Q: I’m going to be visiting Minneapolis with two teenage girls who haven’t spent a lot of time in a big city and am wondering which skyscrapers have public observation decks.

A: Despite an abundance of skyscrapers, the only public observation deck is on the 30th floor of the lovely but relatively shrimpy Foshay Tower (now a glam W Hotel).Tickets are $8 for the general public, $5 for seniors. Children under the age of 12 are free. Other great places in Minneapolis to take in gorgeous vistas include the views of the Mississippi River and St. Anthony Falls from the Mill City Museum and the Guthrie Theater’s Endless Bridge. For a great view of downtown, head to Thomas Beach on Lake Calhoun.

Q: My family and I would like to spend some time this summer at a family camp. Can you suggest one?

A: Family camps — traditional summer camps that are open to the entire family — are a great vacation option for families who enjoy the outdoors and the inherent hokiness (think skits and “repeat after me” songs) that comes with the summer camp experience. Several Minnesota children’s camps offer  family sessions in addition to their regular programs. But when it comes to camps that are devoted solely to families, the best known and loved is Camp du Nord, on Burntside Lake outside of Ely.  Run by the YMCA of Greater St. Paul, du Nord hosts sessions throughout the year. Their extremely popular summer sessions are filled by a lottery in the dead of winter, but the camp’s website shows they still have openings, especially at the begining and end of summer. Please note that some of those sessions take place before the full-team of counselors — whose grace and wit are the hallmark of the du Nord experience — is in place and that there may not be as many organized activities as there are during the peak of the season.

According to the Minnesota Climate Working Group, many of the lakes in the northern tip of Minnesota are still covered with ice. As the state’s fishermen know, that won’t be the case for long and we can now start to think in earnest about our longed-for summer getaways. We love Burntside Lake outside of Ely, home to YMCA camps and classic resorts such as the iconic Burntside Lodge. We especially love Camp Van Vac, a rustic resort that keeps to the simple traditions of a bygone era. Get into the spirit of the place with this video. 

My family couldn’t afford to go away for spring vacation. Our solution? My kids and I communed with the Mississippi River by checking into the Aloft Hotel in the Mill City neighborhood of downtown Minneapolis for one night.  Expedia told me that the hotel was within my price range. Little did I know that the place is a kid paradise, with a lively lobby scene (board games, lots of flat screen TVs) that made us feel more than welcome. My kids loved the Guthrie Theater’s public areas, including the Endless Bridge and the glass floor in the theater’s 9th floor lobby. We strolled on the Stone Arch Bridge and walked around the neighborhood. I wanted to visit the Mill City Museum but was overruled in favor of the hotel’s indoor pool.  ”I feel like I’m in another state,” my son Peter said from the hot tub. An enthusiastic endorsement if there ever was one.Did the recession change your family’s plans for spring break? What did you do?  

First comes a deep sigh. Then, “We are sad to say that due to the bad economics that are going on, the Historic Anderson House has had to close its doors.” So says the recorded message at the telephone number of the Wabasha hotel, known for its abundance of cats. Built in 1856, it had been the oldest operating B&B in the state until it closed recently.

I only stayed at the Wabasha hotel once, but it was, as they say, a night to remember.

I’d fled from a hearby loud rental house squeezed between a working railroad track and a busy street, knocked on the locked door of the Historic Anderson House and was delighted when the front desk clerk, who was closing down for the night, welcomed me in. She suggested I stay on the second floor — people checking for ghosts occupied the top floor– and offered a cat to keep me company. I wasn’t visited by apparitions, but the plump cat did its part to interrupt my sleep; she wanted to sleep on my head. I viewed this as a sign of affection and found it sweet rather than annoying.

I’ll hold fast to the final sentence of the recorded message: “Hopefully one day you will be able to come back again.”

I’m fresh from a weekend in Grand Marais, where I warmed up with decadent pesto-shrimp pizza and succulent short ribs at Chez Jude on Friday night. As I scooped up the last of the sage ice cream (delicious, a play on mint), I picked up this little nugget: Judi Barsness, proprietor and chef of Chez Jude, treats guests at Bearskin Lodge on the Gunflint Trail to her cooking on weekends. For Chez Jude neophytes: Barsness creates a changing menu based on what’s fresh and available nearby and what’s growing in her garden out the door (or what was grown; the sage of the ice cream came from her own crop). No surprise she took an internship with a kindred spirit, the famed Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., a few years back. Chez Jude is open through February 15; the restaurant opens again for the summer season on Mother’s Day weekend. Barsness will be cooking at Bearskin throughout the winter season.