1. Pahl’S Market
City: Apple Valley, MN
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (952) 431-4345
Address: 6885 West 160th St.
Description: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon through Fri, year-round.
2. Minnesota Zoo
City: Apple Valley, MN
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (952) 431-9200 or (800) 366-78
Address: 13000 Zoo Blvd.
Description: Located in the southeastern suburb of Apple Valley and housing approximately 500 species of animals from five continents, the Minnesota Zoo and its IMAX theater see a million visitors per year. The zoo’s 500 acres include an indoor Tropics Trail, populated by gibbons, tapirs, tree kangaroos, hissing cockroaches, and endangered red pandas. The newly redesigned Minnesota Trail, also an indoor walk, is home to gray wolves, porcupines, great horned owls, river otters, and other Minnesota residents. At Discovery Bay, dolphins officially perform for audiences every afternoon and unofficially any time enough people gather around their huge, glass-walled tank; a walk-through aquarium has sharks, fish, and deep-sea plants; and there is a hands-on area where kids (and adults) can pet different kinds of sharks, rays, and starfish. Outside the main exhibit building, you can find ducks and swans, a prairie dog town, wild horses, camels, tigers, and many, many other animals. Domesticated animals like pigs and chickens get their day in the sun at the Wells Fargo Family Farm exhibit. It’s worth the extra few dollars to ride the Monorail around the zoo, as it is the least strenuous way to see many animals requiring room to roam, including endangered and extremely rare Mexican wolves, musk oxen, and Siberian tigers.The zoo also features the 600-seat Great Clips IMAX theater (it’s no surprise that a discount hair-care chain would sponsor a venue where you sit in the dark) and the Weesner Family Amphitheater, which hosts concerts all summer long.To reach the zoo, follow I-35E south from I-494 in the southeast Metro, exit at MN 77, and follow the signs.
3. Minnesota Zoo
City: Apple Valley, MN
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (952) 431-9200 or (800) 366-78
Address: 13000 Zoo Blvd.
Description: Located in the southeastern suburb of Apple Valley and housing some 500 animal species from five continents, the Minnesota Zoo and its IMAX theater see a million visitors per year. The zoo also features the 600-seat Great Clips IMAX theater and the Weesner Family Amphitheater, which hosts concerts all summer long.To reach the zoo, follow I-35E south from I-494 in the southeast Metro, exit at MN 77, and follow the signs.