A farewell letter to Super Bowl visitors
(KMSP) - Minnesota Nice – it’s a little phrase that has been making headlines this week (dontcha know).
Minnesotans are known for being nice, having an accent that people love to mock and, of course, hotdish.
If you’re walking down the street and someone bumps into you, chances are they’ll say “ope” followed by a sincere “sorry.” We also say “you betcha” when agreeing with you… and if we disagree with you we probably won’t tell you, but instead likely say “that’s interesting.” We can’t help it, our passive aggressive roots have taught us to avoid confrontation at all costs.
Recently, Minnesota became so much more than fly-over country. In the middle of winter, the Bold North has become one of the hottest spots in the USA, thanks to Super Bowl Sunday.
Leading up to the Super Bowl, CNN published an article about the must-see neighborhoods in Minneapolis. They said St. Paul was one of them. We’d like to make it very clear that the capital of our state is not a Minneapolis neighborhood. It is indeed its own city.
Football fans from all over the country, including a lot of Eagles and Patriots fans, have flocked to the Twin Cities.
As far as the rest of the country is concerned, “Minne-snow-tah” lived up to its name. Between snow storms and sub-zero temperatures, visitors enjoying Super Bowl festivities around the Twin Cities discovered that it really is cold here. Very, very cold; bone-chilling cold, they said.
Downtown Minneapolis was at the heart of the action as visitors have flocked to Nicollet Mall to see all of the excitement at Super Bowl LIVE. The North Loop has made a name for itself as a mecca for millennials. Uptown and its surrounding lakes including Lake Harriet, Lake of the Isles and Bde Maka Ska (formerly Lake Calhoun) have become known for outdoor activities, drawing runners, cross country skiers and bikers even in the most frigid winter months.
St. Paul has garnered attention for its variety of museums including the Minnesota Children’s Museum and the Science Museum of Minnesota. Visitors have also taken to the scenic river views from regional parks along the historic side of our beautiful capital.
Many visitors said that despite the cold they really warmed up to Minnesota thanks to the people, and a cup of hot cocoa.
If you’re visiting from out of town there’s a good chance that a Minnesotan has recommended you try a “juicy lucy” and they probably joked that you should taste lutefisk, too. If you drank a Bloody Mary while you were in town, we hope you enjoyed the snit (beer chaser) we served alongside your liquid meal. We’ll never understand why one doesn’t come with the drink in the rest of the country.
And as much as most Minnesotans hate to admit it, we’ve really enjoyed the attention the state has received. We’ve also enjoyed sharing fun facts about our state with you, because we’re endlessly proud to be from the star of the north.
That being said, we hope you’ve had a wonderful time in the Northernmost state in the lower 48, lovingly referred to (by us) as the Land of 10,000 Lakes. But remember, between the southern grasslands and the picturesque north woods, there are really closer to 12,000 lakes.
We hope you come back and visit us for lake season (summer). We have more coastline than California, Florida and Hawaii combined. And every inch of it is beautiful.
And with that, Super Bowl LII, we bid you adieu.