Monday, August 11

Big Stone Mini Golf looks like it has it all. You want putt-putt? Check. Feel like a sculpture garden? They've got that too. You'd like to pet some farm animals? As you wish. Feel like roasting marshmallows or playing Checkers? Go for it! Apparently, it's even a hot spot for professional graduation and engagement photos. OK, there's no evidence of a bouncy house on site, so I guess they don't have it all, but it sounds pretty unique. I found the website difficult to navigate but, near as I can tell, Big Stone is open daily from 11 am until sundown, and costs $7 for each child and $8 for adults. The reviews I've read make it sound like it's worth the money and the drive to Minnetrista. As Sheryll from Boca Raton, FL wrote on YELP, it's "The most funnest place in the world!"

Tuesday, August 12

In 1925 Henry Ford built a plant in St. Paul on the banks of the Mississippi. A drop in the river at this spot allowed for the construction of a hydroelectric plant to supply the requisite power for assembling his Model T's. Construction on Lock & Dam #1 had also been completed on the Minneapolis side of these falls just eight years earlier. A self-guided tour of this Lock & Dam affords views of the Ford Dam, Ford Bridge and the power plant. If you're lucky, a ship will come through one of the locks while you're on the observation deck. Unfortunately, you won't be able to see the plant as it once was. The last Ranger pickup truck rolled off the line three years ago, and the Ford plant is currently under demolition.

Wednesday, August 13

Normally an invitation to enjoy stories, songs and something called "fingerplays" wouldn't hold my attention for very long, but I think these fingerplays are going to be about llamas. I find llamas kind of fascinating, and not just because they are one of the few things that rhyme with pajamas (along with Obamas, commas, and mamas), but I still don't really want to sing about them. Here's the hook: As a part of all this llama drama (there's another one!) the Excelsior Library is going to have LIVE LLAMAS at Manor Park in Shorewood at 10:30 today! I don't know if we'll be able to pet one, but there's sure to be some photo ops. It might even inspire a llama diorama (Boom goes the dynamite!). Afterward, indulge in an ice cream cone on the lakeshore in Excelsior or take a ride on the Excelsior Streetcar Line.

Mixing art with mini golf? It works for Big Stone!

Thursday, August 14

The Walker Museum hosts the 3rd Annual Internet Cat Video Festival tonight for free. YouTube videos of cats are irresistible as it is, but watching them as a communal experience borders on transcendental. Maybe that's overstating it a bit, but I bet it's like watching fireworks except that instead of oohs and aahs you hear lots of aawws! The videos roll at dusk, but the event runs from 6-10 pm with live music, face painting and an animated photo booth available before the cats take center stage. Much in the same way that everybody is Irish on St. Patrick's Day, everyone's a cat person on this night.