jon and Katie. This journey delivered several more charming and surprising findings that further solidified my impression of Minnesota as a top-notch, random and fun state for road trips.

The drive from Chicago to Minneapolis is a deceptively long one, but we had an enjoyable trip up filled with conversation, laughter and song. Highlights included a stop at the Mars Cheese Castle (which will be covered in the post on Wisconsin) and an encounter with a Dukes of Hazzard replica on the highway.

When the driver of the Dukes of Hazzard car saw us taking photos, he honked his dixie horn and drove alongside us for a while. Eventually he mimed an invitation to pull over at the next exit, take more photographs, and maybe even drive the thing. It was hard to tell exactly what his hand gestures meant. We declined. Add another tally mark to the count of bizarre occurrences in Minnesota.

When we rolled into Minneapolis at about 1:00 am, we got an immediate reminder of the quirky charm this city offers. Old brick and stone buildings were intermingled with shiny new skyscrapers with glass exteriors. Target's world headquarters greeted us with a trippy animated LED light show at the top of their building. 

Despite the late arrival, we were up and at 'em early the next morning. It happened to be National Donut Day, which intrigued my pregnant wife and lead us to the Angel Food Bakery, where we tried an assortment of their tasty mini-donuts. 

After getting our sugar fix, we wandered on and encountered a funky public art display called mini-polis, a miniature version of Minneapolis with various forms of artistic expression strewn throughout. 

After admiring the display, we walked through a lovely public park and crossed the Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge, which brought us to our destination for the day: the Walker Art Center. 

From what we saw of the museum itself, it looked like a really cool place. That's a judgement based solely on the architecture and the gift shop. We didn't see the art inside. We were drawn to Walker for two reasons. The first was their artist-created mini-golf course. This course was eighteen holes of fun and randomness. Each hole featured unique artistic flair, and some came with special rules. One had eighteen different targets, each of which represented a different hole of the Augusta National Course. Another had the players' opponents acting as human obstacles via pre-placed footprints. There was a hot dog-themed hole and a Brillo pad-themed hole. Another was a nod to the Uncertainty Principle. One was a billiards table that required players to use their putters as pool cues. There was one dedicated to constellations and one inspired by the struggle between a mother hen and an eager fox. The hen-themed one had a rule stipulating that a ball hit to the fox meant starting all over again. It was an absolute blast. We all had a great time, despite the fact that Mrs. Tires and I lost the battle of the couples and had to buy Jon and Katie a round of beers as a result. 

Playing all eighteen holes worked up quite an appetite, so after the round we made a stop at the Dog House, a food trailer parked outside the course that offered artist-inspired hot dogs. Mine was as much a nacho plate as it was a dog - covered with nacho cheese, ground beef, onions and tomatoes. Yum. 

The second thing that brought us to Walker was the sculpture garden. This huge area featured some cool sculptures, as well as an atrium, a few gardens, and a pond. The centerpiece of the sculpture garden was Minnesota's famous Spoonbridge and Cherry.

It was a fantastic stroll, and it was enhanced by the gorgeous 78 degree weather. On the way back to the hotel, we wandered through a nice public park that was very green and enchanting.

We got back to the hotel in enough time to take a quick dip in the hotel pool. I stay in hotels with pools a lot, but it's rare that I actually use them, so I am glad we took advantage of it this time around. After the soak, we dried off, geared up and headed off to Target Field. This ballpark is home of the Minnesota Twins, and it was the only stadium in the midwest I hadn't been to. I was pretty excited for the visit.

Target Field was a laid back, fun loving stadium meant to be enjoyed by baseball fans and non-baseball fans alike. Located in the middle of downtown, it was deeply entrenched in its surroundings, so much so that we ended up walking through a random parking garage to enter.

The ballpark greeted us with an open concourse that featured several large and unique statues just waiting to be climbed upon and interacted with. My favorite was the Golden Glove, a tribute to the Twins' gold glove winners from years past. It made for a great photo opportunity. 

There was also a statue of a baseball and a statue of the Twins' mascot in addition to statues of Twins greats Kirby Puckett and Harmon Killebrew. 

The concourse made for a great introduction to the stadium. We would have lingered longer, but we were anxious to get into the ballpark. We shuffled off and found our seats, which were behind home plate and in the highest seating section, my favorite seats for stadium chasing. 

From our seats, we noticed two things right off the...ehem...bat. The first was the old school Twins logo in center field. It featured two players shaking hands, one representing Minneapolis and the other representing St. Paul. I had always liked that logo and was glad to see it get such prominence.  

During my second visit the next day, I got an up-close view.

The second thing we noticed was the huge number of screens that appeared throughout the stadium. Two jumbotrons were supplemented by several rows of shorter, longer screens. There was also a rather unusual screen that was very tall and narrow and displayed head to toe images of the players at bat. I had never seen such a screen before. The cool thing about these screens was that they interacted with one another. A logo or message would slide off the edge of one screen and seamlessly appear on the next. The annoying thing about them was the frequent commands for fans to cheer and make noise. Fans shouldn't need prompts to know when to cheer.

Target Field was fairly feature-light, but there were a few must-see attractions. One was the 2 Gingers Tavern, which housed the stadium's organist, Sue Nelson. She was very approachable and inviting, and she often chatted up fans in between ditties. She was kind enough to pose for this photo with me (sorry it's so dark). 

The bench from the old Metrodome was another cool feature of the stadium. Fans could sit on it when they visited the Twins' Digital Clubhouse. It was worth a visit for the sit, though the rest of the Digital Clubhouse offered little real value. 

Target Field is known as a foodie stadium, and for that reason, I made sure to show up with an appetite. I tried the famous Kramarczyk bratwurst during my first visit and was not disappointed. The thick, juicy, delicious brat was the star of the meal, and it was supported superbly by grilled onions, sauerkraut and a tasty, strong-willed sesame seed bun. Add spicy mustard and you have a fantastic meal that's a top ten ballpark treat. Full disclosure: others in my party were not as impressed.

The next day I tried Tony O's Cuban sandwich, another popular item at the ballpark. They were sold out when I first visited the nearest stand serving them, so I had to go back later to get my hands on one. Despite timing things right so I got there when the next batch was coming straight off the press, I found it to be dry and rather unimpressive. 

Many stadiums in baseball now feature mascot races of some kind. This trend originated with the sausages at Milwaukee's Miller Park. Some clubs' mascots make sense in context, such as the presidents that run in Nationals Park. Others are more random. Target Field's race was definitely in the latter category. Its contestants included the Target dog, Babe the Blue Ox, a mosquito, a loon and a walleye fish. What's more, the mascots totally loafed during the race, and strolled leisurely to the finish line. Mosquito won on the first night we were there. Who on earth can bring themselves to root for a mosquito?

I met the loon on the concourse the next day.

Target Field was gorgeous at night. The installations in the outfield lit up and glowed, including my favorite sign. Furthermore, the Target dog overlooked the stadium from his perch atop the adjacent Target Center (home of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves), and at night he lit up and wagged his tail. Cute. 

At the conclusion of the game, we were treated to some post-game fireworks. They were odd and underwhelming. For no particular reason, they were set to country music. I enjoyed belting the lyrics to the obscure Garth Brooks song Baton Rouge as they went off, but other than that, I was left wanting more. Many fireworks shot up in the air, but eighty percent of them died out with a loud pop instead of exploding with color. Unfortunately the hometown Twins were as punchless as the fireworks. They lost to the Brewers, 10-5. 

Overall I truly enjoyed my experience at Target Field. While there were a few swings and misses, it was a very enjoyable stadium. I recommend a visit to baseball lovers and non-baseball lovers alike.

During day two in Minneapolis, our band of road trippers split up a few times. In the morning Jon and Katie met up with a friend for brunch at Hell's Kitchen, which was associated with the donut shop we visited the day before. They had a decent brunch and took advantage of the restaurant's serious Bloody Mary bar. Meanwhile, Mrs. Tires and I headed to the Uptown neighborhood for breakfast. Mrs. Tires' main craving while pregnant had been cinnamon rolls. Fortunately, Minneapolis offered some stellar versions of these pastries, chief among them being the cinnamon roles at Isles, a hole-in-the-wall, order-at-the-counter-type establishment. The cinnamon roles lived up to their reputation and then some, and they thoroughly satisfied Mrs. Tires' craving. I had the baked oatmeal, which I had never tried before. It ended up being a nice alternative to the sticky sweet options that made up most of the menu. 

After breakfast and a quick dip in the pool, we met up with Jon and Katie, and then the boys split off to go to another Twins game while the ladies headed off to a local spa. I covered most of our experience in the write up about Target Field above. The Twins were defeated by the Brewers again, this time 4-2. 

After the game our foursome rejoined, and we set out to do a bit more exploring. We started by heading to Uptown to visit Pat's Tap. A few different people had recommended this place to us, mostly because of the bar's old school skee-ball machines. Our visit was a bit of a bust. We ordered a round of appetizers, including a charcuterie plate, homemade Cheese-Its and buffalo chicken terrine. Each of these was disappointing and unappealing in its own way. As Katie pointed out, it seemed like they offered them because they were cool menu items instead of offering them because they had any sort of expertise in making them. After nibbling on the apps (and leaving quite a bit uneaten), we ventured over to the skee-ball to try to salvage the visit. 

Quarters in hand, each of us took up residence at one of the four skee-ball lanes. We each dropped a quarter and pulled the lever to release the balls. Only then did we realize that each machine was a different form of broken. One spit out only two balls. Two returned nothing at all. The last one could not accurately report the score. We complained to the staff and they kindly refunded our money and said they'd get the machines fixed. Twenty minutes later, they came back and said that two had been repaired. They malfunctioned again on the second attempt. We settled for playing a few games on the one with the broken scoreboard. Not the skee-ball experience we envisioned. Needless to say, I do not recommend visiting Pat's Tap.

We changed up the pace when we left Pat's Tap and cruised across town to Minnehaha Park. It was a fairly long drive from Uptown, but well worth it. Minnehaha waterfall is the centerpiece of the park. It's impressive, serene and easily accessible. We were able to park close to the waterfall, and from there it was just a short walk towards the sound of rushing water to see the waterfall in all its glory.

It was an impressive waterfall that featured a fifty-three foot free-fall that seemed taller. A short hike down an easy trail delivered a straight-on view. We stood there and enjoyed the beautiful scenery, the gentle breeze and the sound of rushing water for quite a while.

From there we headed on to our final stop of the evening, and also our favorite. Betty Danger's Country Club was a hilarious, amusing and fun bar that was wrapped in tongue-in-cheek classy pastel decor. There were several references to fancy things like horse racing, golf and afternoon tea, while giant pink horse heads and menu offerings such as an estate in the Hamptons for $32 million reminded patrons that the style of the bar was all an elaborate joke. What's more, Betty Danger's featured a mini-golf course that was intermingled with the outdoor patio seating and sported tall plastic statues of various wild animals.

As if that wasn't enough, the bar also offered its own ferris wheel. A ride included a cocktail, making it the only ride I've ever heard of that not only allows drinking while riding, but encourages it.

Unfortunately the ferris wheel didn't allow pregnant riders, so we passed on it. We were also a bit mini-golfed out after our experience at the Walker Art Center the day before, so we opted to just sit at a table, enjoy some delicious apps and tasty margaritas, take in the style of the place and do some people watching. The bar presented such a terrifically fun atmosphere that just sitting there and being immersed in it was entertainment enough. It was yet another example of the delightful randomness that's found in Minnesota. If you're in the Twin Cities, you MUST make a point to visit Betty Danger's.

We made one more stop in Minneapolis the next day before hitting the road. We had reservations for brunch at Ice House MLPS, a restaurant with great food and live music. We passed on the chance to see the three-piece band that was playing that morning so we could sit on their back patio and enjoy the Minneapolis sunshine. The meal was fantastic, and it set us up perfectly for our drive back to Chicago.

The return trip was gorgeous. Wisconsin greeted us with some wonderful scenery, and it was complimented by amazing weather and subtle, perfect clouds.

During the drive, we amused ourselves with a Weird Al polka medley medley, which consisted of Weird Al's polka versions of pop songs that are strung together into collections. We dug way back into his catalog and laughed like crazy as each one played.

Our stomachs were quiet for most of the trip, but they started making noise as we approached Madison. We were in the mood for a sandwich, and when we googled "best sandwich in Madison," the first result was Cheba Hut, a weed-themed sandwich joint. I didn't think the style of this place would jive with the collective sensibilities of our road crew, but when further googling showed the other top options were all closed on Sundays, we decided to go for it. Good choice. The sandwiches were outstanding and the marijuana theme was enough to satisfy pot fans but not too much to turn others off. Madison's Cheba Hut is one of several in the US, but the only one in the midwest. To be blunt, I highly recommend it.

From there it was smooth sailing back to Chicago. The whole road trip was wonderful, and I am so glad I got a chance to further explore the strange and enchanting city of Minneapolis.

For more on this trip, check out #twincityrollers on Twitter.

Whether it's hyper-capitalism, quirky members of the animal kingdom, roadside attractions or sarcastically themed nightlife, Minnesota has a ton to see and do, and it's all delivered with a side of quirk, charm and fun. If you're driving through this area of the country, make sure to allot some extra time to explore all that Minnesota has to offer.

Must See in Minnesota:

• Walker Art Center & Mini-Golf 
• Target Field
• Betty Danger's County Club
• The giant Jolly the Green Giant

Check it Out:

• Mall of America
• Como Park Zoo and Conservatory
• Minnehaha Park
• St. Paul's CHS Field (Home of the Saint Paul Saints)

Skip it:

• Pat's Tap

For more on Minnesota, check out Minnesota, Part 1.