Alexandria, Minnesota – My Favorite Town

Many years ago, my family had a cabin on Lake Ida in Alexandria, Minnesota.  My parents would load my brother and I into the car and we would drive the 2.5 hours to the cabin where Grandmary and Papa Todd lived in the summer.  Needless to say, this town holds a near and dear place in my heart.  Maybe it’s the nostalgia, but I love visiting this town.

After a wedding on Friday, my husband (Tom) and dog (Zelda) met up with me at our air b and b where we spent the night relaxing.  The next morning, we woke up and made coffee and breakfast and geared up for a day on the town.  Since we had Zelda, we made the choice to spend as much of the day outside as possible, so we headed to Lake Carlos State Park for a nice hike.

It wasn’t the Alexandria weather I’m used to.  Snow was still on the ground but luckily the wind had died down enough where a jacket, hat and mittens did the trick.   Neither of us had been to this park before so we picked a trail on the highest part of the campground that overlooked the wetlands.  This trail led us through multiple patches of forest and prarie.  There weren’t many leaves left, but the amber and brown tall grasses were still stunning.  The sun was shining and it’s warmth felt so great against our skin.

Zelda made her way in and out of the grasses, jumping around as she chased the grasshoppers.  Of course she found mud and water, so after a good two hours of hiking, we wiped her down and got back in the car to check out the Ole statue.

My husband had never been to this statue, so we stopped for a souvenir photo before hitting up one of the best stores ever made, Ron’s Warehouse.

I never bring my camera in to Ron’s because I truly just want to enjoy it.  It’s always busy on Saturdays and full of locals.  This store has everything, literally everything.  Hair accessories, mattresses, used school supplies, it’s like Target meets the Goodwill.  The one thing that I didn’t see this year was the used underwear bin, guess used underwear isn’t as popular as it used to be.  My favorite find there ever was a bag of Larry the Cable Guy Tortilla chips.  We ended up spending $50 at Ron’s and I still don’t really know what we bought.

After our trip to Ron’s, we drove the Glaciel Highway to Lake Glenwood and got out for a quick walk so Zelda could stretch her leg’s one last time before Tom and I went to our favorite spot for dinner, Chet’s.  I will blog about Chet’s another time, it deserves its own post.

Once we were Thanksgiving full, we made our way back to Minneapolis.  It always feels so good to be home, but a day adventure in Alexandria was just what I needed.  Do yourself a favor and check out this town in the summer.  If you need suggestions on what to do and where to go, I’ve got your back!