MINNEAPOLIS – Amtrak’s cross-country Empire Builder train has long connected Milwaukee to the Twin Cities, but now the relatively new Borealis route makes the trip even easier and more affordable.
With the Brewers gearing up to play the Twins June 20-22 at Target Field in Minneapolis’ happenin' North Loop neighborhood, there’s no time like the present to test ride Borealis.
As the popular line – Borealis notched 100,000 riders in just its first 22 weeks – reached its first anniversary, I decided to do just that and return to Minneapolis for the first time in two years.
When I last stayed, in June 2023, I explored the city hard, pratcially wearing out a pair of sneakers, and shared the highlights in this One Tank Getaway article, which has links to some Urban Spelunking stories I also wrote on that jaunt.
This time, I was back for more Mill City fun (and there will be two more Urban Spelunking stories to come this time ‘round) and it was, in effect, a No Tank Getaway, as I rode Borealis, used the Metro light rail system and apart from a couple short Uber trips, did all the rest on foot.
If you act fast, you can still put together a quick weekend visit to watch the Brewers play the Twins this coming weekend, all while leaving your car in the garage.
How to travel
Borealis runs one train a day in each direction, with Milwaukee departures around 12:50 p.m. from the Intermodal Station, arriving at St. Paul Union Depot just under six hours later.
Return trips leave Union Depot at about 11:50 a.m. and arrive at the Intermodal just under six hours later. There is also a stop at Mitchell Airport (with departure time a tad earlier and arrival time a tad later; check all departure and arrival times at Amtrak.com).
There are a number of stops along the way – Columbus, Portage, Wisconsin Dells, Tomah, LaCrosse, Winona and Red Wing – but the train doesn’t spend long in each of those stations. (Borealis is a good option for visiting those towns, too.)
During the journey, you’ll see a bit of everything: industrial sites, farms with silos and grazing livestock, towns with church steeples as the only skyline, wetlands and lakes, wooded areas and lots more.
Some of the most interesting sites are along the Mississippi River and once you reach La Crosse, most of the journey in Minnesota is spent riding alongside Big Muddy.
I spied fishermen on little boats, gorgeous vistas, locks, soaring bald eagles and more.
The reclining seats are comfortable enough and the upper level seating offers good views out big windows.
Because the route has been popular, don’t expect to own the seat next to yours, or at least not for long. As riders get on and off at all the stops, you’ll likely have some company at least part of the way.
On the way up the adjacent seat was empty perhaps half the time, with folks coming and going at different stops. On the way back the train was entirely sold out and there were basically no empty seats.
There’s not a dining car but there is a food service counter with hot and cold food and beverages (including canned brandy old fashioneds from Central Standard!) that’s typically open, accepting cash and credit cards.
While Amtrak promises wifi on board, there was none on my trip up to Minneapolis, which sent me out on a web search that turned up mixed results. Some riders reported that they had great wifi on Borealis, others posted that they had spotty wifi and still others, like me, had nothing.
On the return trip, the wifi was initially good enough for me to write and post an article, but it soon petered out and was more or less down for the rest of the journey.
So, hope for the best, but be prepared to tether your laptop to your phone or just gaze out the window at the scenery.
When you arrive at Union Depot, take some time to check out the Neoclassical station, designed by architect Charles Sumner Frost and opened in 1920, replacing earlier iterations, including one destroyed by fire.
The tiled barrel-vaulted ceiling between the ticketing hall and the large waiting hall is especially beautiful.
Right outside the front doors is the Metro green line, which will take you into downtown Minneapolis for $2 (adults), in just under an hour. An Uber takes about 20-25 minutes and the pricing is dynamic, but should cost roughly $20-$30.
Fares for Borealis start at $41 one-way for the entire route, but depend on the day you ride. My trip was $191 round trip, but during my stay I spoke to folks who have gone all the way to Chicago and back to the Twin Cities for about half that. I hear Tuesdays are especially cheap.
Where to Stay
Unsurprisingly, Minneapolis – which offers a lot for visitors – is a popular destination for tourists, business travelers, conventioneers and others. Thus it has a plethora of hotels from which to choose, at pretty much every price point.
I’ve been especially pleased by the number and variety of hotels fitted into vintage buildings. Last time I was here, I stayed at two of them and wrote about their histories: Hotel Emery, in a former bank building, and Hyatt Centric in the old Minneapolis Athletic Club building.
This time I checked into the Hotel Ivy, located in a development that encompasses a unique 1930 ziggurat with a stone dash exterior. While I will tell you more about the history in an Urban Spelunking story coming soon, the Ivy just underwent a multi-million dollar renovation, with room and event space renovations, new food and beverage venues and the sleek and soothing Anda Spa.
The hotel has a modern vibe, with clean lines and warm tones, along with room furnishings that hint at the tower’s 1930 origins.
On the main level is Breva Bar & Grill, with American cuisine, and Bar Edera, in the lobby, serves breakfast, lunch and a bar menu, as well as cocktails. Masa & Agave, a tequila-focused bar that also serves tacos, is on the lower level and a cigar bar is headed to the patio this summer and in the meantime there’s a humidor in the lobby.
There are free newspapers and free coffee in the lobby when you arise and on the third floor is a connection into the city’s skyway system, which connects to the convention center across the street, but also to the U.S. Bank Stadium and to Target Field, as well as to darn near every other downtown building in between. Perfect for rainy or insanely hot or cold temperatures.
Where to eat
On my last visit I had some great meals and I suggest you consider some of the options included in that article.
But I also hit some new-to-me spots this time around, including Bar La Grassa, an Italian restaurant in the further reaches of the North Loop.
The restaurant – helmed by James Beard Award-winning Chef Isaac Becker and Nancy St. Pierre – is located in the 1902 Deere & Webber building designed by Kees & Colburn with an ornamented arch inspired by the work of Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright.
The food inside the dimly lit, bustling dining room is no less appealing.
After my long train journey, I was excited to get in before closing time and enjoy a hearty plate of authentic spaghetti alla carbonara and a rich and tasty ‘nduja and egg raviolo. Fortunately I had also ordered a plate of bruschetta that I used to sop up the tasty sauce.
An equally rewarding experience was to be had at Mara, inside the Four Seasons, right at the southern end of the North Loop, a quick walk to Target Field.
To call this a lobby bar and restaurant is to underestimate just how good it is.
It is one of the restaurants in the portfolio of James Beard Award-winner Chef Gavin Kaysen and I let myself be guided strictly by the suggestions of a friendly and knowledgeable server who did me no wrong with his urging to try the lamb chops and the swiss chard pansotti (which are sort of like Ligurian tortellini).
The mixologists are top-notch – ask them to surprise you with a dealer’s choice and you’ll be pleasantly surprised – and the food and staff are no less so.
But if you’re coming for a Twins game and you have a car, check out Riva Terrace at the Four Seasons for outdoor dining with a coastal Italian flair. Plus: Riva offers a Twins special on game days: a Riva Smashburger and Summit Twins Pils for just $15. Plus: You can valet park at the Four Seasons for the game for just $10.
Because I always depart thinking about next time, the acclaimed Owamni and Kaysen’s Spoon & Stable remain on my list of places to try when I return, along with Gai Noi Laotian restaurant across from Loring Park and a couple recommended Somali restaurants, like Hamdi and Mama Safia’s Kitchen.
What to do
Of course, if you’re coming up for the Brewers-Twins set, you’ll be going to Target Field, which is a great downtown stadium, with the most striking visual feature being the skyline beyond the outfield walls.
The stadium has good sight lines and with it being completely enclosed it has an intimate setting that not all MLB stadia can boast.
It’s also extremely easy to access. There are parking ramps – and, of course, that great valet deal at the Four Seasons – but Target Field is also connected to the skyway system, so it’s easy to reach that way from anywhere in downtown and both light rail lines terminate at the stadium station.
It’s also located just off the Hennepin Avenue entertainment strip and on the edge of the always bustling North Loop neighborhood packed with restaurants, bars and shops.
Again, check my previous story for some recommendations for fun things to do, because I’m not repeating those here, but they remain worth visiting.
The Hennepin History Museum is right across the street from the Minneapolis Institute of Art and always has interesting exhibitions on view in its building, which was a mansion built for a local flour magnate who never lived in it but gifted it to his daughter-in-law after the death of his wife and son.
When I visited, the diverse exhibitions looked at Tibetans in Minnesota, handmade puppets, a local military cemetery and the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd.
The museum – open Thursdays-Saturdays – is worthy of a visit for the building alone, with its grand entrance, beautiful main staircase and other details.
When you’re done there, take a walk along East 22nd Street to see some incredible Gilded Age mansions, including the appropriately named Pillsbury Castle.
Back downtown, be sure to visit Long and Kees’ Richardsonian Romanesque City Hall and Hennepin County Courthouse.
The address is on South 5th Street and you can go in that way, but I suggest you enter on South 4th Street, where you’ll find yourself in a soaring atrium with lovely stained glass, marble and iron work, and a herculean statue of the “Mississippi – Father of Waters.”
Rub his big toe for good luck.
It is said to have been sculpted – by Larkin Goldsmith Mead, Jr., who also did Lincoln’s tomb in Springfield – from the largest chunk of Carrara marble ever, but I haven’t been able to verify that impressive claim.
Ask the security guard for a brochure that details the history of this landmark.
While you’re downtown make your way over to Open Book Minneapolis, which has the excellent FRGMNT coffee shop, a Milkweed Editions bookstore and the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, which offers classes on all sorts of bookmaking skills, and its related shop.
Other tenants in this arts hub include New Arab American Theater Works, the Weavers Guild, The Loft – which hosts readings and other book-related programming – and more.
Nearby are the Guthrie Theater and Mill Museum, which I wrote about in my previous story and which are both worth a visit.
If you’re a fan of Prince and/or Bob Dylan, there are downtown murals of each and while there’s little trace of Dylan left in town (most of it is in Dinkytown east of the river, near the University of Minnesota campus), Meet Minneapolis has marked off the numerous Prince spots on its Purple Path.
In addition to the expected – Paisley Park, for example – there are sites related to Prince’s private life and stops tied to his musical life.
One of them, of course, is First Avenue, where “Purple Rain,” was filmed in 1984.
This club has been the premier venue in town – along with its attached 7th Street Entry – for decades and if you go inside the low-slung Art Moderne building, you’ll still find traces of its original use as a Greyhound Bus station.
Like the Pabst Theater Group in Milwaukee, First Avenue books shows at numerous venues in the area, including historic theaters and other great spots. More on their shows and venues here.
There’s one place in town that is tied to both Prince and Dylan and I went there for an in-depth tour, so keep your eye out for that one, coming soon.
In the meantime, check out Meet Minneapolis website for itineraries, more attractions, hotels, dining recommendations and more.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press. A fifth collects Urban Spelunking articles about breweries and maltsters.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has been heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
