A Musical Bookish Overnight Trip
a concert and bookstores in Minneapolis
I have told you again and again that I’m trying to pack in ALL THE FUN this summer, and I managed to kick things off right away my first weekend of the summer.
First up was the volunteer gig at a fundraiser for the local nature center, and I managed to land the BEST. SETUP. EVER. I was assigned to sit and monitor the exit of our paid parking to ensure no one tried going in the wrong way ~ meaning I got to sit in a camp chair. Outside. For 5 hours. By myself. And read. And I was being helpful at the same time! It was exactly the blissful sedentary solitude I needed after the nonstop action and chaos of the last week of school, and I got read almost an entire book. What a treat.
On Sunday early afternoon, the 8th grader and I headed to Minneapolis for an overnight adventure, and we had the BEST TIME!
To start things off, I decided to take the scenic route ~ one that I had never driven before. We headed north on The Great River Road on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River, and I’m so happy I decided to take this route. Definitely not something to do if you’re in a big hurry, but I loved having water next to us the whole way, and I got to see little river and lake towns I have never visited before.
We got to Minneapolis in time to check into our hotel and read for a bit before heading out to walk to the concert venue, Surly Brewing, which was only a ten minute walk away. I always try to find hotels within walking distance of venues if at all possible! This was my first time in this area of the city, and it was delightful.
Surly Brewing Festival Field is such a neat venue ~ it’s an outdoor festival area (standing only) with numerous food and drink options, as well as additional food trucks. One thing to note is that if a show here is labeled 18+, they do NOT mess around. I’m so glad I read the notes about this ahead of time because they really did insist on seeing L’s birth certificate for her to enter with me.
We skipped the openers, and stood in line for a LONG time to get Minnesota Nice Cream at their food truck inside the concert grounds ~ I probably wouldn’t have done this on my own, but when traveling with a younger concert attendee, things like this are important!
And then … Caamp!!
I love this band, and my girls indulge my infatuation by listening to their music and attending shows with me. The last time I saw them was when the oldest and I saw them open for The Lumineers at Wrigley Field! Their newest album came out just two days before the show, so of course we listened nonstop to prepare.
I loved that it was an early show, so we could enjoy hours of musical fun, but we were back to the hotel a little after 9:00 ~ time for MORE READING!
We slept in a bit on Monday morning, and then it was time for … BOOKSTORES! I had been wanting to go to Louise Erdrich’s store, Birchbark Books, for years and years and this was finally my chance. I had a few more stores on the agenda as well, so off we went.
Birchbark Books
This is an iconic indie bookstore because of its famous author, its unique collection, and it being the setting of one of Erdrich’s books, The Sentence. I love this book so much.
The store is small, but has an amazing collection of books by and about Indigenous peoples and culture, as well as other excellent picks that highlight justice. They also have a lot of Indigenous art that I want to go back to explore.
From the Birchbark Books website:
Aniin! Boozhoo! Han and Hau! Welcome to Birchbark Books. There is no one like us in person, and no one like us online. We are not owned by a corporation; we are not part of a chain. We are that increasingly rare thing—a tiny independent bookstore.
We exist to keep real conversations between book lovers alive. We exist to nourish and build a community based on books. We are a neighborhood bookstore, and also an international presence. Our visitors come from Minneapolis-St. Paul, from every U.S. reservation and Canadian reserve, and from all over the world. We are different from all other bookstores on earth!
We are a locus for Indigirati—literate Indigenous people who have survived over half a millennium on this continent. We sponsor readings by Native and non-Native writers, journalists, historians.
When I shop at a specialty store such as this, I focus my purchases on the specialty topic. On this trip I found an amazing selection of adult and middle grade fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novels that I’m excited to tell you about when I read them!
Next up we headed to a store I didn’t know much about, but found on Google Maps …
Moon Palace Books
Moon Palace Books isn’t quite as themed as Birchbark, but there is a very strong queer-friendly vibe that I loved. I decided to (mostly) focus my purchasing at this store on queer titles, which was VERY easy to do!
I found amazing graphic novels that I have been eyeing up for ages, and some adult nonfiction and middle grade fiction that I can’t wait to dig into. Oh, and STICKERS. So many amazing stickers! This store is BIG and so well-curated - L and I took a long time exploring it all.
Sadly, the next store on my list, Tropes & Trifles was CLOSED on Mondays - alas. We were all set to head there from Moon Palace when Google Maps alerted me to the fact that they might be closed … and they were. I had checked their hours ahead of time, but not DAYS. Whoops.
I’m heading back to Minneapolis soon for yet another concert, and we might be able to squeeze in Tropes & Trifles then ~ I’m very dedicated to eventually making it to this romance bookstore!
Do you have any other Twin Cities bookstores I need to visit? PLEASE let me know!
Whew, that was a lot to tell you about, and this was only the very first weekend of summer!! Stay tuned for more adventures …
Thanks for stopping by!
