Hi everyone! I'm a future Twin Cities visitor, and I'm looking for some guidance. This is a fascinating topic, but after skimming the board I'm not finding exactly the kind of information a traveler such as myself will need.
To put my grand adventure quite simply, I'm backpacking across North America this fall/winter to visit every NHL stadium (And if I'm lucky, see more than a handful of Wild games all across the map!). I've already quit my job in advance and rented out my apartment to a new tenant, so I have no excuses not to go. I'm looking for fellow couchsurfers who are also hockey fans and might have a sofa available for me to crash on, (Or cheap hostels in safe neighborhoods), tips on places to eat and drink and see good live music for cheap, and amazing cultural hidden gems for me to explore! I'm also looking for advice on finding areas in each city that are artsy/sustainable/veg friendly/queer friendly/with good public transport. This goes for St.Paul as well as every other city that has an NHL arena and Wild fans! If anyone has some advice, or has a friend who is on couchsurfing and wants to help a fellow hockey addict out, or grab a beer and watch the beautiful game, let me know~!
I'm moving back home after years in exile in September, you are more than welcome to crash at my place, if you time it right could actually hit up a game...but I won't know what tickets I get until they send them out to my season ticket group.
I still need to explore most of the Cities myself to be honest, since my family is from the Range so I know more about the stuff up there than the Twin Cities area, but have plenty of friends and stuff to help out.
"Vegetarian stuff" - not really my thing but I'm sure I can find out. If it was Detroit, I could tell you 3598902302 places. So if you are going there let me know, my cousin knows EVERY thing about that, so if that's on the tour, I should be able to at least help you out with that.
"Artsy" - I really like the Walker Modern Art Museum and Sculpture Garden. Then again there is tons of stuff in that genre in the cities.
"Queer friendly" - I know there was an article saying Minneapolis was about to pass San Fran in that department, so that shouldn't be hard. I know my buddy who interns at the U has gone out with a few of his gay friends to different bars and pubs and knows some decent places.
"Public Transport" - No idea. I'm outside of the cities specifically so I can drive my truck around. haha
However, in return, if I ever get up to Sask we need to go to a Blades game, though Moose Jaw is who I really want to see. I've got friends in almost every major Canadian province except Sask and Manitoba. I was planning on a Canadian trip this year, but I think I'm going to put it off till next season, getting partial Wild season tickets and moving took precedence.