June 21, 2016
Our 2016 road trip began with a return trip to Kansas City, where we got to try the INCREDIBLE Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ and see another Royals game. From there we spent Father’s Day at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa, which was simply magical. I’ll be writing a separate post about that at another point!
It took a few days and some fun stops before we got to our first new stadium of the trip in Minneapolis. We stayed by the Mall of America, which was spectacular, so we got to take the train into downtown where we arrived at Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins.
Since we arrived quite early, we took pictures with the statues outside of Rod Carew and T.C. Bear the mascot before walking in the stadium and getting a giveaway Twins bag. Now we had plenty of time to walk around and watch batting practice. Danny and Adrian spread out to try and catch home runs while I went with my mom and dad to buy a (kosher!) hot dog and sit in the left field bleachers.
When batting practice finished up we made our way to the upper deck, where we were in for quite a treat. We got to meet the Twins’ live organist, one of the few remaining in stadiums that isn’t just recorded sounds. She was so friendly telling us about her career, which dates back to the Metrodome, and she even showed off her skills with some impressive tunes on the keyboard. This was one of the best highlights ever in a ballpark for us!
As the game got going we sat in our actual seats for a short amount of time, as there was so much to see while walking around. One awesome spot is the center field “Minnie & Paul’s” bar, named after the men who define these “Twin Cities” of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Right above here is the iconic statue in which Minnie and Paul shake hands across the Mississippi River that runs through the Twin Cities after every Twins home run in the center of a huge cutout of the state.
From the beautiful skyline of downtown and the Target Center beyond right field to the pristine limestone that Target Field is built out of, this is definitely one of my favorite ballparks, possibly top five. We’ll see official rankings soon!
