kayaking the minneapolis lakes.

In this occasional series, I’ll show you around where I live, work, play and swimbikerun – Minneapolis / Saint Paul, Minnesota. I promise it’s not winter all year!

One of the things I love most of MPLSTP is that it doesn’t always feel like you’re in the city – from running the Mississippi River bottoms (or paralleling paved path… my favorite route!) to hanging out on the chain of lakes. In fact, the chain of lakes – Cedar, Isles and Calhoun, with adjacent Harriet – are smack in the middle of Minneapolis (through breaks in the trees you can even see the downtown skyline). And, in the summer, it’s the place to be for volleyball, walking / running / biking, sunbathing, relaxing on the beach and water recreation. 

During a post-race recovery day last summer, Nick and I rented kayaks from Wheel Fun Retails and spent a quiet afternoon kayaking around the chain, soaking up the sunshine. The perfect afternoon escape – topped off by coffee + puppy dog tails (and all the frosting!) from Isles Bun & Coffee.