Secrets of the City

They don’t have the Spring Lake Amusement Center on old Highway 10! The one with the giant dinosaur holding a bone, with the red eye that glows at night!!!

Metro’s Mini-Golf Directory: FAIL

A battered, yet still perky cephalopod, guarding one of the holes at Spring Lake Amusement Park.

They are building a new mini-golf course next to Jim Lupient Water Park in Northeast. It doesn’t look like they have much done but I can’t imagine it takes that much to pour concrete and drop down some carpet. Maybe it will be nice with actual grass but I’m not holding my breath.

There was an old mini-golf spot south of Indianapolis when I was a kid that had real grass! It was a blast.

Mini-golf makes me think of Wisconsin Dells. Ever been there? Maybe you went to the Tommy Bartlett Waterski show on Lake Delton? Lake Delton is gone.

The best mini-golf is the Pirate’s Cove in Brainerd. It’s totally sweet; there are ships and waterfalls.

There’s also a putt-putt on White Bear Ave. in Maplewood next to the Goodrich Golf Course, near Aldrich Arena. Plus yet another one north of there off Hwy. 61 at the Country View Golf Course.

The Como Park putt-putt looks fun, though.

Re: Pirate’s Cove. And go-carts, too!

My favorite as a kid was outside Chicago, Par-King Mini Golf. Good times. We need a MNSpeak mini-golf outing.

In my youth, we would go to a place with Mini-golf, go-carts, and batting-cages. The golf part was mediocre, but we went for the other services offered.

Batting cages! I love the cages they have in Bloomington somewhere off of 169 – how’s that for specific – HA!? It’s past my known zone (494) so I can’t give you anymore details, but I know how to get there.

A mini-golf outing would be fun. But a go-cart outing would be way funner.

I’d love to try a batting cage sometime. It’s been nearly 10 years since I hit .127 as a high schooler. Do they allow wood bats?

At the Bloomington cages they do – or used to – I haven’t been there yet this year.

Sweet. I’m getting a Morneau model from BWP. It’s for decoration, but maybe I’ll get a second one to take some hacks with.

Spring Lake Amusement Center on old Highway 10!

Site of my eighth birthday party. Holla.

This list is a good start, but there’s places that were left off that are worth mentioning. For indoor mini golf, there’s Grand Slam in Burnsville (their old place in Eagan had a nice course back in the day but it was really showing it’s age in the last decade or so). I haven’t been to the new place yet. Also, there’s a mini golf course in the MOA again where Cereal Adventures used to be, which I also haven’t tried but want to.

Bloomington Batting Cages

They’re located within the Dred Scott ball fields/park thingy. I like these cages because they’re outside and it’s great in the summer.

M ini golf at the MOA, eh? I’m going to MOA tonight, maybe I’ll give that a shot.

What is it with Bloomington and Dred Scott? I got gas there once and the receipt said Dred Scott Gas Station. wtf

Hey, speaking of wood bats, which I was, are there any good sporting goods stores in the Twin Cities where a guy can get some real wood bats? Not the cheap crappy kind like at Dick’s.

Kevin…I get mine here…top quality craftsmanship, durable, and reasonably priced.

That’s in Ohio. I’m looking more for a place that would stock (heh, Woodstock) bats that pros use, as opposed to having to contact manufacturers directly, like I did with BWP. Which was very helpful by the way.

this place did have a nice selection of wood bats (esp. MAX BATS), but it’s got a new name and new ownership, and I don’t know if they still have them.

Spring Lake also has awesome pinball. At least they did a few years ago. It’s no SS Billiards, but they did have Medieval Madness.

It’s not tragic, you have Merlin’s Magic!