OUT & ABOUT >>

• BEST BATTING CAGE
  Ping. Ping. Ping. Ah, with springtime comes the sweet, sweet sound of metal on horsehide. And there's no better place for steroid-free swings than Grand Slam, which, along with six batting cages, boasts a go-cart track, laser tag, basketball games, mini golf, and many more diversions for the... More >>
• BEST BEACH
  We tried. We really did. Over the past year, we journeyed into the suburban hinterlands in search of a better beach than Minneapolis's beloved muddy strand on Cedar Lake. But even after being deforested and exposed, Hidden Beach still stands as our most eminent summer getaway that's still within... More >>
• BEST BIKE TRAIL
  This seems as good a time as any to congratulate Mr. Mike Sandberg from outlying Guthrie, Minnesota, who almost single-handedly has jeopardized the existence of some 1,300 miles of Minnesota bike trails. His lawsuit, filed with two other plaintiffs, led to an appeals court ruling that revoked... More >>
• BEST BOWLING ALLEY
  Mady's is a well-kept secret, and we're tempted to keep it that way. Why not send the hipsters to Elsie's and keep this Nordeast gem/dump to ourselves? Located in the basement of a strip mall, next to a mattress store, Mady's is about as unprepossessing as lanes come, with a stuffed marlin over... More >>
• BEST COACH
  It's easy to forget exactly how dreadful the Minnesota Timberwolves were before Flip Saunders took the helm in 1995. His predecessor, Bill Blair, had compiled a miserable record of 27-75, and Saunders inherited a talented but troubled roster that included Tom Gugliotta, J.R. Rider, Christian... More >>
• BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE
  Here in the land of Herb Brooks, the usual love of the homegrown underdog runs especially strong, with affable scrappers like Dave Spehar, Kevin Lynch, and "Benchwarmer Bob" Lurtsema among the most fondly remembered local athletes. But this year, despite heartstring tugs for valiant Gophers... More >>
• BEST DAY TRIP
  This is the story of August, who begat Otto and Adolph and Emma, who married George, who begat Alfred, who...okay, let's be done with the begetting already and talk about beer. It was 140 years ago that young German machinist August Schell first brewed 200 barrels of the stuff and started... More >>
• BEST FISHING HOLE
  First, a disclaimer: This is not a legal place to boat, nor is it an especially safe place to boat. If you fall overboard when the river is running hard, you might drown. Even in calm conditions, there are risks. On summer weekends, the place is lousy with lawmen, so should you venture into this... More >>
• BEST GOLF COURSE
  Okay, so it's not one course, it's actually five. But bear with us here. Built in the 1920s and '30s, the Minneapolis city courses boast beautiful views, challenging but fair holes lined with mature trees, and eminently walkable layouts. Yet each has its own personality, and taken as a whole... More >>
• BEST HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE
  Housley. Broten. Chorske. Hendrickson. All legendary--if fairly recent--names of Minnesota high school hockey. And of course, being men, they all went on to greater successes in the Olympics or the NHL. But in recent years, the girls' game has been churning out players who, in certain circles,... More >>
• BEST LYNX PLAYER
  The 2003 season saw both full-time denizens of the Target Center lose a first-round playoff series. For the long-suffering Wolves, this was, of course, nothing new. But for their WNBA counterparts, it was cause for celebration. After a coaching change and a revamping of the roster, the Lynx made... More >>
• BEST PICNIC SPOT
  If you haven't explored the downtown side of the Mississippi, between Broadway and Hennepin Avenues, you are severely missing out. The water floats gracefully by a sloped bank, which affords privacy from the nearby street. Clumps of trees and plants, along with a carpet of well-tended grass, are... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO BIRD-WATCH
  For most of us, memorable bird-watching is an accidental phenomenon: Out of the corner of our eye, we notice a huge raptor hovering in the sky, or a UFO with distinctively bright plumage whizzing through the trees. But if you want to get purposeful about it, the vast acreage of... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO CAMP
  Who says you have to leave the city to go camping? As many as 500 people "camp" in Minneapolis every single night. Granted, most of the homeless hot spots leave something to be desired. The highway overpasses--a mainstay--are noisy, smelly places. The grass median on Royalston Avenue is very... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO CANOE
  It's safe to say that canoeing on Minnesota rivers is about as popular nationally as visiting the library at Daytona Beach. In the world of paddling, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area may be Minnesota's claim to greatness, but there are a lot of folks in the state who know the BWCA best as an... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO CROSS-COUNTRY SKI
  Out among the hardwood tree stands and small lakes and ponds of Lebanon Hills, the wintertime trails are nicely groomed and, better yet, never crowded. Best of all is the sense of escape from the cities; houses and paved roads are rarely visible from anywhere in the park. Judging by its... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO HIKE
  This splendid park is the place to hike when you sleep till noon on a Sunday, go out for waffles and read the paper, and then decide you'd like to get away from it all for a while before it's dark outside and your office is making its usual Monday morning claim on your life. Sloping from pine... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO ICE SKATE
  The Milwaukee Road Depot is elegant in its atmosphere and architecture, and rinks like Edina's Braemar will give you a bracing draught of hockey skating at its purest. But to paraphrase the old saw about giving tasks you want done right to your busiest employee: If you want a great place to... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO JOG
  It's all a matter of scenery and challenge. Take the running path west along Cedar Lake to the beaches; early in the morning you can watch the sunrise. Continue to the bridge crossing 394 and you'll enter Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden, where a serpentine stretch takes you up and down and round... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO LEARN TO DANCE
  The sleeper find of the year for would-be dancers is the Date Night Dance classes offered by the St. Paul Arthur Murray Studio. For a measly $25 per couple, you can learn the basics of social dance, in a real studio, from actual instructors. No smoke. No meat market. And when you show up at the... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO PLAY POOL
  There's nothing fancy about this Northeast pool hall. No booze. No food to speak of. No flashing lights or live DJs. Fat Boy can lay claim to one simple boast: the finest collection of pool tables and cues in town. This is the place to shoot some serious stick with no distractions--and therefore... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO ROLLERBLADE
  For years this category has been a see-saw battle between the Dome and the Lakes. It's time to break the tie and the routine by honoring a place less congested than the shorelines and more outdoorsy than the HHH. When you need a place to roll without stress, the River Roads' long straightaways... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO WATCH A MOVIE OUTDOORS
  It's a measure of Twin Citians' appreciation of cinema under the stars that there actually is a little competition for this title. Stevens Square Park has played host to a lively series of movies (and music) for years, and Nordeast's Bottineau Park and St. Paul's El Rio Park became worthy... More >>
• BEST PUBLIC PARK
  Maybe Como Park isn't as vast as it appears. Perhaps the park's topography--its myriad rolling hills and winding drives--make it seem grander than it is. Certainly, density accounts for some of its splendor. After all, no other green space in the metro offers Como's variety: a zoo, an amusement... More >>
• BEST SIGN OF SPRING
  For the naturalists, there are bird migrations. For the news junkies, there are heartening reports of snowmobilers crashing through thin ice. For the baseball nuts, there is spring training. For everyone else, there is something much better: the sudden, dramatic spectacle of vast swaths of flesh... More >>
• BEST SLEDDING
  Not since Clark W. Griswold greased his metal saucer with the patented super-slippery kitchen lubricant in Christmas Vacation has the sport of sledding seen such death-defying audacity. For those wanting to pay tribute to old "Sparky," Green Acres is an ideal place to do just that. Granted, the... More >>
• BEST TENNIS COURTS
  Why should we tell you and everyone else our favorite hidden gem of tennis courts? Oh, yeah--that's our job. Sorry. We lost our (ahem) grip for a minute, pained as we are to divulge these fine courts, tucked away from view on the east side of St. Kate's campus, behind the dorms. Pull in the... More >>
• BEST TIMBERWOLVES PLAYER
  Yeah, yeah, we know. This year The Big Ticket is having a career year in a career full of career years, and there's no reason this season to dismiss the cries of "KG for MVP." But this is also likely the best Wolves team to date, and that has to do with massive roster changes in the off season.... More >>
• BEST TWINS PLAYER
  Every time a local sports scribe includes the words "ace" and "Radke" in the same sentence, he should be immediately banished to Bemidji to serve as the paper's curling correspondent. (Yes, Gordon Wittenmyer, we're talking to you!) There's simply no evidence that Brad Radke is capable of being... More >>
• BEST VIKINGS PLAYER
  The farcical finale to the season--a last-second collapse against a woeful Arizona Cardinal team--did more than merely knock the Vikings from playoff contention. It very nearly erased all the good memories from what had been a fun, if ultimately disappointing, season. In September, fans had no... More >>
• BEST WILD PLAYER
  Without Roli between the pipes this season, the woeful Wild would have flirted with the lowest point total in the NHL. Minnesota's hometown pro hockey team may have failed to duplicate last year's stirring playoff run, but Roloson actually improved upon his breakthrough 2002-03 season, becoming... More >>