Minneapolis Archives - Thrifty Minnesota

Free Ink Day at Highpoint – Saturday, March 23rd

March 21, 2019 by Laura W Leave a Comment

Are you artistic, or perhaps you want to be and keep searching for that creative part of you? Even if you’re not artistic, it’s still fun to try new things. Everyone can be creative!

This Saturday is the chance to do some hand-on printmaking and creative fun. Highpoint Center for Printmaking is located in Minneapolis, and just three times a year offers its “Free Ink Day”. If you’re curious what it is about, the next one is coming up this Saturday, March 23rd from 12 – 4 pm.

What is Free Ink Day?

Three times a year Highpoint invites the community to an afternoon of hands-on printmaking and creative fun. At these free, public events visitors of all ages can drop in anytime during the afternoon to make unique, hand-made artwork. All materials for the planned activity are non-toxic and supplied by Highpoint (while supplies last), and no registration is necessary – just drop in, bring your creativity, and be ready to get inky! Staff and volunteers will be able to answer any questions along the way.

Filed Under: Events, Minneapolis

Minneapolis Convention Center Parking Discount

March 16, 2019 by Laura W Leave a Comment

There are so many amazing events that happen downtown in Minneapolis and St. Paul, but I’m a suburb girl and I get squeamish when I think about traffic and parking. Whenever I venture downtown, I try to figure out parking in advance so that’s one less hassle to deal with. Can anyone relate?

Right now you can get a Minneapolis Convention Center Parking Discount when you find your parking ahead of time through Groupon. It uses ParkWhiz so you can reserve your spot in advance and know you at least have that covered.

To get started, visit Groupon and select your date and entry/exit times. The website will show the available parking facilities along with the distance from the Minneapolis Convention Center and any available ratings. When I booked my reservation, they automatically gave me additional hours since they wouldn’t cost any extra!

Once you’ve made your purchase, you’ll just need to scan your parking pass at the entry gate, park in any space not marked “reserved,” and scan your parking pass again at the exit gate when you leave. Easy peasy!

Upcoming events at the Minneapolis Convention Center include:

Twin Cities Auto Show – March 9th through 17th
Progressive Insurance Northwest Sportshow – March 21st through 24th
E-Bike Challenge – March 23rd and 24th
The Wedding Fair – March 31st
NCAA Final Four Fan Fest – April 5th through 8th
and lots more!

Filed Under: Events, Great Deals, Minneapolis

Kids at the Castle at American Swedish Institute: Over & Under the Snow

March 13, 2019 by Laura W Leave a Comment

Are you looking for something to do with the kids this Friday or Saturday? Bring them to the Kids at the Castle event taking place at the American Swedish Institute. Admission is only $8 for the entire family, which is a nice price break from the typical $12 for adult admission.

Kids at the Castle: Over & Under the Snow
Friday, March 15, 2019 – 9:00am to 10:00am
Make a morning playdate at the Castle!

Also on Saturday, March 16, 9-10 a.m.

Mark your calendars for the third Friday and Saturday of every month for this action-packed, kids and family creative playtime. For an hour before the museum opens to the public, families can join us for circle time, storytelling, crafts, visual play, and music inspired by the season.

Suggested for ages 2-5. Adults must accompany children.

Cost:
$8 per family. Registration not required.

Intergenerational Dance Hall™ with Kairos Alive!
Saturday, March 16, 2019 – 10:00am to 11:30am
Join us at ASI for an Intergenerational Dance Hall,™ an all ages and abilities dance party with Kairos Alive! Everyone is welcome at this free family-friendly event, which includes dancing, live music, and storytelling. Local band Carluster Crumplebee Orchestra, a hot club swing group, will be playing for the event.

Kairos Alive! is a social impact organization powered by the arts that transforms lives through dance, music, story and research.

Please email [email protected] for further event information. Learn more about Kairos Alive! at www.kairosalive.org.

Cost:
Free; no registration required

Filed Under: Attractions, Events, Kids, Minneapolis

Family Fridays at the Wedge and Linden Hills Co-op

March 13, 2019 by Kristi Leave a Comment

Bring the kids to one of the upcoming Family Fridays at the Wedge and Linden Hills Co-op. These fun events take place the third Friday of each month. The next one takes place March 15th and the one after that is April 19th. The indoor fun happens from 10-12, it’s FREE and no registration required. Some of the activities include:

Crafts
Music
Dance
Activities are tailored to ages 6 and younger, but all ages are welcome.

A little bit more about the March 15th event:

Families with preschoolers & toddlers join us this Friday and let’s sing 🌷Spring🎶 in with Hopewell Music Cooperative-North! Hopewell will be leading music time with singalongs, dance, and simple instruments🥁! And our friends at Minneapolis ECFE will be doing craft activities, like face painting, produce prints and pipe cleaner crafts🎨! So let’s play, dance, create & have fun at Wedge Table from 10 a.m. -12 p.m. this Friday!

Filed Under: Events, Kids, Minneapolis

Fallout Shelter Arcade (Minneapolis) – Up to 52% Off Virtual Gaming

March 12, 2019 by Laura W Leave a Comment

Here’s a unique experience for any gamers in your life – check out Fallout Shelter Arcade in Minneapolis and enjoy some virtual gaming! Right now you can save on your gameplay with this Groupon offer: pay $15 for four missions (reg. $30) or $27 for eight missions (reg. $56).

Each mission is 10 minutes long, and you’ll play in the Podbay which features 12 sleek, retro-yet-futuristic Virtual World Tesla II cockpit simulators. Fallout Shelter Arcade is located at 451 Taft St NE, Suite L4 in Minneapolis. Hours are Thursday 5 – 9 pm, Friday 5 – 10 pm, and Saturday 1 – 7 pm.

With no exaggeration and without a sliver of hyperbole, it’s a stone-cold fact that there are no other arcades like Fallout Shelter Arcade. It’s a rare place where gamers can be completely immersed in virtual realities without typical gaming distractions such as noisy roommates, infringing house cats, or dayjobs, or even light itself. That’s all due to Fallout Shelter Arcade’s distinct attraction: The Podbay. Like something out of a gamer or an Air Force sergeant’s dreams, The Podbay features 12 sleek, retro-yet-futuristic Virtual World Tesla II cockpit simulators (the only cockpit simulators of this kind in all of Minnesota). They look like pods you’d learn how to fly a Harrier with, escape from an alien spacecraft in, or survive an alien attack in…but they’re being used for a much greater purpose: making the video game experience as awesome as it can possibly be.

Games hosted by the Pods include Battletech, in which players become one with a thirty-foot tall, 75-ton walking tank and blast the kablooey out of other podding gamers. The other pod-perfect game is Red Planet, where you control a Vectored Thrust Vehicle (VTV) across the terrain of a Martian mining canal, racing other VTV’s through narrow corridors, and occasionally playing games of Space Chicken with oncoming aircraft. The expert staff, known as Mercs, are always on hand to help out rookie pilots and find new challenges for hardened virtual air-jockyes, and Fallout Shelter’s pay-per-play gaming hours help first timers quickly earn their virtual pilot’s licenses.

Get your Groupon HERE!

Filed Under: Attractions, Great Deals, Minneapolis

Wordplay Festival

March 12, 2019 by Kristi Leave a Comment

You may have heard about the Wordplay Festival coming to the twin cities in May. The festival is being advertised as Minnesota’s Largest Celebration of Readers, Writers and Good Books. Although the festival is not until May 11-12, the advance ticket sales start this week. You can find the schedule and more information here on the event website.

**Wordplay registration will open to Loft members* on Thursday, March 14 at 10 a.m. and to the general public on Friday, March 15 at 10 a.m. *You must be a Loft member by Tuesday, March 12 at 5 p.m. in order to receive the pre-sale email invite (which will be sent around 10 a.m. on March 14).

Some more specifics about the festival:

The Loft’s Wordplay will launch in May of 2019 and aims to be Minnesota’s largest celebration of readers, writers, and great books. Imagine a weekend full of famous authors and celebrated books; a weekend of readings, conversations, workshops, kids’ activities, demonstrations, and one-of-a-kind happenings with outdoor stages, cooking stages, book signings, quiet reading corners, boisterous parties, food trucks, beer tents, and books, books, books.

Minnesota has one of the most celebrated literary communities in the country. We are rich with presses, locally owned bookstores, author events, writing classes, and great writers. We are perennially ranked one of the most literate communities in the country. A community like ours deserves a celebration like Wordplay.

There will be something for every reader at Wordplay. Whether your book club reads literary fiction or paranormal zombie romance, whether you get your books at your library or on your e-reader, or even if the last book you read was a movie, this festival will be for you. Wordplay’s mission is to celebrate the ways in which people connect to and through words and welcomes anyone who shares a belief in the connective power of story.

Filed Under: Events, Minneapolis

Sensory Friendly Sunday Events at the Walker Art Center

March 8, 2019 by Laura W Leave a Comment

The Walker Art Center has joined other museums and venues by adding some Sensory Friendly Sunday Events. Sensory Friendly Sunday, held on the second Sunday of each month, is a free event for kids, teens, and adults with sensory processing differences, autism spectrum disorder, or developmental disabilities.

From 8 am to 11 am on the second Sunday of the month, the galleries will be closed to the general public, allowing visitors to enjoy the museum in a calm environment with accommodations such as quiet spaces, noise-canceling headphones, and sunglasses available. Experience the Walker’s exhibitions, participate in a new art-making activity, or watch a short film. They do ask that you register in advance.

Save the dates!

May 12

June 9

July 14

August 11

September 8

October 13

November 10

December 8

Filed Under: Attractions, Minneapolis

Bachman’s Spring Ideas House

March 5, 2019 by Kristi Leave a Comment

Spring is a great time to update a few things. If you need ideas, the Bachman’s Spring Ideas House starts this week and offers countless ideas (March 7-April 7). The home is located next door to the flagship Bachman’s store in south Minneapolis.

The small admission fee of $5 allows a self-guided tour and all slots are booked in 30 minute increments on the half hour. (Each ticket includes a coupon for $5 off a $25+ Bachman’s purchase). This year’s theme is Spring in Bloom.

A few more details about the idea house event:

Fresh décor ideas spring to life this season! Schedule a self-guided tour of Bachman’s Spring Ideas House to welcome a new season with bright hues, inviting florals, and a refreshing array of green and blooming plants. Find inspiring ideas for revitalizing your own home’s décor and incorporating nature’s vibrant beauty throughout.

20% of Ideas House admission proceeds benefit Friends of the Institute – a volunteer organization of members of the Minneapolis Institute of Art dedicated to supporting, enhancing, and sustaining the collections, programs, and influence of the MIA

Filed Under: Attractions, Events, Minneapolis

Discovery Days at the Bakken Museum

March 2, 2019 by Kristi Leave a Comment

If you’ve never been to the Bakken Museum, it’s a place to put on your bucket list. Tucked away in Minneapolis, in a residential area. We’ve been to it several times and have enjoyed it each time. After one of more recent visits, one of our daughters decided to write about Earl Bakken for a class project.

Discovery Days are specific themed events at the Bakken. The next one is coming up on March 9th and the theme is Women in Science If you cant make it then, perhaps another event or time will work for you.

About the Women in Science Event:

Saturday, March 9th

Ask questions! Experiment! Learn about careers you didn’t event know exist!

During Discovery Days: Women in Science, youth, families, and adults are invited to meet women working in the STEM field doing everything from conservation biology to genetics. The day will feature hands-on activities and education opportunities included with the cost of museum admission.

This event is all ages.

Girl Scouts in uniform get $2 off admission.

Members of The Bakken Museum receive free admission

Adults: $10
Seniors and Students 13-24: $8

Children 4-12: $5
Children Under 3: FREE

Filed Under: Attractions, Events, Kids, Minneapolis

Bird Watching: Beginner Basics at Kroening Interpretive Center

March 1, 2019 by Kristi Leave a Comment

Even if we have more snow than we prefer, we need to remind ourselves that there are some great, year-round hobbies to do in ALL types of weather. Birdwatching is free or at least a thrifty hobby, depending on if you want some fancy binoculars.

Tomorrow, March 2nd you have the chance to learn about this hobby. Join others for the Bird Watching: Beginner Basics at Kroening Interpretive Center. The free event takes place from 4-5:30.

About the Beginner Bird Watching event:

Curious about bird watching, but never knew how to start? Come learn the basics of watching birds. Find out how to use binoculars and strategies for getting a closer look as we hike the park, keeping our eyes and ears open for our feathered friends. Binoculars provided. Directions and information can be found here.

FREE for all ages.

Filed Under: Events, Minneapolis, Parks