I recently took a short trip to Minneapolis/ St. Paul and in addition to touring the twin cities, I checked out a couple of their amazing bookstores.
First up was Wild Rumpus located on an unassuming street in the Linden Hills neighborhood in Minneapolis.
This children’s bookstore was named Bookstore of the Year for 2017 by Publisher’s Weekly and it’s easy to see why. It’s a small, but welcoming space packed with interesting books, displayed artfully and often accompanied by thoughtful recommendation cards written by the staff. With its fanciful decor, a special child-sized door, and cages filled with live animals (ferrets, rats, snakes and more) this store is a treat for book lovers of any age to visit.
Next, we headed over to St. Paul to visit Garrison Keillor’s Common Good Books.
You may recognize his name from the radio program A Prairie Home Companion, but this story-teller always dreamed of owning his own bookstore and has created a comfortable and engaging space. There were so many interesting books; I added a bunch of their staff picks to my reading list. Common Good Books hosts frequent author talks and other events and I was disappointed I wasn’t in town long enough to check one out.
Lastly, we headed over to the Commodore Bar & Restaurant for drinks and appetizers.
This beautifully restored art-deco building was once home to F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda as well as housing a speak-easy that he was said to frequent. There are no books here, but plenty of old photographs to look at while you sip a craft cocktail and pretend that you are hanging out with Gatsby.
Anyone else include visits to bookstores in their vacation plans? Let me know what your favorites are!
