1. Radisson Hotel & Conference Center
City: Plymouth, MN
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (763) 559-6600
Address: 3131 Campus Dr.
Description: The Radisson Plymouth in the western Metro is located near I-494 and MN 55 in a parklike setting overlooking a 25-acre marshland preserve. All guest rooms include a minibar, two telephones, free high-speed Internet, and a lighted work desk. Hotel facilities include a full-service fitness center, an indoor pool, two restaurants, and a lounge.
2. French Regional Park
City: Plymouth, MN
Category: Parks & Recreation
Telephone: (763) 694-7750
Address: 12605 Rockford Rd.
Description: French Regional Park, usually shortened to “French Park” by locals, was named for the first superintendent of the Hennepin County park system, Clifton E. French. Located on 310 acres on Medicine Lake, French Regional Park features many water-based activities. A self-guided canoe trail through the backwaters of the beautiful lake provides intimate views of wetland wildlife. Rental canoes, paddleboats, rowboats, and kayaks are available at the visitor center, and you can also rent a slip or wintertime lift storage to park your sailboat (under 20 feet only). Monthly outdoor education programs feature such activities as maple syruping, bird-watching, and guided hikes to beaver lodges. The open landscape of rolling glacial hills is broken along the lake and lagoons with second-growth forest. This is not a place to come for wintertime solitude. The park’s central location attracts more than 20,000 skiers—half at night—during a good season.The visitor center rents other equipment, from cross-country skis to volleyballs. A creative play area is available, and a shuttle tram runs throughout the summer season between the visitor center and the swimming beach. French Park’s playground is usually humming with childhood energy, and the park features several miles of biking, hiking, and cross-country skiing trails. In winter, a lighted sledding hill makes for nighttime excitement.
3. Plymouth Playhouse
City: Plymouth, MN
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (763) 553-1600
Address: 2705 Annapolis Lane North
Description: The Plymouth specializes in dinner-theater productions long on laughs and music. Nunsense, Pump Boys and Dinettes, and revues featuring the Twin Cities’ own Lovely Liebowitz Sisters have had extended runs here. Their popular long-running production, How to Talk Minnesotan, was adapted for the stage by the book’s author, Howard Mohr. More recently, Church Basement Ladies poked similar fun at the stereotypical Minnesota church matrons.