MidwestWeekends.com - Environmental centershttp://www.midwestweekends.comen-us2008-11-30T13:00:18-06:00Minnesota's environmental learning centershttp://www.midwestweekends.com/plan_a_trip/nature/environmental_center/minnesota_environmental_learning.htmlThere are seven residential learning centers in Minnesota. All are non-profit, funded by a variety of governmental entities and private foundations, and serve the public at large as well as Minnesota schoolchildren.

All hold day programs, and some schedule special weekends for families or groups of friends. They also can be rented for retreats and family reunions.

]]>Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0600Escape to Eagle Bluffhttp://www.midwestweekends.com/plan_a_trip/nature/environmental_center/eagle_bluff_ELC.htmlIt was a beautiful fall weekend in Lanesboro, and the streets of this picturesque town in Minnesota’s bluff country were packed with sightseers and bicycle tourists.

They were browsing in gift shops. They were sampling at the winery. They were bicycling on the Root River State Trail.

In fall, Lanesboro is the darling of day-trippers and weekenders. My children and I love it, too. They spent 15 minutes with me in Cornucopia Art Gallery, I spent 15 minutes with them in the Indian crafts shop, and then we went in-line skating on the paved trail, across the trestle bridge and along the limestone bluffs.

]]>Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0600Playground in the woodshttp://www.midwestweekends.com/plan_a_trip/family_friends/groups/deep_portage_center.htmlAs adults, we sometimes forget how great it is to be a kid.

People give you toys to play with. They show you new games and explain things in interesting ways. They feed you freshly baked cookies and s'mores.

Kids take it for granted. But I didn't one January, when I got to stay at Deep Portage Conservation Reserve, in the woods north of Brainerd.

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