I’ve been to Minnesota three times—once on a lark in late autumn when an unexpected snowstorm necessitated purchases of gloves and hats, once on a quick business trip to do a press check at a former job, and once as a starting point for a two-week romp around the Dakotas. None of them were long enough to completely immerse myself in the 12th-largest state in the United States, yet they did afford me the opportunity to check out some of the state’s more than 10,000 lakes as well as its striking architecture. Read about the top five buildings in Minnesota >