Valentine’s Day rolls around with a plethora of expectations to put onto everyone. You have to be in love, if not, you have to have a gathering with all your girlfriends and celebrate being single or friendship. However, if you’re broke, the demand that you do something can be stressful!
Fear not though, there’s plenty to do without spending too much in the Twin Cities area. Just the forethought you put into picking a place and organizing how to get there will be the perfect date. If you can spare it, provide snacks and a heart-shaped balloon and you’ll be rom-com worthy.
If you want, pick one spot to go before you settle in for a Netflix binge or hit all of them in a row for a fun-filled spree.
1. Marvel at a Waterfall at Minnehaha Falls
While it seems like a summer thing to go see waterfalls, the iced over Minnehaha Falls is a winter beauty meant to be witnessed. Bundle up and head over to see the water breaking through ice and snow alike.
2. Lace Up and Skate
Drive a bit out to Maple Grove for (nearly) free skating that’s perfect for going leisurely along side by side.
The new ice skate loop out in Maple Grove features a lighted, refrigerated ice loop that’s 20 feet wide and curls around 810 feet long in a path the weaves around lit trees.
The use of both options is free, but ice skate rental does cost money, only $6 per rental. The rental is available from 4:00 p.m to 9:00 p.m on Tuesday. There’s also a fireplace and nice restrooms at the facility open until 9:30 p.m.
3. Warm Up at Como Conservatory
After being out in the cold, the heat of the conservatory is amazing. The conservatory is only open from 10:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m, so make sure you don’t miss them while their open.
Until March, the featured flower show in the Sunken Garden (which changes for seasonal shows) which has a blend of purple and red plants. Specifically, Cyclamen, Pansies, Viola, Cineraria, Amaryllis, Primula, Azaleas, Camellias, Primula, and Veltheimia.
Once you’re warm, there’s always the Como Zoo too where you can take in sea lions to snow leopards to giraffes all while holding hands to fight off the chill!
If you are having your Valentine’s Day date on a day other than February 14th itself, the conservatory has Sunday live shows of music that would be an extra special event. February 5th, before V-Day, features Sister Tree, a duo with folk music inspired by Americana and February 19th, after features The Bad Companions, a rock quartet with guitars, a standing bass, drums, and vocals who perform country, blues, and R&B tunes.
4. Read Each Other Poetry at the Minneapolis Central Library
Often overlooked, Minneapolis’s first public library was renovated in 1961 to a large, modern design (for the time). Besides housing books, as most libraries do, it has a rather extensive collection of public art from artists like Malcolm Moran, William Saltzman, Jeanine Guncheon, Wing Young Huie, Phyllis Wiener, Jakob H.F Fjelde, Jerry Ott, and many more.
If you’re musically inclined, take your romance up another notch and reserve the Anna M. Heilmaier Piano Room for an hour and play your loved one some beautiful music.
5. Wander and Look at Some Art Together
Whether you’d like to go to the University of Minnesota’s Weisman Art Museum (open 10:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m on Tuesdays) or the Minneapolis Institute of Art (open 10:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m on Tuesdays).
Weisman Art Museum focuses on twentieth-century American artists (like Georgia O’Keeffe and Marsden Hartley) and ceramics and other contemporary art.
The MIA features a larger range of art focused on portraying diverse world cultures. They have over 89,000 artworks from six continents.
If none of the options around the area appeal to you, fear not. There’s still the option of ordering in a pizza and binging on Netflix, I promise that I won’t judge you for it.
