Best of Cities - Minneapolis, Cincinnatti

I haven't been too many places - but the ones I have been to I have been fortunate enough to get to try some of the local bests - here are a few of the places I've dropped in on, and spots we hit, some awesome, others, well, left something to be desired.

Headed into town

Minneapolis - Home of the Juicy Lucy - there is a long standing debate as to who invented, and who has the best,,, heck - it even made it on to man vs. food.  Back up a step - what is a Juicy Lucy you ask??? - its a cheeseburger, with the cheese in the middle of the meat.  Awesome idea, but do yourself a favor, wait a minute or two to bite in, that cheese comes out like raging lava!
Matts Bar and The 5-8 club have them, both claim to be the best, and both say they invented it.  As for me,

Riverfront at old mill park

I stopped in at The 5-8 club while I was in town - and it was pretty decent.  Nothing to write home about, but glad I tried it.  There is a really awesome downtown scene in Minneapolis.  Most of the buildings are interconnected by a series of elevated, enclosed  walkways, ala gerbil cage.  This makes walking from spot to spot in the dead of winter more reasonable, but pretty confusing if you don't know where you are going. Some of the connectors drop you into the middle of stores etc.
The riverfront downtown has a great park at the old mill and locks.  I only saw in January, and couldn't stand to stay out too long, but hope to return one day in the summer to check out.
Accidentally happened across the site where the I-35 bridge collapsed a few years back.  If you dont know the story - google it, pretty horrible.  It wasnt until a guy at work mentioned it that I was aware of or remembered the tradgedy.  This new beautiful bridge now spans the (not so mighty in these parts) Mississippi River.
The Twins have a new open air stadium, right down town.  The t-wolves, vikings, and twins are all within a couple miles of one another, and all in the downtown area.  An amazing job of urban planning.  On top of that Minneapolis is one of the cleanest urban environments I have ever seen.  You see Minneapolis tops on lot of top places to live, most highly educated, up and coming lists, even as cold as the winters are, and for good reason!  Great mid size city that is on the way up, with a good size airport to get in / out of town with relative ease.

Cincinnati - Harry Caray used to always talk about Skyline Chili.  So of course had to stop and get some.  Its not bad chili, but they serve it all sorts of strange ways.  You can get 3 way - chili, cheese, and onions, four way adds beans, and five way adds spaghetti.  I stuck with the three way and added beans - no onions.  Then had a couple of chili dogs.  A couple sounds like a lot, but they are the white castle of hot dogs,, tiny little things, almost cute. 
Graeters Ice cream is some of the best I have come across.  The black cherry chip and black raspberry chip is what they are known for, and it is amazing.  I got in a shake, as was driving to airport.  Probably the best shake I have ever had. 
Cincy has a new downtown ball park as well, again I was there in the dead of winter so will have to head back to catch a game one of these days.  I have heard great things about the Pete Rose Garden and the overall beauty of the park.  Again - right on the river, nestled into the down town business district.  Fountain square - right in the middle of downtown - is a great area to catch if you have a few moments.  Would be a great place to just sit and have lunch.  Ice Skating in the winter, concerts in the summer.  Reminded me of a much smaller version of Chicago's Millennium Park.

Just adjacent to the ballpark is John A Roebling Bridge - first opened in 1866, and remarkably, still in operation.

It traverses the Ohio River, connecting Ohio and Kentucky. It appears to be a little brother of the Brooklyn Bridge, and if you thought that too, you just got extra credit, as John Roebling also designed the Bridge connecting two of New York City's more prominent boroughs, Manhattan and Brooklyn.  The Cincinnati version is much smaller, and handles far less traffic, but is just as beautiful, especially at night.  I made it a point to go out of my way to drive over it a couple of times.



So there you have it, not a whole lot of time in either place, but if you find yourself there for an afternoon, at least you have a couple of recommendations.