President’s Day Weekend Locations to Explore in MN

Minnesota has plenty of indoor and outdoor locations to visit over the upcoming President's Day weekend.  Jake Juliot from Explore Minnesota joined me on WJON to highlights some options.

Top indoor attractions for President’s Day weekend

MAKE A SPLASH AT MINNESOTA'S INDOOR WATER PARKS

Minneapolis-St. Paul

More than a dozen hotels and resorts have water parks of varying sizes. Great Wolf Lodge in Bloomington near Mall of America features a massive, 75,000-square-foot indoor water park complete with five thrilling, all-ages water slides. Great Wolf Lodge also offers a kiddie splash zone, surfing simulator, lazy river, an interactive four-story water fort treehouse and an interactive water slide for your entire group with dazzling lights and music.

The Venetian Waterpark at the Holiday Inn & Suites Maple Grove will transport you and your family to your own mini Italian city. The themed water park features two four-story water slides, a wading pool with splash zones, mini slides and water sprayers and an activity area with water basketball. The kids will also love the large arcade filled with video games.

Central Minnesota

In Alexandria, Big Splash at Arrowwood Resort boasts a 38,000-square-foot area with three four-story waterslides, an inner tube ride, a 500-gallon splash bucket and children's play fort.

Baxter has multiple indoor options including the Paul Bunyan Waterpark at the Arrowwood Lodge at Brainerd Lakes, which features 30,000 square feet including a four-story body slide, tube slide, zerodepth entry pool, lazy river and more.

At Thumper Pond Resort in Ottertail, the Northern Hideaway Indoor Water Park features two three-story water slides, lazy river, an activity pool with basketball and volleyball, and a zero-entry activity pool for toddlers.

The Holiday Inn Express & Suites has Three Bear Water Park with a tube slide, body slide, 1,000-gallon splash bucket, lazy river and more. The Comfort Suites Rapid River Lodge features a splash area, indoor heated pool, lazy river and two large slides.

Northeast Minnesota

In Duluth, the Edgewater Hotel & Waterpark is a 35,000 tropical family-friendly oasis with a thrilling fourstory body or tube slide, 300-gallon splash zone, Minnesota’s first vortex pool, a 400 foot lazy river, arcade, mini golf and more.

Northwest Minnesota

In Thief River Falls, the Seven Clans Casino’s indoor water park offers 40,000 square feet of fun for the entire family, including four large water slides, a lazy river, hot tub, and swimming pool. For younger children, find three miniature slides, a wading pool with sings and a splash pad.

Indoor Playgrounds Open All Year Round

There are plenty of options for playground fun indoors. In the Twin Cities area, towns including Maple Grove, Eagan, Edina, Chanhassen, Ham Lake, Minnetonka and several others have indoor play spaces that range from standard to spectacular. Most charge a daily fee of $4-$9 per child depending on the location; babies and parents are usually free. Elsewhere in the state, similar play areas can be found in Winona, Rochester and Detroit Lakes.

Another great way for kids to stay active year-round is at Minnesota's children's museums. In St. Paul, the Minnesota Children's Museum features a four-story play area called The Scramble, where guests ages 5 and up can take off their shoes and scale the towers, crawl across the netted catwalk and zoom down the twisty slide (there are also tot areas for the littler ones). At the Children's Museum of Southern Minnesota in Mankato, bridges, tunnels, tubes and nets come together to create a giant, climbable tree fort.

There's also a colorful playground inside the Crayola Experience at Mall of America in Bloomington, as well as a Paw Patrol play area inside Nickelodeon Universe (tickets are required for both attractions).

Museums

SPAM MUSEUM, AUSTIN

The Spam Museum celebrates the unique, canned meat product that rose to prominence as a staple for troops and allies in World War II. Spam was invented in Austin, Minn., (“Spam Town USA”) and continues to be made there to this day. The Spam Museum, open daily with free admission, tells the interesting story of how this brand became a global icon. Check out the seven main galleries, Spam recipes and browse the gift shop.

MILL CITY MUSEUM, MINNEAPOLIS

Mill City Museum, built into historic flour mill ruins on Minneapolis’s Mississippi riverfront, tells the story of the flour industry, the river and the city. Take the Flour Tower 8-story elevator show, which is truly explosive. View the film, "Minneapolis in 19 Minutes Flat," co-created and narrated by humorist Kevin Kling. See spectacular rooftop views of the Mississippi River, St. Anthony Falls and Stone Arch Bridge from the observation deck.

THE BAKKEN MUSEUM, Minneapolis

The Bakken Museum inspires a passion for innovation by exploring the potential for science, technology, and the humanities to make the world a better place. Located on the West shore of Bde Maka Ska in Minneapolis, the museum features interactive exhibits for all ages and exceptional STEM education programs. Make movies in the Spark exhibit, meet the mother of science fiction in Mary & Her Monster, and test out some of Ben Franklin's favorite experiments in the Electricity Party Room.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Jake Juliot it is available below.