Andrea Lahouze

Welcome to our Gym Shorts series, featuring quick tips from Twin Cities fitness pros. We spotlight the people powering our neighborhood studios and motivating us to keep coming back. Know an inspiring instructor? Email us at edit@mspmag.com. What led you here to your current role as a gym owner? I have always been passionate about fitness. I was born and raised in Sandusky, Ohio. I was a gymnast when I was a lot younger and swam through high school and college.

Eduardo Kobra’s five-story explosion of color at 5th and Hennepin in Minneapolis, The Times They Are A-Changin, pays tribute to Bob Dylan across three eras in his career and is among the most photographed murals in the state. Prince is honored in murals and public art all over Minnesota, including an aptly hued mural very near The Purple One’s Paisley Park estate in Chanhassen. In Mankato, Guido van Helten’s 135-foot-tall mural stretches across eight grain silos at the former home of Ardent Mills.

OMC Smokehouse A mainstay in Duluth’s Lincoln Park Craft District since 2017, OMC (Oink, Moo, Cluck) Smokehouse’s barbecue is authentic and bite-off-the-bone delicious. The flavor profile is decidedly local due to the regional sugar maple wood it uses in its smoker, but the menu’s all global, from St. Louis–style dry-rubbed ribs, Nashville-style hot chicken, and Louisiana catfish to Korean BBQ pork belly and Cuban sandwiches. The bar’s got a bevy of local brews, too.