Beside lot's of great golf in MN, I use to travel the DesMoines - MN route so here we go.
In Des Moines, a game at the Iowa Cubs is always fun and it is in a great downtown location.
On the woodworking side, The Woodsmith Store is located ½ mile east of Living History Farms, The Iowa Welcome Center, and Machine Shed Restaurant on Hickman Road at 104th Street.
Coming out of Des Moines heading north, Ames, IA has a restaurant called Hickory Park that is worth the wait if you like BBQ (30-40 min outside of DSM).
Rest Stops off Highway 35 after Ames are in Williams, Dowes, Mason City and Northwood. Three miles after Northwood you are in MN.
Austin, MN has the SPAM Museum
Owatonna has Cabella's outdoor store with a huge fish tank and cool taxidermy.
New Ulm, MN has Schell's Brewery also the home of 1919 root beer (tasting tour is all you can drink for about an hour to hour and a half). It is a great little German town.
Depending on when you come through Northfield, MN has Jesse James Days and other interests (
http://www.visitingnorthfield.com/pages/tours_attractions.php)
Burnsville is where the recently expanded Rockler Outlet is located off of County Road 42 heading west from 35E.
The Minnesota Zoo just opened the Russian Coast exhibit which is suppose to be real interesting - looked that way to me on the news. And the Como Zoo and Conservatory that is small but nice.
We have segway tours of the city. River boat trips out of St Paul and Stillwater.
Stillwater is one of the places to go for antiques if this is your thing.
Red Wing is another neat town to walk around and window shop. They have Red Wing shoes and Red Wing Pottery.
Besides Mystic Lake Casino there is also Treasure Island Casino outside of Red Wing.
We have some neat museums in St Paul. The Science Museum has the Star Wars exhibit running right now and the History Museum in pretty neat as well. We also have a childrens museum that is highly acclaimed.
We also have LOTS of festivals depending on when you come to town. Pan-O-Prog is in Lakeville around the 4th of July. The Aquatennial is mid to late July (aquatennial.org).
Waterpark of America is suppose to be a cool place to stay and play.
Fort Snelling is worth seeing as previously mentioned.
If you are a baseball fan and don't mind sitting inside on a clear summer evening, the Twins are a decent club to see.
We also have several wineries that may interest you. (
http://www.threeriverswinetrail.com/)
We also have a couple of Harbor Freight stores if you don't have any near you.
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