Minnesota in some ways is the quintessential midwestern American state. This land has well over 10,000 lakes and over 6,500 rivers and streams. Verdant farmland and golden pastures frame the western and southern parts of the state with evergreen forests in the north and hardwood or "Big Woods" forests in the East.
Thanks to the great lakes bordering the state, Minnesota has 90,000 miles of shoreline - incredibly this is more than California, Florida, and Hawaii combined. Madison, Minnesota is the lutefisk capital of the United States. Not only does Minnesota lay claim to the country's first enclosed climate-controlled mall, Southdale Mall in Edina, but also to the humbly titled Mall of America, the nation's largest mall (As a sub-category, the MOA also contains the largest indoor theme park, both the first full-service post office and the first accredited university to be in a mall, a wedding chapel, a 1.2 million gallon walk-through aquarium, and 12,550 parking spaces). Also in the World's Largest category for Minnesota are the world's largest pelican (alas, only a statue), the world's largest Paul Bunyan statue, and the world's largest open-pit mine. Minnesota boasts the two northernmost cities to host a baseball World Series, as well as the only facility to host a World Series, a Super Bowl, and an NCAA Final Four. Minnesota is the birthplace not only of Tonka trucks, which are made in Minnetonka, but also of scotch tape, the stapler, Wheaties, the bundt pan, HMO's, snowmobiles, waterskis, and the pop-up toaster.
More significantly, the Mayo Clinic is in Minnesota and remains one of the world's most advanced research hospitals. The University of Minnesota medical facility is the site of the first artificial blood transfusion, the first use of the "deep-freezing" technique for open-heart surgery, the first open-heart surgery, and the first bone marrow transplant.
Despite the cold winter climate Minnesota remains a popular retirement area for residents of the state, though typically there is more movement south than retirees moving north to Minnesota.