What to Do Indoors in Minnesota This Winter

DO AS THE SCANDINAVIANS DO 

Many years before “hygge” became a trend, Minnesota’s large Scandinavian population was celebrating the idea of taking things slow while sharing the small, joyful things in life with friends and family. Stroll through the American Swedish Institute to catch a well-curated glimpse of Nordic-inspired art and culture. 

After wandering the halls of its historic Turnblad Mansion, make sure to grab a Nordic-inspired bite at FIKA Cafe or buy cloudberry preserves, chocolate licorice, and a mini dala horse or two at the museum’s stellar gift shop. 

Speaking of specialty food items, Ingebretsen’s old-fashioned butcher shop is stocked with deli favorites made daily from original recipes, imported cheeses, and hard-to-find meat products. Complete a Scandinavian-inspired spread by picking up one of Vikre’s varieties of award-winning aquavit to sip on. Better yet, venture to Vikre’s cozy distillery in Duluth to grab a bottle and one of its creative in-house cocktails.  

Scandinavian North has stores in Stillwater and Duluth, and roots in Jönköping, Sweden. The shops contain a curated collection of Scandinavian treats, textiles, jewelry, and home goods including a wall dedicated to Swedish dish cloths. Browsing in-store is an aesthetically pleasing experience in and of itself, but don’t be surprised if you walk away with a bouquet of felted flowers or reindeer hides.

BOND OVER BOOKS

Many literary events make it easy to socialize with fellow bookworms. Magers and Quinn, one of the Midwest’s largest independent bookstores, hosts local and national authors across all genres. Located near Lake of the Isles, the native-owned Birchbark Books is a tiny independent bookstore that sponsors readings by Native and non-Native writers, journalists and historians.

If forming your own book club feels like an insurmountable feat, several local shops host public gatherings, including Comma, a bookshop, Red Balloon Bookshop, Moon Palace Books, Next Chapter Booksellers, and the kid’s bookstore Wild Rumpus.

Flip the script and try your hand at writing some of your own work at one of The Loft’s many in-person or online classes. Topics range from poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction to mystery, romance and screenwriting. 

Feeling inspired to share your work? Pour those pages out in public at Big Hill Books’ monthly Open Mic Night. 

WARM UP ALONGSIDE WILDLIFE

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It’s 78 degrees and humid every day at the Minnesota Zoo’s popular Tropics Trail exhibit. Watch lemurs, gibbons and tree kangaroos play in a rainforest environment that’s lush with green foliage and orchids along the winding path. 

Likewise, the Como Park Zoo & Conservatory provides a warm escape throughout the park, with less crowds and lower admission prices than the summer months. Visit the bison, arctic foxes and reindeer — who thrive in the cold weather — and find refuge indoors alongside giraffes, zebras and primates.

Minnesota is home to wildlife centers that offer the opportunity to observe wild animals in a controlled environment. The University of Minnesota’s Raptor Center has tours, raptor encounters, and social hours to meet owls, eagles, hawks and falcons. 

The International Wolf Center in Ely features a live wolf pack exhibit, where the wolves enjoy an outdoors north woods habitat and lots of space to spread out. Inside the auditorium, the center provides plenty of interactive programs to learn more about these wild ancestors of the dogs next door.

GRAB A MEAL AND SOME GIFTS

Pimento Market transports customers to the Caribbean from its indoor location adjacent to Bde Maka Ska. The extension of Eat Street’s Pimento Jamaican Kitchen brings 20-plus BIPOC vendors and their unique products together, as well as to-go wraps, coffee and other drinks.

Caydence Records & Coffee in St. Paul serves up specialty espresso beverages with ingredients made in-house as well as a fresh selection of used and new vinyl, CDs and cassettes. Over in Minneapolis, Disco Death Records lets guests sip on their drinks while browsing its own eclectic album selection.

Kruse Markit in South Minneapolis is a combination bistro, market, coffee and wine bar that boasts a seasonal menu as well as responsibly made products from local purveyors. Vivir is a cafe, market and bakery in Northeast Minneapolis that offers spicy hot chocolate and a selection of Mexican-made crafts and treats curated by its sister restaurant next door (Centro).

FOSTER A PLANT FAMILY

Perhaps you have a thriving indoor garden already or are looking to start one with rich soil and seeds. Plenty of shops around the state offer services and classes to help you grow your green thumb. 

Lost in the Forrest has plant styling and repotting services as does Mother Earth Gardens, which boasts houseplant services, coaching and clinics. The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum features a range of classes available, including an Indoor Jungle class specifically to help attendees with their house plants.

CRAFT OR COOK SOMETHING 

Put your idle hands to work this winter and make something from scratch in one of the state’s many classes. Learn how to cook with Minnesota grains or incorporate fresh citrus in your dishes at one of the culinary demonstrations at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. The Abundant Kitchen in Buffalo invites attendees to cook and bake in a variety of classes, including ones that revolve around gnocchi, pasta, dumplings, and tortillas. 

The Textile Center in Minneapolis helps people learn how to work with fabric, from stitching, felting, dyeing and weaving to rug hooking and surface design. There are classes for beginners (Sewing for the Terrified) and more experienced students (Coiled Fabric Bowls).  The Northern Clay Center features a wide array of in-person and virtual classes that work with clay, from hand building and wheel throwing for beginners to workshops for couples or families.

PLAY WELL WITH OTHERS 

Minnesota has a thriving game community fueled by influential designers — everyone from big international brands to scrappy startups. The tight-knit community incudes the Roseville-based Catan Studio, makers of the cult favorite “Settlers of Catan”. (The Minnesota Twins dugout is also full of big fans apparently.) 

Sure enough, tabletop games are a popular way for Minnesotans to pass time and stay mentally stimulated in winter. It can often be difficult to round up the multiple players needed, but Minneapolis-St. Paul has no shortage of weekly open game nights, including Tower Games in South Minneapolis and multiple locations of Games by James and Level Up.

Every Friday morning on KFAN, the Power Trip Morning show plays the Initials Game, which challenges contestants to name 12 people, places or phrases that share the same initials with six clues. This addictive game gained such a following that it led to a partnership with Trivia Mafia at bars, restaurants and breweries all over the state. The game is also available as a deck of cards to play at home.

SOCIALIZE AT THE SPA

Spa time doesn’t necessarily have to also mean alone time. Sauna culture has long been a cornerstone of Minnesota culture, thanks in part to its Nordic roots and restorative cycle of hot, cold, rest, rehydrate, and repeat. 

Cedar + Stone Nordic Sauna has locations atop the Four Seasons Hotel Minneapolis and along Duluth’s harbor, offering both private and social experiences. The Duluth location actually floats on Lake Superior, allowing guests to plunge into the Great Lake between stints in its wood-fired sauna.

Watershed is a communal and social bathing destination located in the historic Switch House building (formerly The Soap Factory) in St. Anthony Main. The spa prioritizes the comfort, preferences and safety of each guest during its communal bathing ritual and holistic spa services.

KEEP IT COZY 

St. Paul’s Waldmann Brewery was established in 1857 and revitalized in 2017. Between its wood stoves, virgin pinewood floors, hand-blown window glass, 19th-century steamboat chairs, paraffin-burning whale oil lamps, and taxidermied bison head, walking into Waldmann is like stepping straight into a Bavarian beer house.

Belly up to the convivial candlelit bar at Bûcheron and chat with the amicable bartending staff as they mix your next new favorite cocktail. Translating to lumberjack in French, this South Minneapolis neighborhood spot plates up French-American cuisine in approachable dishes that feature familiar items like smoked whitefish dip served with wild rice crackers and a Wisconsin old fashioned that’ll give any supper club a run for its money.

Speaking of “Mad Men”-style meals, St. Paul’s Apostle Supper Club takes you back to the 1960s with tiki cocktails, shag carpeting, rattan pendant lighting and piano bar. Cozy up in the fireplace lounge and find solace in its upscale comfort food and robust drink menu.

GO BACK TO THE FUTURE 

Ride up and down eight levels on a giant elevator at the Mill City Museum, which takes guests back in time to experience the sights and sounds of 19th-century factory workers and flour milling machines. Afterwards, visit the Water Lab to understand how the St. Anthony Falls powered the logging and lumber industry to make Minneapolis the flour milling capital of the world. Don’t forget to take your photo next to a huge Bisquick box.

At the Pavek Museum of Electronic Communication in St. Louis Park, you can appreciate the promises of innovation as a technophile or wax nostalgic as a luddite. The exhibits contain radios from the early 1900s to the 1940s, and precursors like telegraphs and telephones.

After a four-year hiatus, underground mine tours at Soudan State Park have started up again. Travel a half mile down the shaft on authentic (but expertly maintained) hoisting equipment to the 27th level of the Soudan Underground Mine, which operated from 1882 to 1962. Tour the area via underground train to the Montana stope, the last working area of the mine.

Find other things to do in Minnesota this winter.