Breaking the boredom
Spring break offers the opportunity to explore culture around the metro area through exotic food, local music and unique art.
March 28, 2014
1. Landmark Theaters offers a variety of midnight movies in Uptown
Midnight showings on Fridays and Saturdays at the Uptown Theater located at 2906 Hennepin Avenue, are an exciting way to view classic films during spring break.
The theater has comfy seats with plenty of leg room. Concessions are also available for purchase.
Movies include “The Room” March 28, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” March 29, and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” April 4 and 5.
General admission tickets cost $9 for the midnight series. Other movies are available at different times throughout the week. Call (612) 823-3005 or visit www.landmarktheaters.com for more information.
2. A meditation center creates spot to relax, reflect and learn mindfulness
Practicing mindfulness and meditation at Common Ground Meditation Center is a way to relax during spring break. They focus on acceptance, harmony, alleviation of suffering and learning to be open.
The center offers retreats, weekly sessions, yoga and community groups, which are geared toward certain groups of people.
Every Sunday from 10:30 a.m.-1:45 p.m., a session is available specifically for teens. It will teach how to be more mindful, peaceful and more able to relate to difficult emotions that are being experienced.
The building is located at 2700 East 26th St. in Minneapolis. More information can be found at www.commongroundmeditation.org.
3. Listen to local bands at the Depot in Hopkins
First opened in 1998 by a group of students looking to create drug free environment for teens, according to the website, The Depot Coffee House remains a trendy gathering spot for local youth even today. The Depot is a remodeled train depot with a cozy ambiance that now serves as a place for local musicians to showcase their talent.
Senior Alary Loper said The Depot is a great opportunity for local artists and bands to gain publicity and supporters.
“People around here have creative new ideas about music. The Depot supports them and helps them get their stuff out,” she said.
From 6-10 p.m. Tuesday nights, The Depot offers an open microphone session. Local bands also have the opportunity to perform live on Friday nights from 6-11 p.m. The Depot further supports local talent with its open gallery allowing artists to display their art for free. In addition to serving up local talent, The Depot also serves a variety of coffees drinks, sandwiches, soups and homemade baked goods.
Located in Hopkins on 9451 Excelsior Blvd., The Depot is conveniently adjacent to the Cedar Lake Light Rail Transit Regional Trail.
4. Restaurant with a bar atmosphere cooks up fish
The Anchor Fish and Chips is a restaurant with a bar atmosphere and a food truck that travels the streets of Minneapolis. In 2012 it was named one of “America’s Best Seafood” by U.S. News.
The menu features fish and chips made with Alaskan Cod. The restaurant also offers burgers, sandwiches and pasties. An Irish breakfast is available on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon.
The restaurant is located on 302 13th Avenue N.E. For hours, an extended menu and to track the food truck visit www.theanchorfishandchips.com.
5. Cafe offers an American breakfast and lunch
Zumbro Cafe is a small restaurant with wooden benches, and a warm, cozy ambiance.
The cafe features “The Weekender” menu Saturdays and Sundays, which involves both breakfast and lunch menu items.
Some breakfast items include made from scratch flapjacks (cornmeal, buckwheat wild rice and buttermilk), eggs benedict and frittatas.
Junior Anna Huber eats at Zumbro with some frequency. She said she enjoys going there because the food is delicious.
“I get the eggs benedict every time. I usually go there because that’s my favorite meal. It’s really small so sometimes it gets pretty packed, but it’s a cute little cafe,” Huber said.
Zumbro Cafe is located at 2803 West 43rd St. in Minneapolis. It serves breakfast and lunch, and open at 7 a.m. on weekdays, 7:30 a.m. on weekends and closes at 2:30 p.m.
6. Visit Minneapolis Institute of Art’s Matisse Exhibit
Featuring 50 works of painting and sculpture and 30 prints, the Matisse exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts promises to be a colorful cultural experience.
Here for a limited time from the Baltimore Museum of Art, the exhibition is the largest collection of Matisse’s artwork ever featured in Minneapolis.
Sophomore Kaitlin Cole said she is excited to experience the art of another country while satisfying school requirements.
“I am interested in art so I would want to go to see Matisse for French culture points and to see the different types of art that various cultures produce,” Cole said.
Tickets for the exhibition cost $16 on weekdays and $20 on weekends. The exhibit is open until May 18.
7. Try a new dessert at Adele’s Frozen Custard
Patio seating and exotic ice cream flavors create a summery vibe at Adele’s Frozen Custard.
Adele’s provides an interesting alternative to the typical ice cream shop, serving custard of more than 90 wacky yet delicious flavors such as rootbeer float, bubble gum and carrot cake. Adele’s also offers more traditional flavors like vanilla and chocolate.
Senior Lauryn Myhra said Adele’s cozy atmosphere provides a pleasant change from the industrial feel of most ice cream places.
“Adele’s was very homey. It wasn’t so manufactured feeling. It was personal feeling because the custard was homemade and the service was friendly,” Myhra said.
Adele’s makes fresh batches of affordable custard and rotates its flavor options daily. In addition to custard, Adele’s Frozen Custard offers hot dogs, malts and a variety of beverages.
Open 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Adele’s Frozen Custard sits on Lake Minnetonka at 800 Excelsior Blvd.
The sunny yellow food truck on Nicollet Mall and 8th Street offers a new dining experience during spring break. Dandelion Kitchen is a locally owned food truck with a mission to create quality street food.
Dandelion Kitchen is the perfect place to go for a light lunch in the Twin Cities. The menu changes seasonally because Dandelion Kitchen focuses on using local, organic ingredients in all of their soups, sandwiches and salads.
Diners can choose from a unique selection of homemade sodas, featuring unusual flavors like basil lime and rosemary grapefruit.
Everything at Dandelion Kitchen is made fresh from scratch. Dandelion Kitchen places a large emphasis on hand-crafting food that not only tastes great, but also is healthy for the environment and the diners.
The Dandelion Kitchen’s local and organic food sparks sophomore Aaron Brown’s interest in the food truck. Brown said food trucks are a convenient way to showcase local bounty of produce.
“Food trucks are good for people on the go. It’s good that the food is local because it supports the community and shows what we have to offer,” Brown said.
The sunny ambiance of the food truck provides a sunny oasis in contrast to the lingering winter. Freshman Meili Liss thinks the warm feeling brought by the truck will brighten her break.
Liss appreciates the accessibility and seasonal vibe of The Dandelion food truck.
“It would be fun to go with friends to a foodtruck,” Liss said. “It’s convenient and summery.”
The food truck maintains its support for local produce by visiting local farmers’ markets on the weekends.
Dandelion Kitchen is open on weekdays from 11 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.
9. Go on a real-world treasure hunt
Geocaching creates the opportunity to grab some friends and a GPS and engage in a real life hunt for treasures. Geocaching is an adventure, which involves using GPS coordinates to discover caches hidden throughout the city.
Traditionally, a geocache features a set of GPS coordinates, which participants use to find a unique object. Along with the object, there is a logbook for participants to record the date the participants found the geocache and describe their experience searching for it. Geocachers may take the object, but must leave something else in return.
Other types of geocaches include multi-caches, which involves a set of clues leading up to the final treasure and mystery caches, which present a puzzle that needs to be solved to discover the GPS coordinates of the geocache. With a wide variety of geocache types around Minneapolis and Park, there is something for everyone.
Junior Frank Lokenye said geocaching is a thrilling game as well as an opportunity to get outdoors and explore the city during spring break.
“It feels like a treasure hunt since you have to find coordinates to get to the hidden surprise. It’s actually harder than it seems. You get to take a look around the environment,” Lokenye said.
Lokenye said the geocaches item sizes range from small trinkets to larger more unusual objects.
“I found a lot of things like $10, an Xbox controller and a jar of candy,” Lokenye said.
To find geocaching opportunities in the area, download the Geocaching App on the iPhone or Android for $9.99.
