OUT & ABOUT >>

• BEST BATTING CAGE
  Located in a domed sports complex across the street from Arlington High School, this no-frills cage is a great all-weather slugging fix. Even when local teams are practicing on the adjacent indoor diamond, it never seems to get very busy. And there are plenty of off-hours to boot, since the... More >>
• BEST BEACH
  Known as Minneapolis's beach of ill repute, Hidden Beach is a bohemian haven in the city's otherwise yuppie lake land. To find it, you go to where South Upton dead-ends, and find the entrance to a dirt path, which is near a port-a-potty. Then you wind down a trail through the woods, running... More >>
• BEST BIKE TRAIL
  When you think of Minnesota, you might think of rivers that twist and wind through prairies that are otherwise flat as lefse. You might think of the north country and canoeing, of old railway beds and endless vistas and inline skates. But it's a good guess you don't conjure up images of steep,... More >>
• BEST BINGO GAME
  Why are bingo games treated like the butt of a joke? Of course we all have visions of those beehived, horn-rimmed, polyester-wearing grandmas calling the numbers. But goshdarnit, this is a skill! Witness the denizens of Saints or any other bingo hall worth its salt. The pros often work ten or... More >>
• BEST BOWLING ALLEY
  Cold hard fact: These towns are lousy with excellent bowling opportunities, the likes of which no longer exist in most metropolitan areas. Notable contenders for the Best Bowling Alley crown include New Hope Bowl and Doyle's up toward the northwest (be sure to avail yourself of the pizza at the... More >>
• BEST BOXING GYM
  The business of running a boxing gym isn't really a business; it is a form of social work. This is especially true in Minnesota, where you can count the number of legit pros on your fingers. Yet the sweet science is sustained, in large part, by the owners of the 20-some boxing gyms sprinkled... More >>
• BEST CHOKE (AMATEUR)
  Kristina Koznick, a world-class skier and native of Burnsville, gained international notoriety by making the U.S. Team when she was 17 years old. A few years later she qualified for the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. But despite coming in as a favorite, she wiped out and failed to win a... More >>
• BEST CHOKE (PROFESSIONAL)
  To your average sports fan, the most memorable chokes involve great or near-great athletes failing when everything is on the line. But what of the failures of obscure jocks? Don't they deserve recognition for absolute mental and physical collapses? In that spirit, we ask you to consider Spergon... More >>
• BEST COACH
  Call her a traitor if it makes you feel better. But there is no denying the feats of Brenda Oldfield in her first (and only) year guiding the Gopher women's basketball team. Having inherited an all but dead program, the Iowa native arrived with a fresh attitude by way of Ball State. "I love... More >>
• BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE
  If there's one thing in life that we're certain of, it's that you don't ever want to find yourself on the same wrestling mat as Luke Becker. There is no fat on the kid. None. We can't prove this by any standard recognized by modern science, but we swear it's true. He weighs in at 157 pounds of... More >>
• BEST DAY SPA
  Nestled in the corner of one of Edina's upscale strip malls, this little shop creates its own tranquillity with smiling service, calming music, and a wide array of delightfully pampering treatments. Whether you're there for a facial (the $60 Skin Revitalizer leaves your face smooth and glowing)... More >>
• BEST DAY TRIP
  The concept of working 9 to 5 is a relatively recent invention. Our hunter-gatherer predecessors led comparatively indolent lives, picking berries or catching fish to survive, which explains why so many cities and civilizations were founded along the river byways of the world. This all goes to... More >>
• BEST DOG PARK
  We don't know whether Bob Dylan's ever been to a dog park, but in 1970 he wrote: "In harmony with the cosmic sea/True love needs no company/It can cure the soul, it can make it whole/If dogs run free." No better words describe the sheer joy to be found in a dog park, particularly the Minnehaha... More >>
• BEST FISHING HOLE (URBAN)
  As most anglers know, owing to water temperature, rainfall, barometric pressure, and about 30,000 other factors, last week's hot spot can become this week's dead zone. That said, the waters immediately below the Ford Dam on the Mississippi River are remarkably consistent; sometimes you can even... More >>
• BEST GOLF COURSE
  One of the oldest public golf courses in the state, this 18-hole stretch is a city gem, smack in the middle of one of Minneapolis's largest parks. After you stop into the Swiss-chalet-style clubhouse, you'll enjoy the sun, the hills (walking the course can provide you a solid physical workout),... More >>
• BEST GOLF COURSE (MINI)
  "This is so junior high," our friend groans as we tee off beneath a papier-mâché dinosaur head. True. But Lava Links, located next to an army recruiting station in a down-at-heel Roseville mini-mall, remains one of the few places around to get your putt on during the endless... More >>
• BEST HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE
  Two years ago Edward "Major" Bowen was an honorable mention as an all-state hockey player, solidly manning the net as a sophomore goalie for the Blake Bears boys' hockey team. A year later, just before a routine team practice, Bowen's father called Coach Jeff Lindquist to tell him that his... More >>
• BEST JOCKEY
  A clear winner in this category for two years running, Derek Bell is a young rider who treats his horses with respect, trains with ambition, and at the end of the day, brings home the big money. During the 2001 racing season at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Bell led the jockey standings. During... More >>
• BEST LOCAL OLYMPIAN
  When the U.S. women's hockey team fell to Canada in February, ending a miraculous 35-game winning streak, the cameras trained in on the teary faces of Team USA. Nobody in that crowd was more crushed than Courtney Kennedy, a powerful defenseman who just a year earlier was pounding slap shots as... More >>
• BEST LYNX PLAYER
  Even if the rookie-heavy, injury-hobbled Lynx didn't give fans much to cheer about in 2001, this first-team All-Star remains one of the brightest marquee players in the WNBA. In the midst of a 12-20 season, the hot-shooting forward seemed to smash a league record every week: single-season... More >>
• BEST PICKUP BASKETBALL GAME
  On weekends during the summer, getting a run on is no problem. As local ballers know, it's the other eight months of the year that can be tricky. For those with game (and some serious dime), the Arena Health Club in Target Center is becoming legendary, as it attracts the cream of local high... More >>
• BEST PICNIC SPOT
  Edward Hopper once said, "I hated to draw people gesturing and grimacing. What I wanted to do was paint sunlight on the side of a house." In that quote, the modernist painter perfectly captured the art of picnicking: When you finally lay your wine, cheese, and baguette down upon your blanket,... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO BIRD-WATCH
  True, "effluent channel" and "sewage treatment plant" don't conjure up images of bird watching. Still, this is one of the few places in Minnesota where visitors, even in midwinter, can not only catch a glimpse of bald eagles, great blue herons, belted kingfishers, and hawks, but actually... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO CAMP
  Four hours by car to Bayfield, another hour or so on a ferry boat, and you're suddenly on a secluded island in the middle of Lake Superior. Perhaps you've secured a campsite safely near the dock, with water and a tent pad readily available. Maybe you've selected one farther out, near the... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO CROSS-COUNTRY SKI
  Stretching 18 miles along the upper reaches of the St. Croix River, Wild River State Park boasts plenty of splendid, unsullied vistas, a pleasing mix of aspen, pine, maple, and oak forests, and tons of wildlife: ospreys, eagles, black bears, even the occasional timber wolf. Not surprisingly,... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO HIKE (URBAN)
  It ain't a walk around the lakes. But if you're looking for a snapshot of where the city has come from--and where it's going--the streets in and around this strange neighborhood might hold the key. Though the river gurgles in the near distance, the Metrodome of Doom is a dead zone; when it's... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO HIKE (WOODSY)
  Fact is, there are dozens of fine hiking routes within easy striking distance of the cities--which makes picking a best problematic. Such determinations often come down to issues of personal taste--a preference for woods over fields, or rivers over lakes, or the like. In our view, the best... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO ICE-SKATE
  Most people might choose to skate in the warmish, comfyish confines of your typical indoor skating rink. But, we wonder, why should one have to pay to skate when it means dealing with all the piped schlock-pop, those crazy kids in their floppy hockey gear, and the creepily primped,... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO JOG
  The Twin Cities and surrounding suburbs offer some of the best running opportunities in the country, a fact proven by the popular annual marathon, the thousands who show up for shorter-distance events like Race for the Cure, the plethora of amateur teams, and a wide array of running-gear shops.... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO LEARN TO DANCE
  Four Seasons Dance Studio is a dancers' co-op offering instruction in any number of partner dances. The studio is decorated in sensual, Loring Park bohemian chic, and is as romantic a date destination as any of the places in which you'll be trying out your new steps. The instructors are... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO ROLLERBLADE
  Okay, so you've been in all day, working on your novel or your screenplay, it's hot, and you're itching to head out to see and be seen. You've got the fancy new skates and all the protective gear with nary a scratch on it, your fanny is toned and your deltoids and abs are just screaming for... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO WATCH A MOVIE OUTDOORS
  The oldest of several Twin Cities movies-and-music-in-the-park programs regains the outdoor-film title this year by paying worthy tribute to an old master: director Billy Wilder, who died in March at the age of 95. Not only is "A Bit Wilder" (co-presented by Walker Art Center and the... More >>
• BEST PUBLIC PARK
  Ira Glass, of public radio's This American Life, dedicated several programs to a common human subgenus: do-gooders. More specifically, "Stories of people who try to do good: Why they often fail and why they occasionally succeed." One might say Mr. Glass could have made a good case study of the... More >>
• BEST ROLLER RINK
  A Saturday afternoon at this 73-year-old converted horse arena proves that skating is still popular with kids and families. A closer look reveals that most of the tykes now prefer in-line skates to the old-school, square-soled four-wheelers. Still, there's been a revival for fans of the clunky... More >>
• BEST SIGN OF SPRING
  In 1862 a small Mexican army defeated their considerably better-equipped French occupiers at the Batalla de Puebla. Even though the Gallic adversaries went on to win the war, Mexicans have always revered their ancestors who, at least temporarily, bested a giant. The holiday is not so much a... More >>
• BEST SLEDDING
  One of the less well-reported tragedies related to global warming is the loss of sledding as a reliable winter sport. Particularly devastating is the emotional impact of this loss upon small children, who naturally find it hard to accept that their vague yet fond memories of older siblings... More >>
• BEST TENNIS COURTS
  Nestled in the middle of this 50-acre basin of green space in Minneapolis's Bryn Mawr neighborhood are two tennis courts, ideal for a summer match. Set back from the basketball court and the softball fields, there's enough serenity to concentrate on putting the spin on your serve, powering... More >>
• BEST TIMBERWOLVES PLAYER
  Gotta be Mark Roth. Man he can jack up those threes. Whaddaya mean he's retired? Well then, Gundars Vetra, the Latvian with the quick first step, is a solid pick. Long gone, you say? Okay, we'll go with that kid straight out of high school: Garnett... uh...Kevin Garnett. That's him: freak of... More >>
• BEST TWINS PLAYER
  At the end of the 1999 season, Twins first-baseman Doug Mientkiewicz was on the verge of washing out of baseball. Though always solid on defense, Mientkiewicz struggled at the plate throughout his rookie season, hitting a dismal .229 with 51 strikeouts and a paltry 32 RBIs. After he was sent... More >>
• BEST VIKINGS PLAYER
  As far as we're concerned, this marquee superstar (with a salary and swagger to match) deserves a medal for managing to prick the thin skins of this team's fickle fans, not to mention the tight, white local sports media. Red McCombs might even think about sending the wide receiver a spring... More >>
• BEST WILD PLAYER
  A no-brainer. As the first player ever selected by the Wild (and the third overall in the 2000 draft), expectations were high from the outset for the then-18-year-old Slovak phenom. He hasn't disappointed. A strong, quick skater and top-flight puck handler, Gaborik set the tone in his Wild... More >>