Norwest Sportshow features boats, fishing, and hunting

The great outdoors is indoors this weekend. The Northwest Sportshow runs from March 15-17 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. It is one of the country’s largest outdoors consumer shows. There will be 300 vendors covering everything from fishing and hunting to travel and outdoor gear, along with the Discover Boating show. It will take place on Friday from noon to 8 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

World’s quietest place opens for tours

A private testing facility that studies noise and silence is opening their Anechoic Chamber for tours. That chamber is recognized by Guinness as being the quietest place on Earth. The chamber is used by companies to test product volume and sound quality. The tour includes a 60-minute session in the chamber. There are plenty of stories online claiming that a person can only spend about 45 minutes in the chamber without going mad, but the staff at Orfield Labs said that isn’t accurate.

The Raptor Center celebrates 50 years

Every year, The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota treats 1,000 birds of prey. But sadly, not every raptor that comes into the center is able to be released into the wild. Those birds become winged ambassadors and help teach an important lesson about the role we play in the health of raptors. The Raptor Center does welcome the public for guided tours Tuesday through Sunday. Book the tour ahead of time online.

Hopkins doggy daycare, boarding utilizes education

There’s something new for our four-legged friends in Hopkins. Adventure is Barking has opened Exploring Tails Camp and Social Club, a cutting-edge dog daycare and boarding facility offering a homey space and enrichment. Dogs will participate in specialized jobs, there will be individualized training sessions, and dogs that stay the night will end the evening with a dog-friendly movie and doggy popcorn. The new facility is located in Hopkins at 10921 Excelsior Boulevard.

MN vinyl company special releases for Record Store Day

Ahead of Record Store Day 2024, a local vinyl pressing facility, the first in Minnesota, has been busy working on several special release projects. Copycats Media got into the production of records in their Osseo facility in 2022 when demand was surging and there weren’t enough facilities in the country to keep up. The industry continues to grow and ‘Record Store Day’ is a big component of that because artists come up with special releases that can only be purchased at independent record stores. This year there are nearly 400 special releases planned for April 20, 2024.

Step inside a Twin Cities Dream Home

The spring Parade of Homes tour is underway in the Twin Cities. This year there are 386 homes featured all across the metro in a variety of price points. Almost all the homes are free to tour Friday through Sunday from noon to 6 p.m., March 8 through April 7. The six dream homes cost $5 to check out and that money goes to the nonprofit, Housing First Minnesota Foundation, which builds transitional housing for Minnesotans experiencing homelessness.

New in Hopkins: Pink Ivy Kitchen & Bar

The couple behind Advellum at the Malcom Yards Market have opened their first full-service restaurant on Main Street in Hopkins. Pink Ivy will offer lunch and dinner service Tuesday through Sunday. Michael and Viorica Shaughnessy describe the menu as modern-American fare infused with seasonal twists.

Adele's Frozen Custard opens for the season

Whether there’s snow, rain or it’s hot or cold Adele’s Frozen Custard has opened on March 1 for the last 38 years, though there was one year they couldn’t open because of a blizzard. This year, they’re expecting big crowds for the warmest opening weekend on record for Adele’s. The custard is the same recipe they’ve had since 1986 though they’ve added new flavors to the menu. The custard is made fresh every day. Unlike ice cream, the air is whipped out of it instead of put into it and it’s made with egg yolks which gives it a velvety texture. Adele’s will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. through the day before Thanksgiving.

Bar airing women's sports opening in Minneapolis

A bar dedicated to women’s sports opens March 1 in Minneapolis. It’s a first in the Midwest. A Bar of their Own is taking over the Tracy’s Saloon space in the Seward neighborhood. Owner Jillian Hiscock says she and others took note of The Sports Bra’s historic opening in Portland last year, the nation’s first bar exclusively showing women’s sports. She kept waiting for it to happen here and never imagined she would be the one to take on that task. A Bar of their Own is the result of a successful crowdfunding campaign and will regularly be open Wednesday to Sunday. They’ll be serving the beloved chicken wings from Tracy’s Saloon along with offering vegan and gluten free options.

Scandinavian Folk Music at the American Swedish Institute

The Midwinter Folk Festival will take place March 2-3 at the American Swedish Institute. There will be music, dancing, demos, classes and workshops. It’s a big enough event that they’ll be utilizing ASI and the Cedar Cultural Center for the shows. Day one of the festival focuses on Nordic-Inspired folk music and performance. Day two will highlight folk dance from Norway, Finland and Sweden.

Tap dance extraordinaire makes a stop in Minneapolis

When you think of tap dance, you may picture Fred Astaire, Gene Kelley and Gregory Hines, but one of the new leaders in the art form in performing in Minneapolis this week. Sarah Reich, known as Sour Taps on Instagram, is hitting the Crooners Stage on Thursday, Feb. 29 from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Reich has traveled the world performing and teaching tap, but she’s also released an original tap jazz album called "New Change" and is currently producing a TV show called "It’s Tappening" where she travels around the world to showcase tap dance culture. Reich can also be seen on YouTube performing with Postmodern Jukebox. Those videos have garnered millions of views.

Vietnamese coffee shop opens in Linden Hills

A new coffee shop in Linden Hills is serving up flavors unique to the area. Càphin Minneapolis specializes in Vietnamese coffee. Before opening the shop, Savio and Jenny Nguyen traveled to Seattle where they spent time at a Vietnamese coffee shop and were inspired. They planned another trip to Vietnam and visited the coffee bean farmers and plenty of cafes. From there they started operating a coffee truck that became a huge hit. Now they have their own shop at 45th Avenue South and France Avenue. The shop is open Tuesday through Sunday and you can follow them on Instagram @CaphinMPLS

Golfing inside US Bank Stadium

For the first time ever, golf will be played inside U.S. Bank Stadium. Upper Deck Golf has set up holes in the upper seating areas and designed custom greens on the field. Standard clubs are available for players to use at each tee box. Upper Deck Golf will offer tee times with availability between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. from Feb. 23-25.

Prior Lake Cheer wins National Championship in Orlando

For the fourth year in a row, the Varsity Prior Lake High School Cheer Team has been declared National Champions in Orlando. They came out on top in two categories, Division 1 Medium Non-Tumbling Traditional and Division 1 Medium Non-Tumbling Game Day. The team flew home in their coveted white jackets, with two gold medals each, a giant trophy banners that will hang in the school. The varsity team is coached by Maddie Bills, Brittany Rehbein and Megan Musil.

Minneapolis Home + Garden Show opens for 90th year

In 1934, Minneapolis hosted its first Home + Garden Show and 90 years later, it’s still a mainstay and source of inspiration. The Minneapolis Home + Garden Show runs for five days from Feb. 21-25 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Minneapolis Home + Garden Show Schedule: Wednesday, Feb. 21, from Noon – 8 p.m.; Thursday, Feb. 22 from Noon – 8 p.m.; Friday, Feb. 23 from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 24 from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Feb. 25 from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Dario in Minneapolis features homemade pasta

Two industry veterans have partnered to open Dario in the North Loop neighborhood of Minneapolis. Chef Joe Rolle and Beverage Director Stephen Rowe brought in Rachael Cornelius McLeod of the Cornelius Pasta Company to run the pasta room. The pasta is made fresh everyday in house. McLeod’s pasta became Instagram famous over the last few years as she hosted pop-ups. Now you can find that pasta everyday at Dario which is on the main floor of the T3 Building.

Sauna Camp at Lake Minnewashta

In Scandinavian countries, sauna culture is about building community, and that’s the goal of a new outdoor wellness space in Excelsior. Sauna Camp is using the Camp Fire Minnesota grounds to host it’s sauna and cold plunge activities. There are 10 Minnesota-made, cedar wood-fired saunas of different sizes sitting on the shores of Lake Minnewashta, meaning right outside of the steaming sauna is a freezing cold lake to submerge in. The camp is open Thursday to Sunday through the end of April.

High Tech Kid Challenge comes to St. Paul

It’s a robot faceoff at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul this weekend. The High Tech Kids Minnesota FIRST Tech Challenge and Lego League Challenge will take place on Feb. 17 and Feb.18. First up are the robotics teams comprised of 6th-12th graders who build a robot that will compete in a challenge. They utilize CAD design and 3D printing to develop their robot. On Sunday, 70 teams of FIRST Lego League Challenge teams will compete to advance to the World Championships. Those teams are made up of students between 4th and 8th grade. They program autonomous LEGO robots to navigate multiple missions on a game field.

Twin Cities chef gets invite to Flavortown

After his recent appearance on the cooking competition show, Guy’s Grocery Games, Josh Thoma, owner and chef at Smack Shack, will be headed to South Beach in March for another event with Guy Fieri. At the same time, he’s prepping for a big week of food-centered holidays, from Galentine’s Day and Fat Tuesday to Valentine’s Day and the start of Lent. The restaurant has a lot of special menus planned to handle all the occasions. There are two Smack Shack locations in the Twin Cities, one in Bloomington and the other in the North Loop.

Red Bull brings snow to St. Paul for boarding competition

Red Bull is bringing snowboarding to the grounds of the State Capitol. The Heavy Metal event is a street snowboarding event meaning riders will tackle a series of obstacles like riding the rails and hitting jumps. Organizers had to truck in snow from Buck Hill to build the course. The event will bring 30 of the best street snowboarders to St. Paul. Red Bull Heavy Metal begins at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday Feb. 10. The gates open at 2 p.m. There's an afterpart planned at McGovern's Pub. The event is free to attend.