School is out and summer vacation takes its place. Your mind is no longer muddled by daily assignments, monthly projects and school organizations. No, you’re thinking about ice cream, camping, lake beaches, sand pit volleyball, summer softball and lying in the sun.
Aside from your summer job, you’re free from any other constraints and it’s time to embrace adventure. Here are six places or activities all Minnesotans should visit and do for a great summer vacation.
1. Outside sports game near you
If you don’t have a lot of money or time to travel, going to a softball, soccer or lacrosse game near you could provide great entertainment with minimal effort from your end. Run to the concession stand, grab a hotdog, plop down on the bench and inhale the smell of fresh cut grass, dirt and junk food around you. Whatever sport you prefer, pick your team, cheer and get yourself emotionally involved with the game. Feel your excitement rise and fall as the team fights for the win.
2. Taylor Falls
If you want to take an adventure and explore nature, but don’t want to travel far, take a hike at Taylor Falls. There are various trails that vary on experience and difficulty and every way you look you are surrounded by the vibrant colors of towering trees and the rolling river. Walk a ways, and you’ll find yourself hopping across Taylor Falls and climbing up the rusty, brown cliff face.
3. Duluth
If you like to shop, eat at lakeside view restaurants, climb across rocks and hike or watch massive ships come in, Duluth is the place for you. In Duluth, you can walk to the lighthouse and watch the freight ships take in their shipments. You can visit the ship museum or the aquarium to learn about the boats that have shipped across the lake or the fish that reside under the murky water. Drive a few miles away, and you’ll find yourself near Gooseberry falls where you can hike, picnic and explore.
4. Stillwater
For a variety of boutiques, handmade and one-of-a-kind products, delicious chocolate and a town rich in history, travel a few hours over to Stillwater. An old logging town and the birthplace of Minnesota, Stillwater is a great place to visit. You can take a trolley around town to see the old victorian buildings that rich owners of logging companies gave as gifts to their children and rundown houses that the loggers lived in during work season. On the trolly ride you also learn about the beginning of the logging industry in Stillwater and establishment of the whole town as the business began to boom. Along the streets of Stillwater, people mill in and out of boutiques and restaurants, including an old and traditional ice cream shop, down the street from a well known and loved chocolate shop. Just an hour out of town is the sculpture garden where large, abstract pieces of art litter acres of open land—including a house in shambles, suspended in the air, a playground made from recycled piece of metal, a towering sculpture made of boomboxes.
5. Mini Golf or Arcade near you
In Coon Rapids, Minn., alone there are two great destinations. Lilly Putt is a mini golf course surrounded by a small go cart track and bumper boats. Grand Slam is an arcade complete with batting cages, a medieval themed mini golf course, bumper cars, laser tag and classic arcade games. There are various other places like those in Coon Rapids that anyone could reach to go and have a good time.
6. Boating
In the land of 10,000 lakes, take your boat out onto a lake near you and take advantage. Go tubing, fishing,swimming, have a picnic or just enjoy the scenery. Gawk at the expensive lakeside houses and wish you had one. Do whatever floats your boat.
Now that summer is here, grab your bag, throw in a bottle of sunscreen and sunglasses and start your vacation adventure.
