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Spend your seasonal fun with hometown diversions.
By Raya Garrison

Before we know it, school vacations will be over and it’s back to work. Before the bell rings, try to get outside your comfort zone and explore all the Twin Cities has to offer. Here are a few popular favorites.

Experience the Twin Cities
Experience the Twin Cities has been guiding people around the area for more than six years with tours that are a perfect combination of culinary insight and rich background on the history, culture and architecture of our beautiful cities. Food and sightseeing tours are often associated with out-of-towners, but many Experience the Twin Cities tour attendees are locals who end up learning something new and rediscovering their hometowns.

There are four main tour categories to choose from: food, brewery and, coming soon, sightseeing and distillery. The company began with food tours, so while that currently has the most options, other categories are rapidly expanding. Some favorite food tours include the Minneapolis Riverwalk Tour, the Minneapolis Skyway Food Tour and the Slice of Minneapolis tour, where participants learn the history and taste test five of Minneapolis’ most popular pizza places to decide once and for all which one is their favorite.

Brewery tours have a few options, including Behind the Brew, where attendees are able to go behind the scenes with the brewery team at three local breweries to learn more about the brewing process. Details on upcoming sightseeing and distillery tours should be available soon.

Tours are perfect for a special birthday party, corporate event or bachelor/bachelorette party. You can join a public tour or create your own customized tour. They can be done on foot, aboard the open-air fun bus (in the summer months) or on a luxury coach, depending on the tour. So, soak up the Twin Cities while you can.

St. Paul Saints
What says summer more than baseball? Most Twin Cities locals have heard of the Saints and have been meaning to get to a game for years, especially since the team moved to its new home, CHS Field, in 2015. The Saints are known for a fun game atmosphere, but add in the world-class ballpark and the bustling Lowertown neighborhood surrounding it, and there’s a recipe for a perfect summer evening.

CHS Field has been getting global recognition for its design and has won multiple awards, including the 2015 Best New Ballpark of the Year by Ballpark Digest (Target Field won in 2010) and 2016 Green GOOD DESIGN Award. It prides itself on being the Greenest Ballpark in America for many features, including a rainwater-capturing system and solar array installation.

But back to the “fun” stuff. The Saints are known for bringing a lighter side to baseball, thanks in part to co-owner, comedian Bill Murray but especially to local owner and funny man Mike Veeck. This is the type of baseball game even non-baseball lovers can get into. The cast of “ushertainers” on the Entertainment Team roams the stands, each portraying a particular character. Some of the favorites include The Coach, Gert the Flirt, Mudonna the pig mascot and Little Red Porquette, the live pig. If you just can’t make it to a game (or can’t get enough of it) and are dying to check out CHS Field, Behind the Scenes Tours are offered.