Minneapolis, August 2025

Angela and I recently visited Minneapolis for the second of this year’s bi-annual churning meetups. While there, we met up with our friends from around the country before heading to our first ever state fair for unhealthy (but delicious) food and carnival rides. The weather was lovely (certainly much better than when I visited in the winter) and the company was even better.

Bookings

Activities

Two tickets to the Minneapolis State Fair for 20.00USD per ticket
Forty activity tickets at the Minneapolis State Fair for 20.00USD

Flights

Angela and Nicholas
- 99,000 Delta Skymiles + 11.20USD per person

Hotels

One suite for three nights at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis for 33,000 World of Hyatt points with a Suite Upgrade Award applied

Transportation

MSP to Hyatt Regency Minneapolis via Blacklane for 31.57USD inclusive of credits, fees, and taxes

August 29, 2025

After dropping Fitz off at boarding, we headed to the airport for our flight to Minneapolis. We visited the Capital One Lounge before our flight. I continue to find the space great, but the food quality seems to decrease on every visit, unfortunately. The best thing about these lounges at this point seems to be the grab-and-go sandwiches and desserts which are uniformly tasty.

We arrived in the evening after an uneventful flight and met our Blacklane driver at baggage claim. After a thirty-minute drive, we checked in and, because it was late, decided to stay in and relax for the evening. Check-in was a little weird as the agent manning the World of Hyatt member desk just disappeared for a while and nobody offered any guidance on what to do.

I like the rooms at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis and think the location is quite nice.

August 30

In the morning, we met our friends for breakfast at Hell’s Kitchen. Joining us were Nathan and his family, David and his family, and Noah without his family. It was nice to see Noah, in particular, because he had to fly home and wouldn’t be able to attend the meetup.

I ordered a breakfast smashburger, which was quite delicious, and Angela opted for the bison birria benedict. We also split an order of sausage bread. As on my last visit, the food was delicious, the atmosphere was great, and the company was even better.

We returned to the hotel to grab our climbing gear before walking to Graze North Loop, the location chosen for the meetup. To be quite frank, the venue was a little bit of a letdown. The food options were poor, and the seating arrangements weren’t great. That being said, the people more than made up for the venue’s faults. We chatted about our hobby and our lives and played some games before things broke up after a few hours.

Angela and I took an Uber to Vertical Endeavors for an afternoon climbing session. We paid our entrance fee, were briefed on gym rules, and performed the belay test. Afterwards, we spent a couple of hours rope climbing with some bouldering mixed in at the end. We really enjoyed our time on the walls.

Leaving the gym, we stopped at Spyhouse Coffee Roasters for some coffees and a surprisingly delicious muffin.

We were still quite hungry, so we arranged to meet two friends, Andrew and Jeremiah, at Kramarczuk’s Sausage Co, a Ukrainian restaurant a few miles away. The walk was a delight and just what we needed to increase our already pronounced appetites.

I ordered and ate an unreasonable amount of food including a pastrami Reuben sandwich, Ukrainian sausage, and pierogi. Each dish was delicious in that comfortable way that only Eastern European food can be.

After dinner, we walked back to our hotel with Andrew and Jeremiah where we played games for a little bit before heading up to our room.

August 31

We started our day with a hearty breakfast at the hotel restaurant. It was quite a bit better than I remember it being when I visited in the middle of December, so that was a nice surprise. David joined us for breakfast as we wouldn’t see him again before he and his family headed home.

After breakfast we took an Uber to the Minnesota State Fairgrounds and started a very enjoyable day at the Minnesota State Fair. First, we stopped to see all the farm animals, including some that were very recently born.

We briefly stopped to watch some youth barrel racing, an equestrian sport (if you’re not familiar).

Our next stop was to hang out with some awesome goats.

Fitz would have been disappointed to see our next destination, the horse barn.

Finally, we got to one of the highlights of the Minnesota State Fair, the crop art exhibit. The artistry on display is astounding, and I remain impressed by many of the pieces we saw.

We posted with some big produce. Look at the size of these pumpkins!

At this point, we decided to embrace our younger selves and ride some fair rides. We chose two carnival contraptions that spun us upside down and in circles. I think two is about all we can handle these days.

Afterwards, I played a fair game and won Angela a stuffed animal. She was extremely impressed by my ability to choose the correct booth and shoot straight.

Our friend Jeremiah showed up and found us in the middle of the crowded fair. We decided to grab a variety pack of cheese curds to share. They were delicious.

We stopped for a bucket of Sweet Martha’s cookies. I thought they were bite-sized, but Angela disagreed. Angela and Jeremiah had a couple, but I’m pretty sure I ate almost the entire bucket by myself over the next 24 hours.

Jeremiah and Angela decided to subject themselves to The Slingshot, one of the small selection of “extreme” fair rides.

We finished our eating by grabbing a funnel cake after Angela and Jeremiah safely returned to Earth.

Finally, we completed our visit to the state fair by drinking a totally reasonable amount of milk from the “All You Can Drink” milk station. I opted for chocolate milk with each refill and loved the cool refreshing taste of the cow juice.

With that, we headed out and returned to our hotel via public transport. We really enjoyed our visit to the fair and were very glad that Jeremiah was able to join us for half of the day.

When we arrived at our lodgings, Angela headed to bed while I went to the bar to watch the Notre Dame vs. Miami game with Nathan. I ordered some surprisingly good wings which didn’t come with much of a premium markup. It was another point in the hotel’s favor, for sure.

September 1

We woke up early and went for a walk around the city, primarily along the Mississippi River. I ran along the riverfront for about a mile after we explored Mill Ruins Park together.

After freshening up, we stopped for breakfast before departing for the airport, ending our brief visit to Minneapolis. Our flight home was, thankfully, uneventful.

We really enjoyed our time in the city. The weather was great and the state fair was a blast. If you’ve never been to a state fair, we can definitely recommend the Minnesota one as your first!

The Ohrns