A trip to Austin, Minnesota

My husband attended a conference in Austin earlier this summer and he invited us to tag along. Before visiting, I only knew about the SPAM museum. I was pleasantly surprised to find a wide assortment of activities for my family to do. The best part was that most of the places were free. Who doesn’t love free? We got into town on a Monday night and went out looking for the Austin Farmer’s Market. It was located right next to the SPAM museum, so it also gave us a chance to check out the downtown. The farmer’s market was just a few vendors, but we were told it grew as the summer went on. I bought the kids a few cookies from a vendor, bringing them a little joy as we walked along the main street of downtown. We decided to stop at Horace Austin Park to run off some energy, as it was just about two blocks from downtown. It was a pretty park right on the water with basic play equipment and some music equipment. After we finished at the park, we stopped for a quick dinner at Culver’s and at a grocery store for some groceries before heading back to our hotel for the night.

The next morning, we ate breakfast at our hotel and had the kids make hiking necklaces full of goodies while we waited for our food. Goodies included pretzels, fruit loops, and cheerios. When we finished breakfast, we headed over to the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center. What an absolute hit for both adults and kids! In the nature center, there was a lot of information, scavenger hunts, hands-on areas for the kids to climb and explore, and a bird to watch. There was a smaller kid’s area that my kids enjoyed as well. This area had a tracing table, hands-on activities, books, puzzles, and a little nook to hang out in. Next up, we went hiking. Our hiking necklaces came in handy for this. Several bridges and an area to walk across the water were my kid’s favorite spots. Trails were as short as you needed them to be and were stroller and kid friendly. After finishing at the nature center, we took our picnic lunch to another park in town to eat and play before doing some rest/quiet time back at the hotel.

Next, we headed back downtown to visit SweetReads. It was an absolute gem of a spot for my book-loving kids! SweetReads is an adorable book store with both new and used books. Prices were very reasonable and there were tons of spots to curl up while looking at the books. We easily could have stayed here longer, but got here right near closing time. With a little bit of time to spare before dinner, we decided to check out the Austin Public Library. Everything downtown is just a few blocks away and an easy, enjoyable walk for all. The library was another place that did not disappoint! My son quickly buried his head into some reading, while my girls busied themselves with coloring and exploring. One interesting thing they had was a seed library. What a cool concept! After finishing at the library, we headed over to Piggy Blues Bar-B-Que. Their food was absolutely delicious and the restaurant had such a fun atmosphere! Yummy ice cream was also, served here and the kids got ice cream as part of their meals. Check out Explore MN for a scoops passport where a deal for their ice cream is located! Everyone got to leave with full bellies when we headed back to the hotel for the night.

Wednesday morning consisted of the highlight of the trip…the SPAM museum. Another completely free activity in Austin that every member of the family loved! It truly was a unique experience. The museum contained history, lots of hands-on activities, and a play area for the kids. A highlight for everyone were the free samples handed out of SPAM. They were delicious, as my youngest child continued to ask for more over and over. Another highlight for my oldest child was a station in which you could race a clock to package pretend SPAM. Employees were incredibly kind here and everything was so clean. Overall, I would completely recommend a day trip to Austin just for the experience of the SPAM museum. What an amazing free treasure for Minnesota! This day had an air quality warning, so we had to change our plans. Luckily, we found a completely free indoor playground a few blocks away in the YMCA to picnic and play. It was a large tree house with perfect slides for my one year old and many areas to explore. In the YMCA, there was a beautiful pool as well. We didn’t get the chance to swim, but it definitely looked like a great place to try! After our jam-packed morning, we returned for rest to the hotel, hit up a few stores for shopping that night, and had dinner at the hotel.

The next morning, we planned to leave early for the next part of our trip. Yet, we couldn’t leave Austin without a trip to Super Fresh Produce Bakery. My kids were excited for the delicious, large donuts for breakfast and my mom enjoyed looking at all the plants and flowers. Staff working there were amazing with my kids and we were all happy to end our trip to Austin with this small gem. Overall, Austin was definitely a town I would visit again and that we all enjoyed! It would be a great trip for a weekend or even on a random off day from school. With older kids, you could definitely cram everything into one day or if you are an “on-the-go” family.

Edited Summer 2024: We took another trip to Austin and these are the spots we added to our trip.