Things to Do in Mendota Heights

Discover your inner Davy Crockett with today's Groupon. For $5, you get admission to the 40th Annual Minnesota Sportsmen's Show any day from Wednesday, January 13, through Friday, January 15, at the Saint Paul River Centre. Gawk at great outdoorsy goods (RVs, motor homes, travel trailers, fishing boats), attend free fishing and hunting seminars, plan your next excursion, and witness a water-skiing squirrel purchasing a motor home.

Several years ago, Ken Smith and Chase Williams were typical door-to-door salesmen. In need of a gimmick to boost sales and a quicker mode of transport, the duo tried riding Segways and immediately fell in love. Eventually, they turned their love for the two-wheeled transporter into their current venture, All American Segway. Their company provides all manner of Segway engagement, including guided Segway tours that offer rolling educations in local history and wildlife. Customers can also discover the revolutionary devices on their own by renting out Segways for recreational use, private parties, or as a friend for a lonely office chair or shopping cart.

Call the ticket office to reserve seats. You may then pick up your tickets at the box office during business hours or the Will Call area on the night of the performance.

Mississippi Dunes Golf Links' sophisticated, 18-hole layout blankets 3,000 feet of rolling Mississippi River shoreline with manicured, bent-grass fairways and an inventive, tree-lined design. As golfers cruise over the course atop a cart or a caddy training to be an Olympic power squatter, majestic views of the river appear through groves of trees that shelter native prairie creatures. On their odyssey from tee boxes to speedy, contoured greens, golf balls must split fairways to avoid sidelines riddled with mounds, pot bunkers, and knee-high grasses—a trinity of hazards that imbue the course with a Scottish, links-style vibe. A memorable tee shot awaits at the 399-yard, par-4 fifth hole—the course's most difficult, nicknamed "Humpback" for the large mound in the middle of the fairway as well as its voracious appetite for krill—where golfers must draw or fade drives around a dogleg left.

After hacking their way across the breeze-swept links, guests can unwind at Doc's Landing Pub, where a menu of traditional grill fare, fish, and pizza sates tour-worthy appetites. Patrons can look out on the river on the Pub's patio, catch up on the day's sporting events in the glow of a flat-panel TV, or discuss how greenskeepers maintain the immaculate felt that covers the billiards table.

For most of the year, the outer concourses of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome fill with the aromas of hot dogs and grilled onions to feed hungry fans during Vikings and Twins games. But from November through April, the smooth concrete floors of those same concourses become the skating surface for the Rollerblade RollerDome. Skaters have taken over the Metrodome every winter for decades, including in 1993, when Jonathan Seutter set a Guinness World Record there by skating 271 miles in 24 hours. The half-mile concrete loops provide the ideal conditions for speed skaters and beginners alike. On the upper level, experienced skaters get a cardio workout with separate alleys for speed skating and leisurely coasting. On the lower level, kids and novices can take their time while skating along to music spun by onsite DJs and really hip spiders.

Roller derby combines the breakneck pace of NASCAR, the technical virtuosity of figure skating, and the hard-hitting action of badminton into a supersport smoothie. Your tickets get you in to see the Banger Sisters, Delta Delta Di, Kilmore Girls, and the Violent Femmes compete for first place, bragging rights, and bruises that most resemble Abraham Lincoln. Established in 2006, the North Star Roller Girls have steadily grown in popularity, becoming part of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association in 2008. Today, North Star’s travel team, the Supernovas, periodically compete for a coveted national rankings spot. Teams are propelled by traditional quad roller skates, mounds of spunk, and intimidating monikers such as “Ida Kildher” and “Maggie McFaceStomp” as they propel their point-scoring teammates past opponents.