Small-town tour

Some of the best summer weekends are due to small town street dances. Its sometimes hard to find out where these are and what weekends, but almost every small town in northern MN and western WI have them around the 4th of July. The best way to find these out is by calling the local city governments of counties. I've been trying to figure out how to get a list of different ones for every weekend one of these summers.

Typically there will be:
-cheap beer
-outgoing crowd of people
-cops drinking with 16 yr old locals
-live music / dancing
-exposed love-handles
-no one you know (which is essential to being crazier than usual)

Last time I was at one of these at a bachelor party, we traded a can of beer for a dog. Luckily we found a someone willing to take it from us at the end of the night.

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Bucket List

It sounds simple, but it is worth it. Just make a list of 99 things you want to do before you die. Make them obscure, but feasible. Then go show it to a friend and tell them to pick one right now and go do it. Next week do the same thing with someone else.





Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Aspiring Stand-Ins

Price $5 (for copies)

Use your computer to make a professional-looking postcard that says something like this:

$500 for 2 days of acting. If you, or someone you know looks like the person below and is roughly 5'10-6'3, please send their picture to (insert an email address that you created just for this purpose). Warner Brothers is shooting a film locally and is looking for a stand-ins. The scene being shot will last 2-3 days and pay $500. We will respond to your email if you qualify for the part.

Word it however you think necessary, but you should get some pretty funny pictures of people that look like your buddy. I'm sure people will write some pretty funny stuff too. All you would have to do is get copies made and post them t coffee shops, libraries, schools, and bus stops.

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Roofball

Price $0 (assuming you can find a soccerm / basketball / football or something)

Usually I play with 3-4 people otherwise it gets a little easy. All you do is find a roof that is a bit over your sight line (a roof where you can't see the actual roof when standing within 6 ft of it or so. Before the game, denote the boundaries on the roof on the left and right. Try to make them somewhere around 20 ft or so (the size of a two-car garage roof). Also, decide an order of who will go after who. One person starts by throwing the ball on the roof. The next person goes by throwing the ball back on the roof while not touching the ground (jumping in the air). Basically you try to keep the ball from touching the ground, by going in order, and jumping in the air every time you play the ball.

When a player screws up, they get a strike. After 3 strikes you are out. Simple? Trust me it gets to be pretty fun once people start figuring out how to get people out. Also, playing with a football makes it a bit more difficult if you think it is too easy.

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Speedball

Price: 0$ (cheap kickballs are arounnd $10-20 but split across 8+ people, its <$7)

Speedball is a game played with 8+ people outside on a football field. I like it because it gives a chance for people that play different sports to compete in something that is nuetral.

The game is played like this:
-two teams line up like you would in basketball or soccer in the middle of the field with a soccerball or kickball in the middle of the field. One team kicks off to start. There are 3 ways to advance the ball:

Soccer-like: The ball is advanced like soccer, except that you may use your hands only if the ball is lifted off of the ground with one's feet or as a deflection off someone's body.

Football-like: Once the ball is in someone's hands, legally, they may pass the ball forward, as in football.

Basketball-like: They may also choose to "airdriblle" which means a player throws the ball in the air, takes a few steps, and catches it again. You can only do this one time before passing it to someone else.

The goal of the game is to score points 1 of 3 ways:

Touchdown: (1 pt) just like football
Dropkick: (2 pts) punting the ball (from a dropkick) through the uprights
Field Goal: (3 pts) kicking the ball (off of the ground) through the uprights

Other rules:
If the ball ever goes out of bounds, it is started again like soccer where one person throws an overhead pass to start the game again.

Bodily contact works like it would in each respective sport. When the ball is on the ground, soccer rules apply, in the air, football rules, and when dribbling, basketball rules.

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Off to the RACES!!! Go Horsey GO!

It's Thursday evening and you don't have anything to do, and you're sick of going to the same bar or just going home to rest. Try giving the horse track a chance. Canterbury park in Shakopee, MN has a great deal on Thursday Nights to provide great entertainment for those that enjoy sports and animals. The race track will grant you access to the park for 1$, allow you to eat hot dogs and nachoes at a 1$/piece, all while being able to place dollar bets on a few horses while they race around the track. If you're not sure what to bet on, just stand around the parade area to over hear some experts picking their horses. Or better yet, be bold and pick the horse with your favorite name... WHO knows, you could pick the big underdog winner and go home with some extra cash. BUCK NIGHT starts on JUNE 16th and runs through AUGUST 25th. So call up some friends and tell them to head out to the races. You'll be glad you did!

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Lightning (Ping Pong Balls)

Everyone sits in a circle at a table. You need at least 2 ping pong balls (the more the better). The game is played just like the basketball lighting game. Place a large glass cup (wide ones are better). Fill is half full of water (this makes ball retrieval easier). One person starts by bouncing their ping pong ball into the center cup. The person to their right immediately starts after they do. If you make a shot, you pass your ball to the left. If the person on your right sinks thier shot before you do, you're out. Once you are out, you drink 1/2 of a beer and another 1/2 of a beer every time someone else goes out. This is why you want to hang on as long as possible.

In the second round, the winner of the previous gams starts and 2nd place sits to their left, the 3rd place sits left of 2nd place and so on.

Price: ~$6 (just beer and ping pong balls)
Location: Indoors anywhere

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Campus Golf (Poor Man's Golf)

Go to any park and play golf with tennis balls and trees. Don't over-think this one.

Price: $0 (just need tennis balls)
Location: Outdoors






Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Mystery Drink

This one is simple. You pour your friend 2 identical drinks each with the same 3 ingredients...anything you want. Your friend gets 3 guesses to figure out all three of the ingredients. If he/she can guess all 3 of the ingredients, you lose and drink both of the glasses. If he/she can guess only 2, you each drink one. If he/she can guess only one or none, then you win and they drink your mix of tabasco sauce, vodka and pineapple juice (or whatever nasty combination you came up with).

Price: $0 - just stuff in your kitchen
Location: At Home













Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Beach Day

Get a couple of friends together. Find your favorite recreational ball and head to the nearest public beach. Pack up the cooler with some ice from the fridge. Grab whatever beer was leftover from the previous weekend(retail value $4). Buy a high quality fruity beverage and just soak up the sun for a couple hours. Great way to get tan and also a good time for you Stags out there to put up a little advertisement to all the young Phillies out there. People love to come together for a friendly game of volleyball and then the best part is you can cool and clean off at anytime.

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

Larpers

"LARPing" is an acronym for Live Action Role Playing. If you have never heard of or witnessed Live Action Role Playing, you are seriously missing out. Its basically where people get in character like someone out of Lord of the Rings, Warcraft, or whatever fantasy storyline you can think of. They have a all-encompssing storyline that individuals are written into and they act the story out in person. I really don't know much about it, so if you haven't seen the movie Role Models, watch the video below for a taste of what you are missing out on.

Price: $0 (to watch) $~ (if you actually want to participate)
Locations: Local Larper Chapters



Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul

St. Paul Saints game

Tickets are $4 for general admission and the food and beer are very cheap. The games are fun, with a lot of side attractions throughout the game in case you're not a baseball fan. Just north of 94 off of Snelling Ave., there is a lot of potential for post-game destinations, as both Minneapolis and St. Paul are just a few minutes away. It’s also a good meeting place when you’re meeting friends who are scattered around the Twin Cities.

Price: $8

Location:

Cheap and fun things to do around Minneapolis/St.Paul