Sorry, but traffic is going to be awful Thursday

It's going to feel like rush hour all day Thursday, thanks to a series of major events throughout the Twin Cities.

There are baseball games on both sides of the Mississippi River — the Twins take on the White Sox beginning at 12:10 p.m. at Target Field while the Saints play the Winnipeg Goldeyes at CHS Field at 7:05 p.m.

Over on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis, the Gophers open their football season at 6 p.m. under new head coach P.J. Fleck. But the party (and traffic snafus) start much earlier than that, when tailgating opens at 2 p.m. Beware of congestion around Oak Street, too — there's a pregame celebration in the front plaza and lawn of 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Then there's a Vikings preseason game versus the Dolphins at 7 p.m. at U.S. Bank Stadium, also in Minneapolis. Tailgating begins at 4 p.m.

And, of course, there's the State Fair. Which brings us back to the Gopher football game — you're going to have to find another way to get to the fair if you usually park at the U.