Things to Do in Minnetonka Mills

An abundant number of recreational activities fill the space at Purple Planet 3-D Mini Golf. With black lights illuminating patches of neon paints, the indoor and always air-conditioned cooled mini-golf course bends the mind with challenging greens and mind-bending visuals such as aliens and floating satellites. As they navigate the course’s vortex tunnel and fog-filled corridors, golfers wear 3-D glasses, making obstacles appear to pop out and transforming every hole into an even deeper hole. Purple Planet visitors can also hone their billiards skills with games of pool or try their hand at the games at an on-site arcade.

A union of the local organizations U Film Society and Oak Street Arts, the nonprofit Film Society of Minneapolis/Saint Paul brings an eclectic sampling of international cinema to its members and to the public at its yearly international film festival. The society's crew of film enthusiasts carefully curates a roster of classic, modern, foreign, and locally produced movies to showcase. They screen each year's lineup amid the cushy confines of the St. Anthony Main Theatre, the society's headquarters and site of the festival, which boasts around 400 different films each year and generally draws in more than 100,000 viewers. They further enlighten moviegoers by recruiting industry experts for informative panel discussions, educational events, and tips on how to feed popcorn to onscreen characters.

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."

Brad Pluth Golf has earned the PGA’s golf clap of approval by using high-tech equipment to give players an edge. The golf emporium’s custom club fittings rely on the Ping nflight system, a virtual modeling system that produces club-head specs precisely calibrated for each golfer’s swing. Other training approaches include the biomechanical swing analysis, which evaluates players’ techniques so they know how to correct their slices or compensate for the fact that they’re hitting with a cricket bat. In addition to private and semi-private adult lessons, youth leagues ready clubbers as young as 4 to play nine holes and participate in tournaments.

When Layl McDill's daughters were little, she would carry small bricks of polymer clay in her purse for them to play with. Over the years, the pastime evolved into a serious profession for her. Forming ropes of the colorful, malleable material into millefiore canes, McDill honed her skills, creating patterns, pictures, and delicious pies from the carefully sliced clay logs. With the help and support of her husband and fellow artist, Josh Blanc, Layl founded Clay Squared to Infinity in 1996, where today she not only creates and displays her own artwork, but also leads classes for clay-curious artists of all ages.

Sequestered on 90 acres of Chaska woodland, GolfZone's sanctuary for swing practice transforms golf into a game for all seasons. Under the roof of the complex's heated driving range with 40 hitting stalls, players are able to play through all six of Minnesota's seasons. Yardage-marked target greens dot the landscape, facilitating friendly games of longest ball and closest to the target. While the range's toasty confines transport golfers and their clubs to a subequatorial fantasy realm, stall-side televisions keep them tethered to reality with live sporting events and breaking news about the tragic passing of the county's most beloved ball washer.

Inside GolfZone's open-floor facility, golfers steer orbs down the emerald runways of the 18-hole Big Bear Mini Putt course. Surrounded by rocky outcrops and faux pine trees, each putting surface plots a winding path over subtle slopes, helping players to hone their putting stroke in a climate-controlled environment without having to roll out their own green carpet.