Random Minnesota Stuff 2024

Here's some stuff from our Minnesota trip that didn't make their own post...

We went out for brunch on Father's Day. Across the street was this amazingly large sporting goods store called Scheels. They have a ferris wheel and a fish tank archway! At the end of the trip, our kids rode the wheel.

Indoor ferris wheel

Putting the "aqua" in aqueduct?

Getting off

Next to our hotel for the first night is a large conference center called Earl Brown Heritage Center. The property was originally a family farm. It was bequeathed to a university in hopes that it would become a teaching farm or agricultural extension. The university wasn't interested and sold off the land. It eventually turned into a sprawling conference center that retains some of its farm roots.

Farm-like entrance

Not many farms have fountains

Entrance by the big parking lot

An odd bit of decoration

Questionable blend of farm and electronics

At least they have some livestock wandering around

We went over to Chanhassen to scope out the neighborhood and get dinner at a brew pub. We got their a little late and most of the brew pubs were closed for Sunday afternoon, even though it was Father's Day. 

One claim to fame there is a large dinner theater complex where we wound up having dinner (at their pub, not with a show). After that, we went over to another claim to fame--Prince's Paisley Park Studio. We were too late to get in there, too, so we took some pictures from outside.

The way is blocked!

The studio complex

The next day my father-in-law and I took my son to Concordia Language Village just outside Bemidji, Minnesota. He's studying Spanish so the village (where they spend a month speaking only Spanish) has a hispanic flavor.

Approaching the village

Spanish-language countries?

Checking in

Going to the dorm

The plaza

Main room

Saying farewell for the month

Grandpa and I drove back through Bemidji where we saw a famous site. Northern Minnesota is Paul Bunyon country and they have a famous statue of the giant lumberjack along with his faithful companion, the blue ox Babe. 

I am the shorter one

Not far away is a statue of Chief Bemidji, the native for whom the town got its name. 

The chief and me

On our way back south we stopped at Zappy's Cafe in Akeley. The food was really great but the service was even better. Look at how many tater tots that came with my burger!

A great meal

My wife and I went to have dinner with a cousin in the area. We walked around their neighborhood and took some pictures.

My wife and her cousin

Me and the missus

Playing in the community game room

On the last day, my wife and I had some time to explore on our own. We went to visit the Capitol. In the area is a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. The bluff has some Native American burial mounds and educational displays.

Info on the burial mounds

An airplane guidance tower

Another view of the mounds

Nearby is a geocache that requires a ladder! We did not have a ladder.

Can you see it?

Maybe next time

We went to lunch (without the kids) to Yoerg Brewing Company, the oldest beer-maker in Minnesota. They first opened in 1848 (ten years before Minnesota became a state!). They brag about their "cave aged" beers. The current pub serves hundreds of beers from across the world but no IPAs, since you can get those anywhere (at least, that's what the proprietor said). 

Yoerg Brewing Company

I tried a flight of beers while my wife sampled a local root beer.

Five beers in one sitting!

From left to right above, Yoerg's Beer is a steam beer, which is a lager-style that is brewed in heat rather than cold-brewed; Yoerg's Roggenbier is a rye beer with a nice flavor like a hefeweizen; Westmalle's Dubbel is a Belgian-style bock beer with a rich flavor; Gulden Draak's Tripel Dark is a tripel beer (also Belgian) that has an even richer, nutty flavor. Left to right was also my preference for these beers, the tripel was definitely the best of many good drinks.

I had the Austrian kasekrainer (a cheese-filled sausage) and soft pretzel for lunch. Sauerkraut comes as a side along with a pickle and Dusseldorfer mustard.

Yummy

We decided to get dessert since they serve cheesecake made by nuns(!). I picked another beer off their extensive menu, the Doppelbock Oak/Smoke by Brauerei Heller-Trum in Bamberg, Germany. The malt is smoked-kilned with oak wood giving it a smooth and smoky flavor. I am a big fan of Lapsang Suchoong tea (which has a lot of smoky flavor), so this was delightful to me. The cheesecake was good too.

Beer and cheesecake

The whole experience was quite delightful. We will definitely come back here on our next trip.

The quiet interior on a Thursday afternoon

Geocaching Minnesota June 2024

We made a trip to Minnesota in mid-June and did a lot of geocaching while there (thus it gets its own post).

Near Adams Hill Pond, we didn't find one by the shore of the pond since rain had raised the water level well past the geocache. Nearby, we found Insert Creative/Punny Name Here in a tree. Also nearby is Farmhouses of Richfield - John McCabe House, which is a nano in the neighborhood of the original house from the 1850s (though clearly the owners have made additions over the years).

Farmhouse with additions

Then we found New Years - LPC since it was near a restaurant where we were having Father's Day Brunch. We showed some friends where the geocache was to get them hooked into the hobby. The next find was near our hotel. Earl Brown Heritage Center is a virtual cache on some farm land that had an airport but is now a conference center. The center retains the rustic image while having a lot of high tech stuff. It was a bit frustrating for us because we had to walk all the way around the conference center to make the find--we were unable to cut through the middle!

A turkey wandering around the center, +1 for farminess

Look of a farmhouse, another +1

Electric sign and glass doors, -many points!

Nearby is a multi-cache found in the local library. The library was still open, so we were able to find Brookdale Library cache inside one of the book. We asked one of the librarians for help, but she was on loan from another branch and didn't know about the geocache!

A library hide!

We drove over to Chanhassen to look around and make some finds. The local post office sponsors two caches with puzzles based on the bank of P.O. boxes, PO Puzzle Series - Chanhassen (Mystery) and PO Puzzle Series - Chanhassen (Multi). We worked our way through an Adventure Lab and its final mystery cache that toured some historic buildings in the town. 

The 1800s train depot

One of Chanhassen's claims to fame is that the musician Prince lived here and set up a recording studio. We visited the studio, which was closed. Nearby we found MN Music: Paisley Park Studio and Purple Rain, both in walking distance of the studio. 

Paisley Park Studio

After driving far north in the state, we visited Tall Tales - Virtual Rewards 2.0. We were in Bemidji, which is the home base for this guy:

Famous locals and me

The park with the Paul Bunyon statue also has the traditional cache BecidaGang#1 not too far away. I needed a traditional to fill a calendar day, so it was a very helpful find.

In between Bemidji and Saint Paul we found Follow Lexie to the Letterbox, a challenging find because we ran into some woods that had clouds of insects in the air. The find was traumatic but successful. I took no pictures because of the conditions. Much easier and at a playground, The Ponds OGCP was an easier find and had something to keep my youngest occupied.

A fun outdoor experience!

At another playground park I found two cache, My lost ball and Pervade. I only got a picture of the ball field from the cache.

View to the ball field

Later in the day, we went down to Elk River where I found MNSQ: Saint Andrews Cemetery, an intriguing multicache, and Ridgewood East Park that had the coolest little free library I have ever seen. It is an amazing replica of the front door from Fellowship of the Ring movie. When you open the door, the Hobbiton theme music plays. 

The road goes ever on and on

Bag End

A peek inside

In Cambridge, Minnesota, I found Smell good for church which was full of wasps (so I didn't sign it) and Turkish Delight by the local library, which had an awesome container.

Somewhere in this picture

Further south I found another Prince-themed cache: Purple Rain - A Tribute to a Music Legend. It was a Wherigo cache with a few locations and trivia questions that required some internet research to answer. The final find for the day was Tanner Cul-De-Sac in the neighborhood of our cousins.

The OG Dancing Gophers

Cousins

On our last day, we found the Wherigo Hasta La Vista, Baby, a Terminator-themed challenge that only required two internet searches. Later, we found Indian Mounds Park Overlook, an earthcache by a Native American burial site.

View is better in winter?

Our finale in Minnesota was the Adventure Lab Murals and Art of East 7th Street. We were unable to find the bonus cache since it started raining. See our rundown of the murals here.

We ended the trip at 1314 cache finds, a nice addition of 34 caches.