Happy Friday! It's an especially happy Friday today because my friend Lori flies in from Charlotte this morning! She has never been to Minneapolis so I can not wait to show her around! I love hosting friends, especially those who haven't been to Minneapolis before as it's fun to play tour guide and show them my favorite parts of the city.
We have a loose agenda for the weekend as I don't want it to feel over planned, but some of the things we plan on doing are:
- check out Minnehaha Falls
- go for a walk around one of the local lakes
- eat ice cream at my favorite local place
- go for a run in my neighborhood along the Mississippi
- have brunch at Victor's and dinner at Brasa
- check out my favorite local bookstore (their website needs some TLC but trust me when I say it's the coolest kids bookstore I've been to!)
- spend some time in my neighborhood taking in the views!
Depending on how our schedule shakes out, we might also do a day trip to one of the local state parks to take in some fall foliage but we'll see how things play out!
I'm excited to host Lori, but I'm also looking forward to getting lots of one-on-one time with her. She was a great support system for me when I lived in Charlotte and one thing I really appreciated is that despite the fact that she loves Charlotte, she never once made me feel bad about not liking it there. She always made it clear that she understood why I wasn't happy there and she offered up a lot of prayers that I would find my way home. Now I am excited to show what exactly I was missing when I lived down in Charlotte. And luckily, mother nature is giving us the gift of beautiful, unseasonably warm fall weather!
When is the last time you hosted visitors? What are some of your favorite things to do when you have visitors? My favorite thing to do when I have visitors is go for walks in my neighborhood and take them up to the observation deck of a local theater as it has great views of the area! Oh and getting ice cream at Sebastian Joe's is a must, too!
Of course hosting visitors in New Orleans puts a lot of pressure on us - we absolutely want to cram in all the iconic stops, but also a few of our own favorites. So much to do in short visits! My childhood best friend is coming in December for just one afternoon (driving through) and I'm trying to plan her itinerary now.
ReplyDeleteYou guys are going to have a blast. I remember you taking me to several of those places on your list, and I had a great time. As you know, in San Francisco (and Oakland!) there are a ton of things to see and do. I always try to take people to some of the lesser known corners of the city. I feel like they can go and see the touristy places on their own, but that it is my duty to show them some of the more local spots. Also, I love just wandering around a city/place and often find new things myself when doing that!
ReplyDeleteThe ice cream + bookstore and the restaurant that does music trivia = great memories from my trip to visit you which was, what? four or five years ago now? I need to remedy that.
ReplyDeleteI love taking people to the Hill, our Zoo, Forest Park, to the Arch if they haven't seen it, and then we have random other fun things like City Museum, Grant's Farm, the Magic House, Purina Farms. I love hosting people. It's been a while since we have hosted anyone; Nilsa & her hubs were the last ones in early summer!
Perfect itinerary! I know you will enjoy her visit and this weather is just wonderful!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have a great weekend planned! A perfect mix of activity and downtime :) Have fun!
ReplyDeleteI'm so grateful to Lori for being your friend and savior when you were in Charlotte and I know you'll show her a terrific time -- everything sounds like such fun!
ReplyDeleteWhen I have guests what we do depends on the time of year, but one this is always on the menu -- going for pie at Sweetielicious!
Awwww, finally able to pay it back to a friend from Charlotte. Yay! To be honest, we haven't properly hosted anyone (in our house, anyway) since Gavin was born. But, when friends come to town, I like to show them the not-touristy side of Chicago. We're a city of small neighborhoods that feel so much smaller than the bigness of our city name boasts.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have a fun weekend planned ahead :) I hope some day I get to come to MN and visit your favorite kids bookstore- that sounds right up my alley.
ReplyDeleteIt's been awhile since I had a visitor who didn't already know Boston!
I love your list of things to do for your friend! It's so awesome you were able to make such a great friend while in Charlotte, since it was such a terrible time for you. Have a fun weekend!
ReplyDeleteSo fun! I hope you girls have a great weekend :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you guys are having a wonderful weekend together! I'm sure you are. I loved visiting you in Minneapolis a few years ago and can't wait to come back one day!
ReplyDeleteI very rarely have visitors. Like I can't even remember a time we hosted someone who wasn't orginially from this area but just was crashing for a night or two when they were back in town ha. I would love to host you and the other lovely ladies I've met through the Internet because I know places that you'd all love! Like we are the home of Alden B. Dow who was inspired by Frank Llyod Wright and we have the Alden B. Dow home that I would totally take you to tour. And then Dow Gardens. And Chippewa Nature Center and all of our trails. And downtown to the little shops.
ReplyDeleteWe never have visitors ... first of all because we live in a city no one would want to visit ... and second, because we are hardly ever home anyway :-)
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