Normally when you think of spring break you think of tan lines, string bikinis and a girls trip to Cabo — at least that’s what I think of and what I see from other people my age when it comes time for spring break.
This year I diverged from the common path of a warm and tan spring break and opted for something familiar. I took a short tour of the Midwest! That’s right, three states, two days— a boat load of fun.
This tour of the Midwest was determined by stops made by two of my favorite artists, who both happened to be stopping in locations of the Midwest on back to back days. It was meant to be.
My accomplice and I left Marquette and began our journey to Minneapolis. We were quickly able to see the sights of the U.P. on our way out. We hit up Crystal Falls and the Iron Counties. I’ve seen these towns once before, but it’s always a treat to see the other towns that are in the U.P.
I had never been to Minnesota before this trip, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Did you know that Minneapolis is one of the twin cities with Saint Paul? Yeah, me neither. If you couldn’t tell, my high school didn’t have a geography class and I’m not originally from the region.
I was our chauffeur this trip, and driving into the city was no joke. I like to say I’m not a bad driver, I just get anxious, but the traffic I faced was super manageable. If I could do it, you for sure can. After staying one night in Minneapolis it was time to start heading to our next destination, Madison.
On the way to Wisconsin my friend and I wanted to go to a mall since department shopping avenues are slim pickings in Marquette. Little did we know that if we put the closest mall into the GPS it would tell us the closest one was the Mall of America. Of course, like any sane traveler, we took a pitstop at said mall.
The Mall of America was the craziest thing I have ever experienced in all 22 years of my life. There were four floors of gluttonous spending, roller coasters and enough fast food restaurants to feed a whole town. I have never seen such a display of capitalism.
Like any normal person visiting the mall, we got tickets to ride on some of the rides there. Of course, being the thrill seekers we are, we chose the largest ride with flips and a large drop. I felt silly amongst all the children, but the ride was still very thrilling and gave me many giggles. Overall I’d rate the Mall a must to visit, but you need more than a few hours to really soak it all in. It took about 30 minutes in the car after leaving for me to really realize we had just ridden a roller coaster in the largest mall in the country.
Sadly we had to say goodbye and continue on our trek.
When we arrived in Madison we were met with the cutest hotel room and only an eight minute walk to the venue where our next concert was playing. I honestly have no notes from Madison, it’s fun being in the capital of the state and it gives a taste of a “big city” life without the stress of a typical big city.
Sadly our tour of the Midwest is over. I don’t regret going on this mini trip over a warm sunny visit somewhere else. We clocked 17 hours of driving across three days, and made memories with every mile driven. My hips and back screamed just as loud as I did at the concert, and to me that’s a spring break well spent.
If you get FOMO from all your friends who went somewhere warm, just know that spending time with the people you love is well worth it too. You don’t have to be sandy to be happy, just busy with what’s right in front of you.
