I wasn't sure what to expect when we stopped at the Hinckley Fire Museum, but it ended up being one…read moreof the most memorable parts of our trip. If it's your first time visiting Hinckley, this is one stop that's worth making. The museum tells the story of the Great Hinckley Fire of 1894 through artifacts, photos, and personal accounts that really bring the history to life. It's hard to imagine the devastation until you walk through the exhibits and learn what the community endured. One thing I couldn't help but notice is that the museum sits directly across the street from the town's fire station. There's something incredibly fitting about that. A place that preserves the memory of one of the deadliest wildfires in American history now looks out at the firefighters who protect Hinckley today. It's a quiet reminder of how much the town has overcome. Even if you're not someone who usually visits museums, I'd recommend adding this to your itinerary. It gives you a deeper appreciation for Hinckley beyond the restaurants and attractions and helps you understand the history that shaped the community you see today. Don't forget to pick up a few Minnesota favorites from the gift shop on the way out. I would suggest the maple syrup. Outside of the museum you'll find a relief house. This displays what a typical house was like for a family of four after the fires. It made me appreciate the home and space that I have.

This museum takes you on a history lesson about the town and the horrendous fire that destroyed it…read morein 1894. It has nothing to do with a fire house, if that is what you were thinking (I know I was). It is located in what use to be a train depot. You can still see train tracks in the back. They have pretty much maintained it to it's original glory, even though the first one was burned in the fire. It has a decent sized parking lot and also serves as a welcome center and gift shop for the town. I paid $5 for admission to the museum (which I did not mind a chalked it up as a donation to the preservation of this historical landmark). The museum is decent with a short movie that details what happened with the fire, artifacts from the fire, equipment from the time, information placards, art, equipment and displays from the time like a doctors office, the station's communications room, a relief house, a train caboose and depot agent's apartment. The relief house and caboose are located outside, right near the picnic shelter that has a couple of picnic tables under it. It is a nice place to take a break and enjoy some lunch. Keep in mind that they do not have a restaurant or snack bar on site though. It is a somewhat small museum. The tour is self guided and they give you a laminated sheet that explains each room. The museum is manned by volunteers who are some of the nicest people that you will meet and take a lot of pride in the place. In addition to the fire, the museum has exhibits that touch on its Native American roots right outside of the room the movie is played. This is a nice change of pace from your normal touristy stuff. You also get a decent self guided history tour. I spent about an hour here. I will admit that it gets sleepy at some portions of the tour. However, If you are in the area, I still recommend that you should check it out.

I'm a sucker for the historical society sites and this is no exception. They have some great…read moredisplays in the building and the tour of the fort was informative. The staff was friendly and quite tolerant of curious children. We had the tour to ourselves when we went so had no issues hearing and asking questions. Afterwards we took some trails down by the river and back to the building. Their t-shirts were cute and cheap so we bought one for each member of the family.

The North West Company Fur Post is located west of Pine City proper off of Exit 169. It is an…read moreofficial museum of the Minnesota Historical Society. Apparently, a local farmer found remnants of a fur trading post on his land and contacted the Canadian branch of the North West Trading Company, to get the official plans; and from there, a complete replica of the fur trading post was built. In the interpretive center, the story was told from the perspectives of the Native peoples who hunted and skinned the pelts; the British traders who brought together goods from all throughout the world to trade for the fur they wanted, and the French-Canadian Voyageurs who were the brawn behind the whole apparatus. The story also doesn't shy away from the fact that several intermarraiges took place and how they were resolved for the wives and children when the overseers left their posts and married within the church. (Apparently intermarraige was frowned upon by the Hudson Bay company but allowed and even encouraged by the North West Company and the XY Company whch they acquired). From the museum, we were led out by a person reenacting the Native perspective. She showed us the various animal pelts caught at the post, and how the Native people travelled a 100-mile radius throughout the seasons to fish in summer, hunt and trap in fall, survive the winter, and obtain sugar bush in the spring. She then led us down the path to the fur trading post, explaining room by room, how the post was run, from the youngest 14-year old voyageurs to the junior accountants to the post managers. It was amazing how many moving parts there were in the fur trade, and how the business was run down to every little detail. There is a chance to walk down to the river, or go on a 1/2 mile nature walk. Events also take place at the post all year long -- there are even snowshoes hanging for winter events. It was a very interesting museum and a year-round event center. It is certainly worth the detour if you want something to do in the area.

Okay. Let me just start off with: this is a nice venue for the music/sound system and views with…read moreplenty of space. Supposedly this was a sold out show but it didn't feel too cramped at all. Plenty of bathrooms without lines. They did only have one entrance so there was a huge line there but it seemed to move fast. They have strict security and search any bags. The problem was their bag policy SUCKS. It says the dimensions online but they are very strict on that. It's like the tiniest of wristlets ever. I think a man mad that rule but I guess it's for safety so no can sneak in any weapons. I also really hated their alcohol selection. AWFUL selections -mostly gross beers and only one kind of seltzer- Nutrl Orange. I had a sour stomach the next day. Their food is also outside of the entrance so you have to come out to eat it. Plenty of parking but the lines to leave the lot after the show took at least an hour.

For starters this is an amazing venue I have been here many many times for multitude of shows and…read moreI've never had a bad time or bad experience. With that said on Friday May 31st 2024 myself and a whole lot of other people as you can see were there to see the one and only Snoop Dogg! Unless you're living under a rock everyone knows who Snoop Dogg is which means that the employees and security also were aware. Which means they were also aware of the crowd that this would bring. It was a beautiful eclectic crowd there were literally toddlers that were being carried with pacifiers in their mouth all the way to people with canes and walkers there... It just shows what a diverse fan base that Snoop has. Again I've been to this venue many many times and have tickets for another major artist 2 months from now and I'm looking forward to it but the way that the amphitheater staff handled this could have been much better and they should have used some forethought because with an artist like Snoop it's going to be a packed house. Again people were waiting in a line of thousands... A sea of people from the front gates of the amphitheater all the way back around the entire campus of the casino almost out to the street well after 7:45. The line finally started to thin around 8:00 p.m. .... Might I add that if you call and listen to any of the announcements or look on the website or on your tickets every single show the gates open at 7:00 the show starts at 8:00. Well the show started on time and there were still at least 500+ people in line if not more. Apparently the staff realized this but not in time because I heard that they opened the gates at 6:30. They should have opened the gates between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. for that show. They had the staff they were prepared they knew what was happening but they allowed the situation to overwhelm them. The show was amazing except for the fact that for three tickets we paid almost $1,000 and once we finally got into the show not only did they not scan our tickets they didn't scan the people in front of us they didn't scan the people immediately behind us and we ran into people in the show that just wandered in because the way they opened the gates just to get people in... We went to our seats and couldn't get in them because there were people sitting on top of people in our seats and security or amphitheater staff was nowhere to be found. Basically we paid $1,000 to stand in the aisle for over an hour in the rain and get bumped and have drinks spilled on us..... For the record I'm no longer a 20 or 30 something I'm an original Gen X lol which means that as much as I love a good rowdy rootin-tootin good time.... I want to have the option to sit if I want to in between songs and not risk having someone's beverage poured down my shoulders. I would like to say for the record that I reached out to Vivid tickets where we purchased our tickets as well as reached out to hospitality staff at Grand Hinckley casino and hopefully between the two of them they will figure something and rectify The situation before the next big showol, because I know I'm not the only person that experienced this as after the concert I talked to several friends who were looking for me but they couldn't find me because I couldn't get to my seats there were also others who said they just took a chance and walked through the gates as they saw people walking through and not being scanned in which rubs a little salt in the wound because there were people who paid hundreds upwards of thousands of dollars to get into that show and because the staff was so overwhelmed at a certain point around 8:25 they stopped scanning tickets they stopped checking bags they literally just open the doors and it was a free-for-all So while I was halfway enjoying the show that my friends and I paid accumulative $1,000 for there were people who just happened upon the scene that got in for free to see an amazing world-class performance ‍‍ Hindsight is 20/20 and you can't change What happened I just hope that moving forward the amphitheater staff and management at Hinckley understand that when you invite certain artists that have such a vast eclectic fan base that you need to open on time or maybe even a full hour earlier to start letting people get in get their food get their drinks and get situated in their seats so that when the show starts they can stand or sit and enjoy the entirety of the show not be waiting a hundred plus yards outside of the venue and a line full of hundreds of people listening to the show on the sidewalk.

Pine City is in my opinion the nicest 9 hole in the state. Very well taken care of. good greens,…read moreand a great place to eat and have a drink when you finish. I have not had a better Roller Dog yet. buttery toasted bun, with the best chips to pair up with it.

This course is nothing fancy - your standard MN "farm" course. Its nice enough though and still…read morechallenging enough to have fun. The course is usually not busy and you can get a tee time when you want. In June they had a "golf all you can" deal when you buy a round + Cart so keep an eye out for deals. Clubhouse has full bar, pro-shop and food. There's also a practice putting green and driving range.

I get it you are a sports bar but I would have hoped there would be a few more options on the menu…read more Service was good at the bar went to watch a Wild game.

My daughter and I went to see a band here recently. We went early to get an appetizer and drink. We…read moresat down and waited 15-20 minutes for a waitress until I finally went to the bar and asked for menus and drinks. We waited another 10 minutes and then went to bar to order. The bartender, I think his name was Jace, was very helpful and kind. He came and got our dirty dishes also. Not once did a waitress come to our table. They looked at us a couple times but did not come over. It would have been nice to at least have them acknowledge us and maybe apologize. I haven't had that bad of service in a long time!!!! I did tip the bartender d he deserved it!!

Alpha & Omega Farm was such a fun experience and absolutely worth the 45-minute to hour drive from…read morethe Twin Cities! I chose it for my birthday celebration, and it ended up being the perfect setting. There's plenty of grass parking and lots of space to spread out with lawn chairs or picnic blankets. We grabbed a table in the open gazebo, which worked perfectly for our group. I'd recommend arriving early if you want a spot near the stage, where they have live music throughout the evening. The farm opens at 5 p.m., but you can arrive as early as 4:30 to order pizza. I HIGHLY recommend reserving your crust online. It's $10, but that goes toward your pizza purchase. They also have a limited number of walk-ups available each night. We tried the Guyro and Millie the Meatlover pizzas. The Guyro had seasoned lamb, cheese, cucumber, tomato, and tzatziki and was such a unique combination, but the Meatlover was my favorite! It had plenty of Canadian bacon, pepperoni, and sausage with a great meat-to-cheese ratio. We also got the cheese curds with marinara, and definitely get some dill ranch for dipping! My one miss was the $7.50 Blueberry Basil Lemonade. I didn't get much blueberry or basil flavor and thought it tasted more like a watered-down pink lemonade. My brother's rum and Coke, on the other hand, was pretty strong for the price. You can also bring your own beverages. There's plenty to do while you wait for your pizza. The farm has pigs, alpacas, donkeys, cows, goats, plus games like cornhole and basketball. Between the animals, games, live music, and open space, it's also VERY kid-friendly. One of my favorite parts was meeting the owner, Kim, who took some time to show us around. I loved hearing about her vision of creating a welcoming space centered around community. They even have accommodations on the property and can host private events. A few things to know before you go: Bring plates, napkins, utensils, containers for leftover pizza, and a trash bag because those aren't provided. The bathrooms are also porta-potties, so come prepared! Overall, this felt like a little summer getaway without traveling far from Minneapolis. Come early, reserve your pizza, bring your picnic supplies, and make an evening out of it. I'd absolutely come back!

Good experience at the pizza farm! Cool atmosphere, neat…read moreexperience, lots of charm. Prices are absolutely outrageous though. You pay for everything here. Reserved seating for a busy day? 200-400 bucks! Pizzas are great, wood fire crust was burnt though, which lucky for me I do enjoy. However they feel quite small, 1 person could easily finish one, think frozen pizza size. Seems like a lot for 30 dollar pizzas. They could easily be profiting with the pizzas costing half as much. Definitely feels like a place for rich city folks to roleplay a farm. I understand this is a mom and pop place, but the prices are just unreasonable. I am not paying 400 dollars for several pizzas and some kitchen front seating. Band and singer were great though!

Very nice little movie theater. Has a cabin like feel in the entryway, tons of snack options, some…read morearcade games, and really friendly teenage staff when I was there. Love the building and feel of the place. A small town gem of a theater

A very nice theater! Real butter for popcorn!.. can you say more? ;v)…read more Town of Hinkley lucky to have a such a clean modern theater with a variety of choices for snacks. Prices were reasonable and staff was very friendly.

Best meads EVER. Try the Forest Fruit, Odin, Spiced Apple, and Black Currant! Everyone we've…read morebrought here LOVES it!

I am an avid mead connoisseur, or at least self-proclaimed. I am in fact, a huge fan of the Odin…read more In my opinion, it simply embodies the essence of fall. If you enjoy a spiced fall or winter drink this would be my go-to. If a sweet or fruity beverage is to your liking, I recommend the Egyptian or the Black Currant. The Egyptian goes down quite smoothly, and the Black Currant adds a little punch and a new flavor to the mix. If tart is what you prefer, Plum is a great choice, but remember it is more catered to a sipping whine as it can be overbearing after a glass or two. Now a new mead that caught my eye is the blueberry. This mead must absolutely be added to the Renaissance fair as a new regular item. It is now my second favorite tied with the Odin, it is both sweet and tart, though not overly tart. An amazing blend of blueberry and honey. There are over a dozen other flavors as well that they have to offer that you may even enjoy more. You can sample them for free at the brewery before you purchase some. I just got some this week for Christmas break. So why not go enjoy the taste that the Middle Ages have to offer?