An Aussie family visiting Minnesota in 2017?

[mr626]

G'day folks

My wife and I are in the midst of planning a possible family holiday next year for our family of three (have a toddler who will be almost 4 when we plan to travel). Would be travelling in June / July (our winter).

One of the options we have is an offer of accommodation from a family friend who lives in Shoreview, Minnesota https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoreview,_Minnesota

Now, I would love to visit North America. We have no great interest in seeing big cities, more interested in nature (so hiking, mountain biking). Also love bargain hunting at auctions, estate sales, charity shops etc. Have always liked the idea of exploring a bit of rural / small town America too.

My concern is that staying in somewhere like Shoreview we may...run out of things to do for the three weeks we'd be there. We would hire a car whilst we were there, but I'm not super confident about driving too far in an unknown country (on the wrong side of the road no less!).

Given the area where we would be staying, is there much to see and do? Or is it a bit too 'out of the way' to justify the expensive airfares?

We also have an offer of accommodation in New Zealand, which I think is looking like a slightly better option at this stage (in terms of cost, travel time with a toddler, and things to do).

Interested to hear your thoughts. Will definitely get to North American one day, just not sure if next year will be it.

Thanks 

[SteveC]

Lots of fun stuff to do in Minnesota. It will likely be hot and humid that time of year. lots of culture in Minneapolis/ St. Paul... museums , art, music and tons of lakes for canoeing, fishing, biking around etc. Northern Minnesota is  amazing and an easy trip from where you would be staying. Google " Minnesota North shore ". If you feel adventurous you could take a trip to the Dakota's  Mount Rushmore , Black hills.

[mr626]

Lots of fun stuff to do in Minnesota. It will likely be hot and humid that time of year. lots of culture in Minneapolis/ St. Paul... museums , art, music and tons of lakes for canoeing, fishing, biking around etc. Northern Minnesota is  amazing and an easy trip from where you would be staying. Google " Minnesota North shore ". If you feel adventurous you could take a trip to the Dakota's  Mount Rushmore , Black hills.

Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure I like the idea of hot and humid, although what exactly do you mean by that? Anything below 85F I wouldn't consider hot Maybe our spring / your autumn would be a better time of year.

Had a quick look, and I can't see any direct flights to Minneapolis. Looks like we'd need to do 13 hours Syd -> LAX, and then 3.5 hours the rest of the way. Not sure how well toddler will handle that 

I like the sound of the art, culture music etc. That is some stuff that would tempt me inside a city. Oh, and beer 

[ToolJoe]

There are plenty of breweries in Minnesota:
http://growlermag.com/minnesota-brewery-map/

 Don't forget the Mall of America. It is the biggest mall in the country:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mall_of_America

I know its a mall but looks pretty cool just to see it and experience it.

Minneapolis has a network of underground pedestrian tunnels as well:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minneapolis_Skyway_System

[SteveC]

Lots of fun stuff to do in Minnesota. It will likely be hot and humid that time of year. lots of culture in Minneapolis/ St. Paul... museums , art, music and tons of lakes for canoeing, fishing, biking around etc. Northern Minnesota is  amazing and an easy trip from where you would be staying. Google " Minnesota North shore ". If you feel adventurous you could take a trip to the Dakota's  Mount Rushmore , Black hills.

Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure I like the idea of hot and humid, although what exactly do you mean by that? Anything below 85F I wouldn't consider hot Maybe our spring / your autumn would be a better time of year.

Had a quick look, and I can't see any direct flights to Minneapolis. Looks like we'd need to do 13 hours Syd -> LAX, and then 3.5 hours the rest of the way. Not sure how well toddler will handle that 

I like the sound of the art, culture music etc. That is some stuff that would tempt me inside a city. Oh, and beer 

Plenty of beer and breweries. There is a Victorinox store in the Mall of America.  It depends on the year but usually in the 80's F and dew point in the upper 50's -60's in late June/July but sometimes hotter sometimes cooler and drier if we get some nice Canadian air flow.

[mr626]

Thanks again for all the replies. It looks like we won't be able to make it next year (going to do some home renovations instead!). Great info for when we are able to make the trip though, so thanks