The Flintstone's Theme Park & Campground

Location: Custer, South Dakota
Handicap Accessible: Yes
Kid-Friendly: Yes
Website: www.flintstonesbedrockcity.com

I have no idea why, but I didn't hear about this place until a couple of days before we left for our trip, so we weren't able to experience their camping facilities, however, we drove around the campground and it was very clean and the grounds were well-kept. This theme park is attached to the campground, and if you are staying at the campground, I believe admission is free.

 

Experience the delights of Mt. Rockmore, the lesser-known carving in a "mountain."

 

Walk around in Bedrock, and see the homes of all the beloved characters.

 

There are many opportunities to pose with characters...nerdy? Yes. Awesome? Yes.

 

So the next time you are in Custer, South Dakota, stop by!

The Corn Palace

Location: Mitchell, South Dakota
Handicap Accessible: Yes
Kid-Friendly: Yes
Website: www.cornpalace.org

 

This place was just as awesome as I thought it would be. The entire building is covered in murals made from cobs of corn. I was completely amazed. It takes A LOT of work and time to do these murals and they change the murals every year to reflect a new theme.

 

It is free to go inside the corn palace, and you can learn all about the thousands of ways we use corn in the world. You can even grind corn into cornmeal, which my husband thought was super cool, so here he is doing that, lol. It truly is crazy how many things we use corn for.

 

Also, if you don't have time to visit Mt. Rushmore, come see the Mt. Rushmore mural made from corn...it's almost as impressive :)

 

And then, of course, you always have a chance to act corny (pun intended).

Franconia Sculpture Park

Location: Shafer, MN
Handicap Accessibility: Yes, however, you will be off-roading it most of the time
Kid-Friendly: Definitely!
Website:www.franconia.org

Okay, folks, here it is. My family had their first daytrip for this summer today and we went with my sister and her family to the Franconia Sculpture Park. It was super fun! Even if you're not a big abstract art fan, it is still really cool. The best part for me: the kids could climb on almost every sculpture, so by the time we were done, they were pooped. Score! Anyway, this park is full of amazing behemoth sculptures made by local (and probably some non-local) artists. So below are some pics...enjoy!

My niece, nephew and oldest son posing and looking like some sort of band.

Why, yes, this is a giant wall of stereos...who wouldn't want to see that?

As usual, all four of the kids would not look at the camera when I wanted them to. Notice my son in the wheelchair (a sculpture that is wheelchair-accessible=awesome!!)

Here I am pretending to shoot that tall statue of a deer...

Who WOULDN"T want to play on that? I totally went up there with my kids!

Yes, this is a shed held up by cables on a frame.

 

So, as you can see, much awesomeness is here. So you should go there too!

Free Bowling for Kids All Summer Long!!

Yes, it's true. There are amazing programs all over the United States that have free bowling for kids all summer! Just go to this website: www.kidsbowlfree.com and find the bowling alley near you that participates in this program. You need to register your kids and print something out and bring it with you, but it is so nice! I also think some places don't cover cost of shoe rental, but still, that's a great deal if you don't have to pay for two games!

Old Jail Bed & Breakfast

Location: Taylors Falls, MN
Handicap Accessibility: One of the suites is handicap accessible
Kid-friendly: Not really (but good for adult getaways)
Website: www.oldjail.com

 

One of our most recent trips was to the Old Jail Bed & Breakfast in Taylors Falls. The hubster and I went for our 7th anniversary, so we did not bring kids (yay!). This bed and breakfast is very cool and supposedly haunted...Johnny said he thought he heard someone trying to get out from behind a locked door in our suite (creepy). The suite we stayed in was the cave suite, and it is freakin' awesome! The building was built on the side of a hill and our suite was built into a small cave and it used to be a saloon/brewery way back when. There's also a jail suite which is separate from the main building, but used to be the Taylors Falls jail. We almost stayed in that suite, but the cave suite seemed more appealing to us at the time.

 

If you ignore all of our junk in the picture, it's a beautiful room!

A large jacuzzi tub and a shower is now in the cave part of the suite.

Here's a photo of the bed & breakfast. It's so beautiful! Our room was behind that wreath.

 

Also, we went to Chisago House, which is a block away from the B&B, for dinner, and it was so good! I had the best burger ever, and Johnny had their buffet and loved it! There are also a couple of cute little stores on the main drag that would be fun to check out if you stay there...



Boring!

Location: Boring, Oregon

 

So for those of you who have caught on what a weirdo nerd I am, you can see why I'm amused by this town... I grew up in Oregon, and always knew that there was a town called Boring, but I never actually visited until last summer. So let me tell you that there is absolutely nothing interesting in that town, hence the name, I suppose. The thing that I found hilarious were the business names: Boring Fire Station, Boring Elementary, etc.

 

 

Celebration at the Boring Grade school - bwahahahahaha!

Boring Fire - classic

 

So there's also a town in Oregon called Needy, which I didn't visit, but probably will someday...lol



The Thing?!

Location: Dragoon, Arizona
Admission: not sure anymore
Handicap Accessibility: Yes

 

So one time I was visiting my dad in Arizona, and we were driving to a ghost town (which I will talk about in another post), and we kept seeing billboard for The Thing? Well, curiosity got the best of me and I had him stop in Dragoon, Arizona to see The Thing? I can't say what it is for sure, but I can say that there's a nice souvenir shop attached...mysterious enough for you? You should go see it, I dare you...

 

 



Treasure City

Location: Royalton, MN
Admission: Free (except for the stuff you will more than likely buy)
Handicap Accessibility: Definitely! Just beware of the skinny aisles
Website: www.mntreasurecity.com

My husband grew up in Minnesota, so this place was no surprise to him one day when we decided to take a leisurely drive up Hwy 10. Our family loves stopping and seeing rare and exciting places, and this seemed to be one of them. Treasure City is a hoarder store, for lack of a better description. It has every little souvenir trinket you could possibly think of plus more! It also has a lot of garden decorations outisde and a few cute places to pose for pictures:

 

My sexy pirate hubby :)

 

This place is definitely worth stopping by if you happen to be driving up Hwy 10 one day. 



Niagara Cave

Location: Harmony, MN
Admission: Varies from $7-12 per person; kids 3 and under are free
Handicap Accessibility: Nope
Website:www.niagaracave.com

Niagara cave is one of those gems that I accidentally discovered one day while randomly searching the internet for things to do with my family for the summer. I was confused because I kept thinking it would be near Niagara Falls, which is not in Minnesota, but to my delight, it was just a couple of hours away from our home, so we packed a lunch and headed out! The cave is really neat, but if you are afraid of dark, enclosed, underground spaces, you probably shouldn't go. Also, wear real shoes, not sandals, because there are slippery and wet and sometimes muddy spots in the cave. One of the coolest parts of the cave is the underground waterfall. It is beautiful, and my son kept reminding me to be super careful not to drop my camera over the edge while taking a picture, lol. He's so cute. And another thing that was mentioned at the top of my post, it is not handicap/stroller accessible. You will be walking up and down lots of stairs. So if you bring a child who doesn't walk, be prepared to carry them. Anyway, here are a couple of photos from our trip:

The underground waterfall

A really cool rock formation in the cave

 

Another thing I should probably mention is that the guest shop is super cool, but definitely has a lot of breakables, so beware if you bring your kids. Oh, and there is a cool thing outside where kids can pan for gold. My boys thoroughly enjoyed doing that :)

The Winchester Mystery House

Location: San Jose, CA
Admission: Varies depending on which tour you take
Handicap Accessibility: Nope...sorry.
Website: www.winchestermysteryhouse.com

 

So for my entire life, I have been intrigued by the story of Sarah Winchester and her crazy house. My mom always had books about the Winchester Mystery House, and I would sneak into her library and look at all of the pictures, hoping to someday visit and see the impossible rooms and random dead ends for myself. I longed to see the door to nowhere and the bathroom with no floor. Luckily for me, I had the opportunity to visit in 2005! Yay! It was amazing! Unfortunately, you can not bring strollers or wheelchairs on the tour, since the house wasn't built to accomodate those things, but if you feel like carrying your babies (we used a child carrier backpack), it is well worth it.

 

My son and me!

The staircase to nowhere...

Gorgeous Tiffany windows

The ballroom

A cupboard that opens up to a wall

The beautiful estate!



The World's Largest Holstein Cow

Location: New Salem, North Dakota
Admission: Free!
Handicap Accessibility: Definitely!

 

So originally I hail from Oregon, and several summers we have gone out there to visit family, and on the occasion that we are brave enough to drive (3 days), we drive through North Dakota to get there. A little ways before we reach Bismarck, we always see this enormous cow, and always stare, not blinking, until we have driven past it, sometimes even glancing in the rearview mirror for a while after we have passed it...Wow. So one year I felt a bit impulsive and was trying to impress my younger sister who was driving with me, and decided to stop and get a good picture of this mammoth cow!

Here's the view from the highway...

 

Seriously, holy cow!

 

My sister with the ginormous cow

 

I believe there were also a couple of picnic tables, but I can't completely remember because I was "udderly" distracted (okay, bad joke) by the cow. This is definitely something worth seeing in person!



Judy Garland Museum

Location: 2727 Hwy 169, Grand Rapids, MN
Admission: There is an admission fee, but I can't seem to find it on the website...
Handicap Accessibility: Mostly yes.
Website: www.judygarlandmuseum.com

When I first found out about this museum, I was like, heck yeah, I want to go to that museum! Judy Garland? She rocks! When we arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that half of the museum is dedicated to Judy Garland and the other half is a children's museum with lots of cool things for kids to explore. Score! So the kids endure the boring part where I drool over Judy Garland's belongings and then they are rewarded afterwards by having an opportunity to play. Sounds like a win-win to me :)

 

 

Below are a couple of photos from the children museum side...

 

There was also a creepy doll room...okay, I thought they were creepy, but I'm sure some people love dolls, and they would thoroughly enjoy seeing them.

 

Here is a make-believe town where kids can dress up and pretend to work in different stores like a grocery store, a music store, the gas station,or the fire department. My kids loved this part!



The Dickeyville Grotto

Location: Dickeyville, WI
Admission: Free!
Handicap Accessible: Definitely!
Website: www.dickeyvillegrotto.com

Our family discovered this amazing place by accident a few years ago when we were driving home from Illinois. It wasn't until last summer that we were able to stop and look around. It is amazing! There are so many beautiful stones and random things placed throughout, you will be there for an hour or more just looking at what the artist used to make these shrines.

 

 

 

This is so beautiful! It is run by the adjacent church and they take donations for upkeep, etc. There is also a nice little gift shop (families beware: breakables!) with lots of religious trinkets and souvenirs. The people who work there are super nice as well and very willing to answer questions.