Tag Minnesota

Como Park Zoo & Conservatory

Como Park Zoo & Conservatory

Como Park Zoo & Conservatory hosts a breathtaking collection of plants and animals from around the world. In visiting, we were immediately drawn to the Ape enclosure where one of the largest Gorillas in captivity reclined with an understated authority. That being said, it seems like the Como Park Zoo & Conservatory is a place to be seen, not described. So, here we go:

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Monarchs In Minnesota

There are monarch butterflies in Minnesota. To locals, this is no surprise. But to me, I was impressed. Monarchs can travel up to 3000 miles to their winter grounds in Mexico. These are the only butterflies to travel such great distances. And yet, in the summer, many return to Minnesota, where they were born.

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Lake Country

Minnesota comes from the Dakota word for "clear blue water." It's an appropriate name for the Land of 10,000 lakes. The Dakota, along with the Ojibwe, eventually found themselves contending for these lakes with the state's early European settlers: emigrants from Scandinavia and Germany. The communities that sprouted from these northern European roots became fodder for Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon and other portions of his celebrated radio show: Prairie Home Companion. Despite the Olly and Lena jokes, the state is ranked among the best educated in the United States. Even so, with winters recorded as low as −60 °F, there's a reason we crossed the border in the summer.

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