OUT & ABOUT >>

• BEST BEACH
  New rule: A beach is only as good as the water is clear. If we can't see our perfectly manicured toes when standing tit deep, we want nothing to do with it. Okay, so Square Lake is not technically in the Twin Cities, and you're going to have to pay one of those fees we're always griping about... More >>
• BEST BIKE TRAIL
  You end up at the bottom of a steeply raked field filled with blackbirds and horses. There's a river valley spread out far below you in the distance, an old church steeple climbing up from the greenery. It's a certain kind of sturdy American beauty you see here, the kind of image you might find... More >>
• BEST BOWLING ALLEY
  There are 30-odd bowling alleys in the Twin Cities metro area, and the most astonishing thing about most of them is how overwhelming they are from a sensory perspective. This is especially true of the big places. You know, the ones with 32 lanes, full-service bars, dozens of TVs, and overloud... More >>
• BEST BOXER
  In recent years, Minnesota fight fans have had to swallow more than their share of disappointment. It's a familiar story: A local prospect builds a shiny record by pummeling underpaid tomato cans trucked in from Milwaukee and Indianapolis. The fans get whipped up in a lather. They start talking... More >>
• BEST COACH
  Ron Gardenhire and the Twins are not the only overachieving underdogs around here. Up on the frozen tundra at the University of Minnesota, Mike Hebert has created a women's volleyball program capable of competing for national championships against the traditional copper-toned powerhouses from... More >>
• BEST COLLEGE ATHLETE
  A year ago, the Gopher men's basketball team had hit rock bottom in the basketball food chain. The Timberwolves were driving toward a possible NBA championship, the Gopher women were on their way to the Final Four. Even the addled Lynx, long mired in mediocrity and plagued by personnel changes,... More >>
• BEST DAY TRIP
  For Minnesotans, there is one truth so painful to admit that, in the interest of collective sanity, few natives ever acknowledge it publicly. The unspoken truth is this: Wisconsin is a better-looking state than Minnesota. Yes, it is home to the hated Packers, to Dahmer, to Ed Gein, to Tommy... More >>
• BEST FISHING HOLE
  Yes, the Minnesota River is a sick river. Fouled by agriculture (it has the misfortune to run through the farm belt), the Minnesota is the most polluted waterway in the state. Despite some recent improvements, it still makes the lists of the country's most endangered waterways. This is a real... More >>
• BEST GOLF COURSE
  Twin Cities golfers are a star-crossed breed, blessed by so many courses and so little time. Never mind the private courses you'll never get to play. We'll confess to driving slowly, in the fallow month of February, past Interlachen and Spring Hill, thinking, "Just once...." If this lust for... More >>
• BEST HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE
  To the true sports fan, there is nothing quite so enticing as a sentence that begins, "Have you heard about this kid...?" It is what gave legs to Darcy Frey's The Last Shot, which chronicled four prep stars (including future NBA all-star Stephon Marbury), and what led one local daily newspaper... More >>
• BEST HIGHWAY
  If you polled a few hundred well-traveled Minnesota motorists and asked them to identify the most beautiful drive in the state, chances are a plurality would cite the stretch of Highway 61 that runs from Duluth to Grand Marais. It is a natural pick. With its panoramic views of Lake Superior,... More >>
• BEST LYNX PLAYER
  When Katie Smith went down with a knee injury in July, the prospects for the final third of the Lynx's season looked bleak. Up until that point, the veteran guard had pretty much been the team's sole consistent scoring threat, averaging 19 points a game. In fact, she was the Lynx's top scorer... More >>
• BEST PICNIC SPOT
  Minneapolis celebrates its lakes (the motto is "City of Lakes," after all), but the truth is those modest little puddles in ritzy southwest don't offer half the pleasures of the dirty old Mississippi River. In terms of fishing, boating, and the prospect of escape, the Miss has the lakes beat.... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO BIRD-WATCH
  The peace garden at Lake Harriet is just that: a trickle of waterfall and stones etched with one-word philosophies that offer solace and refuge. The rose garden is just that: a cornucopia of quiet, explosive beauty. And the 13-acre bird sanctuary that sits tucked behind the two is just that: a... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO CANOE
  It is a given that the best canoeing in Minnesota, and some of the best canoeing in North America, lies in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. If you are serious about canoeing, you already know this. There is little point in singing the praises of the place to you because you've already scheduled... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO HIKE
  See the parade of SUVS on a Saturday morning, pulling boats with 800-horsepower engines, clogging the interstates on a lemming-like journey northward? This should be your cue to follow the compass in the opposite direction. Ninety-odd minutes southeast of the cities lies the less trafficked... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO ICE SKATE
  In case you haven't noticed, this is a state with a frigid climate and more than 12,000 lakes. Add in the various hockey arenas and hose-watered park rinks and it's obvious that places to skate are as plentiful, idiosyncratic, and (in many cases) as convenient as your neighborhood laundromat or... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO JOG
  We are the luckiest landlocked runners in the world, especially this time of year. But runners, joggers, and walkers have a four-season love affair with Harriet. For as you get in your miles, you can take your mind off your sore Achilles by ogling the bods on main beach in the summer. In the... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO PLAY POOL
  If your idea of a night of stick is to order up a couple of pitchers and stack quarters in the slots to free up the balls, by all means, don't go to Jimmy's. Owned and operated by former World Champion Jimmy "The Kid" Wetch, Jimmy's treats the game--and those who play it--with the utmost... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO WATCH A MOVIE OUTDOORS
  How fitting that our favorite movies-in-the-park series would devote its latest season to the films of Hollywood's consummate outsider. Nicholas Ray remains best known for his mid-'50s teen angst epic Rebel Without a Cause (screening August 1). But the director's whole jittery oeuvre is about... More >>
• BEST PUBLIC PARK
  In the power struggles of Minneapolis city politics, none are as contentious as those surrounding the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. The City Council is constantly looking askance at the board, which is always rife with infighting and controversial decisions. But one fact remains: The... More >>
• BEST SIGN OF SPRING
  As the snow banks recede and the T-shirts and shorts start to come out, most Minnesotans begin the yearly trek to the nursery to get their recently thawed hands on a vanful of colorful annuals. But it's often too early to plant those little suckers, since even the hardiest of plants will... More >>
• BEST SLEDDING
  What distinguishes a truly memorable sledding experience from just another excuse to get tired and cold is a bit of danger. Nothing, except maybe television, unites families, friends, and lovebirds quite like the possibility of severe bodily damage. At Kenwood Park's "Suicide Hill," sledders... More >>
• BEST TENNIS COURTS
  Unlike such popular pursuits as nose picking and lovemaking, tennis is best done outdoors. But in Minnesota, as you've undoubtedly noticed, tennis under God's big top is only practicable for about five months out of the year. But you needn't let your ground strokes, lobs, or awesome net game go... More >>
• BEST THUNDER PLAYER
  "You'll never beat Joe Warren" is the chant often heard during Minnesota Thunder games at James Griffin Stadium (a.k.a. The Jimmy). Last season--Warren's second as the soccer team's top net-minder--the boast was almost literally true. The Thunder's 31-year-old goalkeeper notched 15 shutouts... More >>
• BEST TIMBERWOLVES PLAYER
  Last year, as a few readers will surely recall, we bestowed this award on Ndudu Ebi. But given that the young Nigerian played in a mere two NBA games, we'll have to herald another straight-outta-high school forward in his stead. We do it regretfully, as Garnett hasn't had much of a year. He... More >>
• BEST TWINS PLAYER
  After Santana fully recovered from off-season elbow surgery last season, he produced the kind of ridiculously dominant campaign usually associated with Hall of Famers like Koufax and Gibson. He yielded only 14 hits the entire month of July and just two earned runs in five September starts. He... More >>
• BEST VIKINGS PLAYER
  As usual, the 2004 incarnation of the Minnesota Vikings failed to meet the high expectations established by a jackrabbit start. After opening 6-1, the team finished with a mediocre 8-8 regular season record. For several years, the late autumn swoon has been the curse of the Vikings. Maybe that... More >>