Such a neat nature preserve! It feels like a hidden gem! I wouldn't have know about this place, but…read moreluckily a friend brought me here a couple of months ago! Then just recently, I brought a friend here. There are trails and plenty of picnic spots! I like getting local takeout or coffee, eating and catching up with a friend, then walking the trails. (While eating we enjoyed seeing plenty of cute dogs)! It's also a cool place to get creative with portrait photography! I'll definitely be back

This is a great place to walk around and enjoy the sights and sounds of Minnesota nature and not…read morehave to go too far from the city. It's also a free park with plenty of amenities so you can't beat that. Trails are very easy to traverse and the loops available you could do a very short or moderately long walk (or run, bike, whatever). There is a small lake you can walk over if water is your thing and lots of birds and deer. The Discovery Center does have events every so often, so check the website for a calendar of what's happening.

I have visited Maplewood a handful of times within the last few years. Whenever I visit the Twin…read moreCities, there's always something new for me to discover. Maplewood is no different. My first visit was over a year ago. It was a frigid January day. I hibernated in Maplewood Mall for a few hours and had the best time. I was originally there for FYE, but loved seeing a huge carousel smack in the middle of the mall, along with shopping at Kohl's and Macy's. I returned recently to shop and continue being a tourist. Both activities are enjoyable. Maplewood is known for being the headquarters of 3M. I love 3M products, from tape, to Command strips for hanging practically everything on walls. You can only get tours inside the 3M Innovation Center if you either work there or are an invited visitor. I did a exterior self-tour on Sunday. The campus is massive, as is the main headquarters. Maplewood has a lot of trees and parks. When it's warmer, I'd love to check them out. I'll be back! (55)

I have lived in both Manitoba and Minnesota. Both places have a West St. Paul…read more This review is for West St. Paul in Minnesota. West St. Paul is a suburb of Saint Paul. It's located south of Saint Paul and west of South St. Paul. I probably spend more time in Saint Paul as a visitor these days for a few reasons. When I lived in Rochester and drove up to the Twin Cities, I spent a good chunk of my time in Minneapolis. These days, as a Minnesota Wild fan, I take in games at Grand Casino Arena in Saint Paul. It's nice that I've been able to discover Saint Paul and its suburbs. I enjoy getting healthy shakes and teas whenever I'm in Saint Paul. A few years ago, I found a nutrition club in West St. Paul. It was okay, but it didn't wow me. A few years later, The Bar Nutrition would take over that nutrition club's location. I love getting shakes and teas that have little to no sugar. Staff are super friendly. West St. Paul has a lot of bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and parks. The public schools in West St. Paul are highly rated. Shopping is great in this city. Burlington comes to mind. A couple of weeks ago, I was briefly in this city just after I had arrived at the airport. I needed to get some cash and visited a Bank of America. I like a suburban, casual city. West St. Paul is such a city. It's cool. (140)

Not to be confused with that one raincloud that always hangs over the twin cities, manages to skip…read moreMPLS, and inevitably, always, Wets Saint Paul. Weirdly enough it doesn't really seem to be west of St Paul but more kind of South and kind of a little bit West. It's not a bad little suburb and it can have kind of bad traffic sometimes or be hard to get around but at the same time there's some good stuff here in the ways of food and it's a nice little area to live in for sure.

Not a large hiking area, but you can venture off onto other trails...or go down to the river to…read morecool off. There is a nice vista near the Railroad bridge, but the tracks are still being used SO STAY OFF.

I recently visited Oakdale for the first time. I was there to visit a food truck at Cub Foods. I…read morethen spent some time checking out the water tower and Target. Oakdale is on the eastern end of Saint Paul. You can technically drive eastbound through Oakdale to head over the Wisconsin border. I didn't get that far with my visit, but it's cool to know that you can. This city has a suburban feel. I dig it. It has everything you need, minus the traffic jams. Oakdale is known for being the headquarters of Glassbridge (formerly Imation). It's an investment and asset management company these days. When it was Imation decades ago, it was a spinoff of 3M. Back then, its focus was more on traditional data storage (magnetic tape and optical products), and secure storage for data backups and more. 3M isn't all that far away from Oakdale. I'm sure that many employees commute from Oakdale. My visit was brief, but I enjoyed being here. It was nice discovering a new part of Saint Paul. (89)

I frequent here a lot for building permits for work. I also have worked with the City of Oakdale…read morefor a long time as a director of baseball regarding fields and play softball at the fields by the city. The police department is attached and they protect Oakdale well.

Viking Lakes Markets is a super cute weekly pop-up! Don't be fooled by the event name - these are…read morehappening right now in Summer (June-July)! Each week has a theme (rock garden, ladies night & puppy night have been my favs so far). I love seeing all the small vendors that range from clothing to Swedish dishcloths to makeup to beverages! Coco's Heart Rescue is there with adoptable dogs, too! Everyone is so friendly. The campus is well kept and nice to walk around; there's even a museum inside (separate hours though). Restrooms available on premise as well as refillable water bottle stations. I wish there were more food trucks & food vendors available. I noticed that vendors rotate somewhat each week, so maybe more food vendors will rotate in, too! So far I've purchased: Switchel from Hobby Farmer Canning Co. Kettle Corn from Mabel's Funny cards from Made Well Done Mocktail/Cocktail Mixes from Summer Lakes Beverages {23}

Hudson is a super nice place to visit while on vacation if your playing the tourist or even a local…read morecoming over for the weekend. There's a ton of little shops and a paces to eat, you might even find somewhere to call your favorite stop in if your a repeat visitor.

This is a cute little town. Sort of like a smaller Stillwater. They have a nice little main street…read moreand the parks on the waterfront are probably the single best thing here.

This is a very interesting piece by a husband-and-wife team, Andrea Myklebust and Stanton Sears,…read morethat have worked collaboratively on large scale public art projects for about 30 years. They are both professors of art at Macalester College, St Paul. It is located in front of the The Penfield Apartments and is constructed among some very nice and well maintained landscaping. I am not familiar with the Penfield, but by the looks of the exterior, I am sure it is high end. They made the piece in 2004. It consists of a few pieces. First it features a statue known as the Spirit of the Mississippi River. It is a very nice piece that depicts a golden statue of a young teen holding something between both hands extended out from the body. It is perched high above a tall pedestal made of iron. The pedestal has some grated sections and other sections have shapes such as fish and stars cut outs in them. They emit a beautiful color-changing LED light at night. It is very nice. It is situated on top of a cement pedestal with a bronze plaque with its title and the name of the artist. Another piece of this project are six iron benches that are in the shape of tank mail slot or tank tracks. Right under the top section of the bench is also color changing LED bands. On the end opposite the statue is an iron wall that has randomly placed color-changing LED lights and just adds to the project. This is a nice project that surprisingly has not got a lot of press or acknowledgement. I wish I had its backstory and a better understanding of its symbolism. It is defiantly something to see and I suggest seeing it at night to get its full effect. You cannot miss it. I love the LED effects of all the projects pieces. There is metered street parking available within a reasonable walking distance that you can park at and get a closer look. Anyway, as with most murals that I have visited and reviewed, this is not a very long stop. I was there less than 5 minutes. You may want to consider planning out additional stops at many of the other attractions or making this stop part of a larger itinerary to maximize your time and trip.

These are just a handful of interesting benches. They're adjacent and across the street from Pedro…read morePark.