Minnesota- Where the Playas Play

If you know anything about me, you know how much I love my home state of Minnesota.  This post is dedicated to my homeland!  Here are 10 reasons why Minnesota is awesome:


#10- The Drivers
This may sound stupid, but I love how most people drive in Minnesota.  People are super courteous.  If you want to get in a lane, they let you.  You wave, they wave back.  If they're going slow and you want to go fast, they'll move over.  It's awesome.  The cops can get a little strict, but that's there job anyways, right?  Anyways, after being in Utah for a while, I definitely thought that driving should be included in my top ten list.

#9- The Winters
As cold as it is in Minnesota during the winter, there's something you have to love about feeling your snot freeze inside your nostrils.  I don't think there's a prettier place on the planet as Minnesota during the winter.  The icicles on the houses are beautiful, the snow covering everything looks so clean and beautiful.  Plus you get to ski, sled, ice skate, ice fish, and have snowball fights.  Fathers and sons always get to bond while they shovel the driveway.  Crime rates go down in the cities.  And you always, ALWAYS get a white Christmas!  I love Minnesota winters!

#8- Minnesota is Green
My favorite color is green.  And Minnesota gets SO green during the spring and summer.  It is absolutely beautiful.  There are trees everywhere, but not an obscene amount like the south.  The grass is green because there is plenty of water.  There is just green everywhere and I love it.

#7- The Sports
Granted, the Vikings are struggling right now, but I love Minnesota sports, especially the Twins.  Target Field is probably the most beautiful baseball stadium in the US.  Minnesota has teams for every sport.  Vikings for football, Twins for baseball, Wild for hockey, and the Timberwolves for basketball.  I'm not a bandwagon fan, I'm a whole hearted fan no matter what.  I'll cheer for the Minnesota Gophers too, but BYU still has my heart in college sports.

#6- Minnesota State Fair
The Great Minnesota Get Together has and estimated 3 trillion calories in one place.  The Minnesota State Fair is by far the best state fair in the nation.  Everyone takes it seriously, and everyone goes.  Including crazy people.  The food is amazing (everything is fried and on a stick) and all the stuff that is there is so much fun.  It's something that every Minnesotan loves.

#5- Northern Lights
Minnesota is one of the few places in the United States where you can see the northern lights.  I think technically you have to be north of Minneapolis to see them, but you should at least be in Duluth or even more north to see them clearly.  I saw them when I went to boundary waters and they are so beautiful and amazing.  Everyone should come to Minnesota just to see the northern lights.  The pic below was taken in Minnesota.

#4- Mall of America
For anyone who likes to shop, you've probably heard of the Mall of America.  It is a sight to behold.  The place is enormous.  It has about 900 stores and is 4,200,000 square feet.  In the middle there is a giant theme park with roller coasters and other rides.  It is a fun place to hang out and shop.  Just make sure you have a whole day to spend there!

#3- Minnesota is Clean
Since moving to Utah, I realized that I took a clean city and state for granted.  Minnesota is so clean and nice looking!  In the winter, plows are constantly going through the streets dropping sand and salt so it's safer for drivers.  As soon as the snow melts, however, you can bet that there are street sweepers making the rounds.  On the freeway, buildings and industry are carefully planned so that only beautiful buildings are visible.  Ugly factories and industry are out of sight.  Also, on either side of the freeways and roads, there is well groomed grass and other shrubbery.  It just feels different when you're driving in Minnesota.  Everything looks so nice from the plants to the buildings.  And for a big city, Minneapolis is exceptionally nice.  It is well kept and for the most part, very safe.

#2- Business and Prosperity
Minnesota is the home to many big companies.  Some big name corporations that have their headquarters in Minnesota are:

-PepsiAmericas- The business end of Pepsi
-United Health Group
-Target
-Best Buy
-Dairy Queen
-SuperValu
-General Mills
-Malt O Meal
-3M
-US Bank
-Hormel Foods (invented Spam)
-St. Jude Medical
-EcoLab

And the list goes on...  Even Fortune 500 companies know where it's at.  Also, the Nut Roll was invented in Minnesota.  That's gotta count for something.

#1- The Lakes
Minnesota is known as the Land of 10,000 lakes for something!  The lakes in Minnesota are absolutely beautiful.  Everyone spends time at the lakes during the whole year either wake-boarding, swimming, fishing, ice skating, duck hunting, etc.  Water is everywhere and it keeps things green.  There's tons of wildlife because of the lakes.  I love Minnesota lakes!

This is the boundary waters canoe area on the border of Minnesota and Canada.

This is Lake Superior, the biggest of the Great Lakes.  Notice that you can't see the other side of the lake.

This is my lake, Lake Marion.  I grew up riding my bike to this lake all the time to be with my friends.

The moral of the story here is that Minnesota is the greatest state in the Union.  I can't wait to go back!