Some of the most-traveled and most-renowned bus routes in the Twin Cities share a certain quality of being attached to a specific thoroughfare and a simple A-to-B linearity—Lake Street for the 21, University Avenue for the 16, Grand Avenue for the 63. But the 3A is a unique sort of mutant in Metro Transit's framework. Sure, the idea of a route that goes from downtown Minneapolis to downtown St. Paul seems straightforward enough, but the way it gets there feels less like a standard transit route than a scenic tour. The 3A takes you through some of the most character-filled landmarks and areas in the Metro: the U of M campus, the State Fairgrounds, Como Park, Frogtown main drag Rice Street, and the State Capitol. If you've got an hour to kill and a couple bucks in your pocket, hop on and take in a route that links the best ballpark and library in the Midwest to the street where Larry Gopnik gets in a car accident in A Serious Man.