The closest I've been to Minnesota is Michigan. I have relatives in the Detroit area, more recently moved to the Lansing area (to get away from the crime, islamicization, and a few years prior to the entire collapse of Detroit that occurred).

I was amazed how flat the Detroit area is, very much like Florida in that aspect. It's funny, because I have a great sense of direction, but in Detroit I was lost until I discovered the Detroit river. I'm a coastal guy, and once I found water, I could guage everything in proximity to the river!

There was a part of downtown Detroit that was like Planet of the Apes, seemingly abandoned buildings with all the windows smashed out, and not a person in sight. It was like a hundred years after a nuclear war, the Abandoned City. A few hours later, I told my aunt where I traveled, and she turned pale. She told me if I got a flat tire there, they never would have found my body.

The NAACP was having a convention there, it was an overwhelmingly black city. There's a downtown area near city hall that was actually quite nice, called "Greek Street" with a lot of nice places to eat. Once you got a hundred yards away from that, it suddenly became a dangerous neighborhood. Driving out through there, one could feel the burning hatred in the eyes of black residents, just driving through there. Not a place I'd care to visit again.

The best part of Detroit for me is it had a lot of good and well-stocked comic book stores. I completed my 70's runs of BATMAN, DETECTIVE, SUPERBOY and SUPERMAN while I was there. And I'd say I paid at least 30% less for these issues than I would have in South Florida shops. I filled a short box with my new purchases, and carried it on the plane with me. That was 1989. Post 9-11, I don't know if I could carry a box of stuff on the plane with me like that.

It was late July/Early August when I visited. In line with what you said, I woke up one morning and it was 40 degrees outside. I thought: "What is this, it's JULY!"
In Florida there's maybe 14 days in the coldest part of the year where it gets down to 40 degrees. And usually on a clear day without clouds, it warms up to 75 or 80 by noon.

July in Michigan was quite a jolt for me.