Okay, I'm shamelessly cribbing from my 2005 MSP proposal, just to throw something in the ring. If people want me to follow through and get more info, please let me know.

Minneapolis Update:

I've concentrated on the downtown area, as that is the place that has the best hotels with the most to do and the best public transport.

Hotels range from $109-159. I've put in a request for a group bid, but I've not gotten the information yet.

Public Transport

The Light Rail runs between the Mall of America/the airport and downtown Minneapolis. Light Rail and buses are the same fare - $1.25 for 2.5 hours ($1.75 weekday rush hour) - and go all over the Cities.

Taxi rates are reasonable, but taxis can be difficult to find once you're out of the Downtown area or the airport. They are all over Downtown.

Eating and Drinking

There are restaurants everywhere. All kinds of restaurants, from the hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese soup place to three Irish pubs within spitting distance of each other to good Tex-Mex to barbeque to Thai to chi-chi American to French.... I can easily go on. One of the best places to go for food is along Nicollet Aveune just out of Downtown. It's called "Eat Street", and it has, well, everything.

There are also bars everywhere. Prices are middle-of-the-road - bottled domestic beer, $3; vodka tonic, $5; specialty martini, $8. This will naturally go up or down, depending on where you go.

Shopping

Holy moley, is there shopping. Minnesotans love their shopping, especially at a discount (no sales tax on clothing!). Hence, I offer you:

The Mall of America and The Albertville Outlet Mall.

There is also a heck of a lot of shopping downtown, including the two-level Target.

But wait! There's more!

Other attractions include:

The most live theaters outside of New York City
A ton of galleries in downtown
The Foshay Tower
The Sculpture Garden
The Walker
Minnesota Zoo
Valleyfair
Ground Zero, home of Bondage A Go Go (meara's been there)
Psycho Suzi's - awesome tiki lounge
Ike's Food & Cocktails

St. Anthony Main, home to the historic mills (aka Pillsbury, Golden, etc.)
Mill City Museum
Fort Snelling
An extensive park system, with trails all around the city.
Steamboat rides along the Mississippi
Uptown
The Quest - the club formerly owned by Prince
Speaking of the Purple One, Paisley Park
Central Avenue

Airline Prices

Booking early is best, as NorthWest likes to screw people over if it can. Current prices are ranging from $200 - $400.

Weather: Average high for early May is 72 degress, average low is 50. It's generally pleasant late spring weather - mostly sunny, a few showers.

I will be happy to provide more in-depth information as requested.

DC was also the year I overheard the bartender on his cell phone. "No man, you should see this! There's tiaras--yeah, for real. And not just the women. And corsets--man you would NOT believe. And a guy in a skirt, and people running around in leather and those feather scarf things. I'm telling you."

I thanked him on his way out of Prom. He grinned, really wide. "No.Thank YOU."

Okay, is that enough appetite whettage for the moment?

DC - my first F2F! and the Buffistas came to ME! - was the one where we had people sticking their heads in and asking rather wistfully if they could join.

A note for Epic and anyone else trying to get around DC this weekend - they're doing work on the Metro Center platform, which means there will be significant delays on the red, blue, and orange lines. sigh.

Thanks, Todd. That will effect our day some - the red at the very least.

Vortex, have we got any plans yet, or are you gonna have to use the whip?

Vortex, have we got any plans yet, or are you gonna have to use the whip?

I think that we're going to have to use the whip. I think that the majority can make dinner on Friday, on the lateish side, 7-7:30. One thing that we didn't think about is that it's Restaurant Week, so a lot of places will be booked.

who's in for dinner on Friday?

Oh, crap, I really want to come to the F2F now. I'm all Nostalgia Girl. The Prom! Tiaras! I even have a couple of nice evening dresses RIGHT HERE! OMG, and I could totally get something else tailor made in time, if I wanted to!

Conceivably I might be able to wrangle another date, although probably not. But conceivably. In my favour I've not had any sick days so far. But... well. We'll see how it goes.

who's in for dinner on Friday?

We're in if we can get there in time. Teddy needs his capsule at 6:30. After that, it's at least 30-45 minutes to get downtown, if we're lucky.

I'm not able to attend anything before middle of May, but will live vicariously through y'all and pictures if it tkes place before then.

June would be much better for me. Don't know if I could even do before then. It would depend on the dates. But, the later in the calendar, the better.

but will live vicariously through y'all and pictures if it tkes place before then.

And this. I can always look and drool. I'd probably do that in person anyway.