Weekend Getaway to Twin Cities Gateway

Whether you and your friends want to get sweaty playing a game or watch from the sidelines, check out the Four Seasons Curling Club at the Ice House in Blaine — the only year-round, Official Olympic Training Center curling ice facility in North America!

Learn the basics of the sport at a two-hour Learn to Curl clinic where the emphasis is on hands-on engagement, so you’ll be throwing rocks and sweeping ice in no time. You can also hang out at the bar that overlooks the ice and enjoy a relaxing cocktail.

What’s fun solo can be even more fun with a group. Metro Gun Club in Blaine offers a variety of indoor and outdoor shooting options, whether or not you own a gun, whether you’ve never shot before or are an experienced shooter. The 14-lane indoor shooting range accommodates pistols and rifles. Trap and skeet fields for shotguns include a duck tower, four different five-stand sporting clay courses, wobble trap, and wobble skeet fields, plus offer areas to grill, relax between rounds and chat with other folks.

Check the events calendar for specials such as ladies’ nights that offer discounted shooting and free instruction with gun, ammo, and targets included in the entry fee.

Zero Gravity Trampoline Park in Mounds View invites you to leap, jump, bounce and flip as high as you dare. In addition to an open jump arena packed with trampoline surfaces, there’s a basketball slam dunk zone, a traverse-style climbing wall, an aerial court with a net, rope and other challenges, a dodgeball zone, laser tag, plus an arcade. There’s no excuse to sit still.

Mermaid Entertainment Center in Mounds View is the largest entertainment and event center in the upper Midwest. Its state-of-the-art bowling center offers 32 HPL synthetic lanes—a surface described by bowling aficionados as harder than wood to facilitate higher scores…perhaps you’ll set a new personal high-score record or catch someone’s eye while you take aim at the pins. In the game center, try your skill at dozens of arcade games including pinball, plus darts and billiards.

Over at Springbrook Nature Center in Fridley, three miles of hiking trails meander through oak and aspen forest, past prairies and through wetlands with floating boardwalks; each environment offers a different glimpse of native plants and wildlife. “At an urban park you can see a higher concentration of wildlife,” says Mike Maher, director. “It’s not uncommon to see 40 different species in an hour.” Programs that celebrate nature, wildlife and environmentalism are offered for all ages. An adult photo club meets once a month.

Alloy Brewing Company, Coon Rapids’ first brewery and taproom, produces a variety of beer styles from stouts to IPAs, European lagers, and even fruit beer.

When it’s time to slow down the pace of your weekend getaway, head to Crooners Lounge and Supper Club. Inspired by the entertaining and dining options of The Great Depression and World War II eras, this award-winning place gives the dinner-and-a-show tradition a modern spin while nodding to the past. Named “Best Jazz Club of the Twin Cities 2018” by City Pages plus “Great Jazz Venue 2018” by DownBeat, Crooners features singers that range from soloists to trios, local talent to top national performers on its stage in Fridley every night. The range of musical styles performed includes Jazz, R&B, Funk, Soul, Gospel, and others, attracting a different crowd each night.