Summer fun: Be a tourist in your own town

Here's a great way way to savor the last bit of summer (and save gas, too):

Get your calendar and pick a vacation day to be a tourist in your own town. Set your itinerary, pack your camera, sunglasses and wear something that makes you feel like you’re from out of town—maybe a t-shirt emblazoned with your city’s name. On this day, only do things that a tourist would do (e.g. don’t do laundry or cook from home!). Inspire others: post your ideas of what you plan to do for your at-home vacation as comments on this blog.

Here are some of the "tourist dates" our family has gone on:

-Take a "penny walk". You'll need two pennies. Start at home, flip the pennies; if the pennies don't match go straight; two heads go left; two tails go right. Do this everytime you arrive at a corner. You may end up walking in a couple of circles (but hey, doesn't that help you feel like a lot tourist?). It's fun having no idea of where you'll end up. See everything with fresh eyes and stop to enjoy some of the places your pennies bring you (a park, a beach, a little shop, a different neighborhood...). Don't let yourself get too lost to return home!

-Spend the entire day at Como zoo instead of buzzing through in a couple of hours. See every animal. Arrive early to get good seats and catch the Sparky show. Picnic and treat ourselves to ice cream novelties. Watch the giant tortoises long enough to see them move about and have their snack. Wander the conservatory, pick out which flowers are our favorites. Walk through the Japanese garden and ask to see the Tea House. Maybe even go on the old fashioned merry-go-round or some of the new rides at the adjacent amusement park.

-Leisure about at a waterpark on a really hot day. Arrive early and leave late. Go down the big waterslide a million times or so until a stranger points out that you wore through your swimsuit from sliding down so many times (yes, this actually happened--luckily I had a big towel and a spare swimsuit!). Get gigantic freezees that melt before we're even half-way through eating them, making a mess that is easily remedied by hopping into the pool.

-Nature hike to Minnehaha Creek. Look at everything as though we haven't seen it countless times before. Spend hours looking for fish and then trying to catch crayfish in a tiny container. Watch it for a little bit and then let it go.
-Walk over to Minnehaha falls, view it from every angle and take pictures.

For more ideas of touristy things to do, visit your town's tourism website. In Minneapolis, it is: http://www.minneapolis.org/

How will you spend the day as a tourist in your town? Post your ideas as a comment to this blog for others to enjoy!