I wanted to explore the breakfast scene of Minneapolis, but was running late my first morning there, so I just hit up something convenient – Basil’s Restaurant inside the Marquette Hotel .
I sat on the “outdoor” patio…
…which was actually inside a mall-like area.
Coffee + newspaper
I wasn’t sure what to get on the menu – everything was sounding good, but I decided to try the one item I’ve never seen before – Wild Rice Waffles.
Yes…the waffles had wild rice inside! It sounds weird, but it tasted like any other waffle would – the rice just gave the waffle more texture. Apparently, wild rice is local to the area.
I also had a nice side of fruit, which I ended up getting boxed to-go so I could take it to the office because I was running late!
I met up with a co-worker and we made it just on time.
We had some lovely boxed lunches. I had a club sandwich, baby carrots, pasta salad (with peppers, spinach, carrots), fresh fruit, chips, a toffee cookie, and a mint…it was so cute!
After work, the group headed out for a drink. We got to walk by all the downtown buildings, which was so interesting to look at.
Below, it was construction galore!
Seriously…it was everywhere. But the construction wasn’t too hard to avoid on foot.
We headed to Restaurant Max for cocktails and dinner #1.
The lighting inside was so cool.
I ordered the Gatsby’s Daisy – green tea vodka, lavender simply syrup, tarragon, and cranberries.
The drink was amazing! I loved it..it was so unique.
For dinner #1, I shared a bit of this mini crab cake…
…some Garden Flatbread…
…and some sundried tomato flatbread.
Next, we took the light rail for a special trip.
The light rail reminded me so much of the one we have in Charlotte.
While we waited for our train, we snapped some photos of the downtown buildings.
On the light rail.
We took the rail all the way to the end to the Mall of America – the largest mall in the country.
Escalators – lots of them!
Inside the mall – rollercoasters!
Carousel
I wanted to go on this ride, but the flips scared away my co-worker.
We ended up going on this one instead – Orange Streak.
Ticket
On the ride…
…which went all around the inner mall area.
We walked around the mall a wee bit and hit up the Nordstrom sale and H&M. The mall closed at 9:30, the light rail left at 9:45, so it was about 10:15 pm by the time we got back and I was a bit hungry.
I decided to take Dinner #2 at the hotel since all restaurants in Minneapolis seem to close at 10 pm.
I got a half order of the spagetini pasta with tomatoes, garlic, parmesan, and fresh basil. Wish they’d put more fresh basil on top, but it hit the spot.
Next up…Minneapolis, Day #3…
Wow — how fun for me to see pics of the MofA and the light rail. We moved from MN 10 years ago — back then the light rail was just a twinkle in the governor's eye (and a very controversial twinkle at that!) Thanks for posting!