Your Guide to the Twin Cities in July

Backyard Shows Worth Your Evening

One of the best parts of summer in the Twin Cities is the DIY backyard show scene. The Grand Oak Opry on Goodhue Street in St. Paul has hosted concerts since 2014. Shows start at 7:30 p.m., you bring your own chair and drinks, and 100% of the gate ($15 suggested) goes directly to artists. This July features Obi Original (July 11) and Quietchild (July 18).

Over in Northeast Minneapolis, California Street Farm – a queer, sister-run urban farm – is hosting free "Music on the Farm" residency with LAAMAR and special guests Thursday evenings. The July 16 show features live music from 6 to 7:30 p.m. with a food truck at 5:30 p.m. It's family-friendly, free, and you're literally sitting in a vegetable farm.

The Mess, a music collective, is running $15 shows throughout the month with deep lineups of local acts on July 10, 17, 18, and 24.

Pro tip: Both the Grand Oak Opry and California Street Farm are BYOB. All three series sell out fast, so follow them on Instagram.

Berry Picking Season Is Here

Berry prices have climbed to about five times the cost of bananas today. Pick-your-own farms let your kids eat their weight in fruit for a flat admission fee instead of per-carton markups.

Afton Apple Orchard in Hastings offers picnic tables, a petting farm, and the Berry Barn with snacks and ice cream. Strawberry season runs through mid-July, open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Rod's Berry Farm in North Branch has been family-run since 1981 and is known for sweet strawberries. Season runs mid-June through mid-July, Monday-Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. U-pick strawberries are $3.60/lb.

Little Hill Berry Farm in Northfield is one of the only certified-organic u-pick operations in the state. They grow 14 blueberry varieties across 4.5 acres, with picking running July into early August.

Pro tip: Call ahead, bring your own buckets, and build in a snack break.

The Perfect Picnic Spot

Buy a huge picnic blanket – bigger than you think you'll need. Picnicking under the July sun is no fun, so find spaces with generous, shade-sharing trees.

The Lyndale Flower Gardens has towering trees perfect for families. You can traipse over the flower garden after. Lyndale Farmstead Park is a hidden gem with perfectly shaded rolling hills and is usually fairly empty and quiet.

For a view, check out Ridgway Parkway Park (the Minneapolis Lookout) for gorgeous sunsets over the skyline. Summit Lookout Park in St. Paul offers city skyline views normally obscured by homes.

Pack fresh-squeezed orange juice from the Wedge Co-op, or grab a charcuterie board from South Lyndale Liquors and Market or Surdyk’s.

Brewery Crawl via Green Line

Late last month Bauhaus closed – one of many breweries making tough decisions. But many are still fighting the good fight. All five stops referenced here are within a 15-minute walk of a Green Line station – see if you can guess them!

1. A brewery known for wasting time (actually, for keeping it)
2. Western edge of St. Paul with spacious tap room and award-winning Mayhem & Mischief
3. Iconic Minnesota brewery with patio and New Haven-style pizza
4. A 29-year institution doing something right
5. North Loop spot with Detroit-style pizza worth the trip

ANSWERS:

July is the perfect month to paddle Minnesota's wonderful, nonlethal waterways.

The Apple River in Somerset, Wisconsin lets you float three miles in either a tube or a cattle tank (500-gallon tubs originally designed for cows). River's Edge offers custom tubes designed to hold your cooler.

The Cannon River sits in Minnesota's driftless area with rolling hills and sandstone bluffs. Welch Mill Canoeing, Tubing, & Kayaking handles shuttling.

The Minnehaha Creek flows 22 miles from Lake Minnetonka to Minnehaha Falls. A popular two to three hour route involves putting in at Utley Park Dam in Edina and paddling to Longfellow Lagoon in Minneapolis. Check flow rates on the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District website.

The Chain of Lakes in Minneapolis rarely has long waits for rentals. Paddle from Bde Maka Ska through Lake of the Isles to Cedar Lake and Hidden Beach.

Pro tip: On busy days at the Chain of Lakes, the $15 per hour rental is more like a $15 flat fee.

• July 1: Bird Puppet Parade | Arts At Large
• July 3: CONvergence: Science Fiction Convention | Hyatt Regency Minneapolis
• July 3: Taste of Minnesota | Nicollet Mall & Washington Ave.
• July 4: St. Paul Rotary Fireworks: Red, White & Boom! | Cathedral Hill Park
• July 5: BALLS Cabaret | Strike Theater
• July 6: Bob Dylan | Mystic Lake
• July 8: Father John Misty | Palace Theatre
• July 10: Nur-D | Dakota
• July 10: Death Cab for Cutie | Armory
• July 10: Trader Joe's vs. Aldi Rave | First Avenue
• July 11: Obi Original at Grand Oak Opry | St. Paul
• July 16: LAAMAR at California Street Farm | Northeast Minneapolis
• July 18: Quietchild at Grand Oak Opry | St. Paul
• July 18: Minnesota Wiknic | State Capitol Lawn, St. Paul
• July 10, 17, 18, 24: The Mess Shows | DM for address
• July 25: Lake Street Food Walk | Minneapolis
• July 28: Is Laughter Contagious? | Bryant Lake Bowl