Things to Do in Anoka

When Mercedes Austin sees a piece of artwork, her imagination immediately breaks it down into pixels and rebuilds it as a tile mosaic. Recently, she executed this process by making a mosaic of a wall mural: She fabricated jagged tiles, arranged them to resemble the original, and grouted the piece together. The resulting mosaic speaks to her intuition as an artist, and also to the years she’s spent honing the craft.

At Mercury Mosaics’ studio, Mercedes and a team of “tile elves” share their passion in two ways: through mosaic classes and custom installations. Classes explore all facets of mosaic creation, from cutting and gluing to grouting tiles into a pattern that resembles a real-life object or fuzzy television screen. Installations, which are fully customized to the client’s specifications, add a distinctive flair to commonly tiled areas such as bathrooms, backsplashes, and fireplaces.

Since 1985, the experienced captains and crews at Paradise Charter Cruises and Minneapolis Queen have been shepherding guests along the azure surfaces of Lake Minnetonka and the Mississippi River. Their fleet of five vessels steers customers around the area while accommodating them with full-height glass windows, enclosed outer decks, bar and restaurant options, and karaoke performances by prize-winning big-mouth bass. Boats glide along the coastline of Lake Minnetonka, catching sights of small lakeside towns, and down the Mississippi River to the backdrop of the Minneapolis skyline, Saint Anthony Falls, and the setting sun.

When struck with a cheese craving, Whitney McChane used to turn her sights toward Wisconsin. It wasn’t until the budding cheese connoisseur began to explore co-ops and cheese shops across Minnesota that she came to appreciate the skill and diversity of cheese artisans in her own backyard. In Faribault, she sampled cheeses aged in sandstone caves and in Mankato, she shook hands with the Alemar Cheese Company’s organic, creamy camembert. “People love artisan cheeses but are shocked to learn we have a cheese-making community here producing world-class cheeses,” she says.

Now, Ms. McChane unites those artisanal cheese aficionados—makers and mongers alike—for one day of gustatory exploration. In addition to sampling a clattering of cheeses, visitors can glean inspiration from recipe demos, cheese-pairing workshops, and roundtable discussions with cartoon mice. Additionally, local food trucks will dole out cheese-inspired dishes. The festival even includes a cheese-wrapping competition, wherein competitors skillfully enfold morsels with flavor-preserving Formaticum cheese paper. Ultimately, Ms. McChane hopes the festival will raise awareness of local cheese culture. “We have so many thriving dairy farms here,” says Ms. McChane. "And where there’s great milk, there’s great cheese."

For more than 25 years, families have flocked to Goony Golf for family entertainment ranging from curvy putting greens to a video arcade. When fully operational, three 18-hole courses star a cast of colorful creatures, such as a pink kangaroo, Humpty Dumpty, and a bird in a mortarboard and graduation robe. Beyond the 36 holes, guests can rack up points on pinball machines or head to the air-hockey table to re-create Team USA’s miraculous 1980 victory over the Soviet Union’s giant plastic mallet.

Metro Gun Club’s team refines the skills of sportsmen of all levels by overseeing a collection of indoor and outdoor ranges. Its facilities include 14 trap fields, each equipped with Pat-Trap throwers and four outfitted with a wobble option that can oscillate targets both vertically and horizontally. Beyond the trap fields, the outdoor ranges span six skeet fields, four five-stand sporting-clay fields, and a 75-foot duck tower offering five shooting blinds. Range masters also oversee a 14-lane, 50-foot indoor pistol gallery, as well as an archery range run by retired merry men.

To encourage responsible firearms operation, Metro’s weapon experts lead training courses, such as the Permit to Carry classes, and organize league shooting.

The Urban Assault Ride challenges cyclists to speed from obstacle course to obstacle course across their city during eco-friendly scavenger hunts that benefit local charities. Teams draft a road map to try to thwart the competition and be the first to complete the race, pausing at a series of checkpoints, where they must surmount such active roadblocks as slip 'n' slides, bike jousting, and reciting the Iliad in Pig Latin. The first team to conquer each challenge and cross the finish line is declared the victor, but all participants celebrate their efforts at a lively after-party stocked with snacks, beer, nonalcoholic drinks, and prizes.