Downtown St. Paul has enjoyed a burst of great restaurants in recent years. If your evening plans include a memorable meal, a few options are: Meritage (upscale French bistro), Saint Dinette (high test American fare, including one of the most talked about burgers in town), Ruam Mit Thai (popular, affordable Thai food) and Black Sheep Pizza (much loved thin, coal-fire pizzas).

For a different kind of memorable meal, head for downtown St Paul landmark, Mickey’s Diner. Housed in an Art Deco style railroad dining car, the diner opened in 1939 and has operated 24 hours a day, 365 days a year ever since. It still serves a classic menu of food that sticks to your bones (eggs, hash browns, pancakes, burgers, floats), at prices from a bygone era. It’s not for everyone—the staff are famously “genuine” (i.e. they put up with little attitude, indecision or special requests) and customers are often struck by the apparent flexibility with regards to cleanliness—but it’s a meal you won’t forget. Mickey’s was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1983 and has been owned by the same family for three generations. Parking is free, checks aren’t accepted and vegetarians won’t have many options.

Having completed a $30 million expansion in summer of 2017, the Minnesota Children’s Museum still has that new museum smell. The update was intended to make the museum more attractive for older kids and even adults. Highlights of the expansion include The Scramble, a four-story adventure course with towers, netted catwalk and corkscrew slide; a newly enlarged face-painting station; and The Big White Room, which can be decorated over and over with colorful stickers. There are also air-powered ball launchers, a decommissioned St Paul fire truck, a laser maze and a “wacky” car wash where kids “might get wet.”

The Science Museum of Minnesota has been blowing kids’ minds (and some parents) since 1907, with interactive exhibits on physical science, mathematics, dinosaurs, sports and live demonstrations of physics, technology, the ways humans use water and many other topics. The museum’s incredible Omni Theater has a dual-screen IMAX/Omnimax retractable dome screen which descends for a dazzlingly immersive viewing experience.

Recently reopened after a four-year restoration (the first since it opened in 1905), the State Capitol building is worthy of a good, long study. The work included completely restored artwork, the uncovering of long-hidden artwork and vaulted ceilings, an increase in public space, improved accessibility features and an information center.

The James J. Hill House, “Minnesota’s Downton Abbey,” is a 36,000-square-foot Guilded Age, stone mansion, built by the railroad magnate in 1891. It was for a time the largest home in St Paul with 13 bathrooms, 22 fireplaces, 16 chandeliers and a reception hall nearly 100 feet long. Now a historic landmark, it’s possible to tour the house (roughly 75 minutes) and learn about the house’s chandeliers, stained glass, hand-carved woodwork and the original systems that provided heat, light, water, ventilation, and security, not to mention the life of Hill himself.

The Cathedral of St. Paul opened in 1915 on Cathedral Hill, overlooking downtown St Paul. The granite church is the third largest (completed) church in the U.S., with a seating capacity of 3,000, one of the tallest churches and has a distinctive copper dome. The cathedral is open seven days a week, with guided tours available Tuesday through Friday at 1:00 p.m.

The Landmark Center is a cultural center for music, dance, theater, exhibits, museums and more. There’s a St Paul Visitor Information Center inside which provides maps and tips for seeing the city. The center offers history tours of the building as well as a walking tour of St Paul’s gangster hangout/hideout history during the 1930s.

There are, naturally, no shortage of places around the Xcel Center to acquire tasty beverages, ranging from sports bars to swanky cocktail labs. Among them are The Liffey Irish Pub and Patrick McGovern’s Pub, two places for a casual drink and pub food only a block from the arena.