Originally, my trip to Minneapolis was supposed to be a family vacation – with the Minnesota Twins (who opened up their new stadium this year) and the University of Minnesota (in the second year of their new venue) actually hosting Northwestern on the same weekend. The Ultimate Sports Wife and Ultimate Sports Baby were supposed to attend. But, that all changed when the Ultimate Sports Wife was asked to be “honorary coach” at the Northwestern football game three weeks ago vs. Illinois St. Since she teaches skating on Saturday mornings she could not miss both that Saturday and this Saturday for the Northwestern and Minnesota game. Thus, I was on my first “night off” since Dylan was born.

I took an early afternoon flight from Chicago to Minneapolis since I needed to work in the morning. I landed in Minneapolis around 2:30 pm and rented a car for the day. I drove straight to downtown Minneapolis as I planned to attend the Minnesota Twins game. I found a parking lot for only $5 for the evening. But, that rate did not start until the clocked turned to 4:00 pm. So I waited three minutes before pulling into the parking lot since entering at 3:59 pm would charge me for each hour I parked.

Pre Game Dining
After parking, I still had to wait for a friend to arrive by 5 pm. So I headed over to the Depot Tavern located at 17 North 7th St. – a place I saw when cutting out of the pre-nuptial dinner of a wedding I attended over two years ago when heading to a Minnesota Lynx game at the Target Center.

After The Depot Tavern I met up with my friend who wanted to meet at MacKenzie’s (located at 918 Hennepin Ave). The only problem with MacKenzie’s was that we did not have a taste for any of the food they were serving.

So we left and ended up at O’Donovan’s Irish Pub. We ordered the appetizer special $4 fish bites. This is a must order since it is very similar to the more expensive fish and chips.

Beg, Borrow and Deal
I bought a ticket for $5 – face value was $13 (which I believe is the season ticket holder price). I was not too concerned about where the seat was located since I planned to sit in most areas of the stadium so price was my main concern.

Toronto Blue Jays at Minnesota Twins
Target Field is a beautiful new ballpark. One cool feature is the beer vendors outside of the stadium as you approach the ballpark. It makes for a good meeting place since you can grab a drink and wait for your party.

The Blue Jays were held to two runs until the eighth inning when Carl Pavano was replaced with Jesse Crain and Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run home run to give the Blue Jays a 6-2 lead and ended up winning the game 6-3.