Heading to St. Paul, Minnesota

[Wendyloo]

Any suggestions for places to go and places to eat? I have a four year old who loves an adventure!

 

[pink_fins]

If you are going to the cities this weekend.... you can do what we are doing..
go to the St. Paul museum.... they have a pirate exhibit... (google it) or the zoo. they have a great one there...
Don't know anything about the food stuff....

oh... maybe your child is too young for it ?

have fun

gail

 

[IUTBAM]

We are heading to the St. Paul area next week as part of a two week road trip to visit family, friends and our old stomping grounds. My kids grew up in the southern suburbs of St. Paul, as we lived there for 8 years. We moved away in 2004, but go back every few years to visit.

I'm not sure how long you plan to stay, but a trip to the Twin Cities isn't complete without a stop at the Mall of America, according to my kids:


http://www.mallofamerica.com/home

I'm sure your 4 year old DD would love eating at the Rainforest Cafe there. I also recommend the Minnesota Zoo:

http://www.mnzoo.com/

the Como Zoo (it's free, whereas the Minnesota Zoo is not):

http://www.comozooconservatory.org/

and the Science Museum of Minnesota:

http://www.smm.org/

If you have time to take a day trip, drive south on Highway 61 (along the river) to the town of Kellogg to visit Lark Toys (it's about an hour from St. Paul, give or take). It's an adorable toy shop/vintage toy musem/bookstore/snack bar with the most amazing hand-carved carousel you have ever seen. It's a must-do every time we visit, and when we lived there, we drove down there at least 2-3 times a year:


http://www.larktoys.com/

We also enjoy going to Stillwater to walk around the cute Main Street area.

http://discoverstillwater.com/home.php?gclid=CK6ng9DC7rACFcqe7QodVm1oWA

About 20 minutes north of Stillwater is the town of Center City, and there's a little shop there called Eichten's that has a cute gift shop, a restaurant, and a herd of buffalo. It's another must-do for us:

http://specialtycheese.com/

When we lived there, my absolute favorite restaurant to go to was in Woodbury (a suburb on the east side of St. Paul) called Champps Americana. It's a sports bar, but is very family-friendly. We ate there several times a month for 8 years, and NEVER had a bad meal. Their spinach artichoke dip is legendary, and I'm already drooling at the thought of the "Ellie's Pasta Salad" I plan to have when we go. Delicious!

http://www.champpsmn.com/woodbury/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49&Itemid=54



Hope that helps. Have a great trip.

 

[crisi]

At four both Como Zoo (which is free) and the Children's Museum are good stops. Fort Snelling is quite cool for kids a little older than yours, as are a lot of the other Minnesota Historical Society sites (Mill City Museum) but a four year old probably wouldn't be engaged. There are lots of kids rides in the Mall of America amusement park.

A four year old may enjoy swimming in a Lake - there are lots of public beaches in the Twin Cities. I used to like the one down on Lake Nokomis (which is Minneapolis, not St. Paul). In St. Paul I think Como Lake has one, Phalen almost certainly does. Bring some bread if you head to a lake, feeding ducks is great fun when you are four.

As to eating, it depends what you like - I live close to Champps and have eaten there once - never to return - its not the sort of place I enjoy at all, not the sort of food I like. We frequent the Indian place and the sushi place in the same strip mall, though.

 

[Aidan's Mommy]

Not sure when you're going, but the state fair is also a lot of fun (at least it was when I lived there)...I don't know when it is scheduled either, so it may have already happened, but I believe it's in July or August.

 

[crisi]

Not sure when you're going, but the state fair is also a lot of fun (at least it was when I lived there)...I don't know when it is scheduled either, so it may have already happened, but I believe it's in July or August.

Its the ten days that end on Labor Day.

 

[spacemountainmom]

You've gotten some great tips. I will add one more...

Como Park has a new pool area that recently opened. It's getting great reviews.

I would really agree with taking your dd to the Children's Museum downtown. She is at a great age to enjoy it. My kids are in their teens now, but we had some great days there. Both the Como Zoo and MN Zoo have had recent improvements and are worth visiting.

I live just east of St. Paul and can offer some additional restaurant tips. What kind of food are you looking for? The Champps suggested by a PP is good, some consider it a little on the spendy side. If you like pizza/italian, Donatelli's in White Bear is very good and was on Diners, Drive ins and Dives. It's also priced a bit on the high side.

I could give you a better idea of food places if you want to note what direction that you're coming from and how far out you want to drive.

I hope you and your daughter enjoy your visit.

 

[auralia]

We always liked valley faire amusement park when we were kids. I believe it's a cedar park. My dd loved the mall of America specially the flume.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

There's a ton of great restaurants in St. Paul.
Chatterbox
The Happy Gnome
The Muddy Pig
I second Donatelli's - it's about 20 min from downtown St. Paul

The children's museum is great fun for young kids. The Science Museum is really great - both Como and Minnesota Zoos are good. Como is free (donation requested) and has a little carnival ride area. You have to buy tickets for the rides. The Como pool is new this summer.

I live near Stillwater - we love it! Lots of cute shops, along the river. Good restaurants there too. We enjoy a bar called the Mad Capper. Kids are welcome and they have yummy burgers.

You may want to check and see if there are any events at the Xcel Energy Center or River Center, the arenas in St. Paul.

Were you thinking of venturing to Minneapolis? There's a lot of cool stuff there too. Lakes, museums, shopping, Twins baseball...

 

[rhiansmom]

We also enjoy going to Stillwater to walk around the cute Main Street area.

http://discoverstillwater.com/home.php?gclid=CK6ng9DC7rACFcqe7QodVm1oWA

About 20 minutes north of Stillwater is the town of Center City, and there's a little shop there called Eichten's that has a cute gift shop, a restaurant, and a herd of buffalo. It's another must-do for us:

http://specialtycheese.com/



.

I work in Downtown Stillwater and it's a fun place to explore in the summer.

If you eat at Eichten's this weekend there is a good possibility you will see me or a member of my family as we are having our wedding rehearsal dinner there Friday night and having lunch there before the wedding on Saturday. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this place!

 

[jessrose18]

great restaurants on grand ave in st paul as well. Check out cafe latte, bread and chocolate, axels, pizza luce, dixies on grand or saji ya. Also very popular ice cream shop grand ole creamery. We also love Grandview Grill for breakfast food, great cafe.

I second the childrens museum for a 4 year old, lots of fun. I have been to the new pool in como, it was really nice. I dont know children price but adult is 6.50 and it has a large pool, a childrens area with childrens slides and water fountains, a lazy river, a zipline, and a rock wall that you can jump off and a snack bar inside. I enjoyed my day there opens at 11, got really busy around 2 pm. I was playing softball at the fields there last night when it was 97 degrees and the place was still packed at 7pm!

 

[shruley]

I think everyone has covered where to go. Not much else around! As for where to eat, where exactly in St. Paul? I second Cafe Latte (so good) and everyone in our family loves Pizza Luce. Champps is ok, but I don't think any different than tons of other sports bar chains. Izzy's Ice Cream Cafe! Punch Pizza if you like traditional Neapolitan pizza. Brasa is on grand is good for something different. There are also some fun places for kids at the MOA. Our girls love Cadillac Ranch for some reason, which makes DH happy because he has a thing for this kettle chip appetizer he has to order every time we go there. Crave is also pretty good as well.