48 Hours To Visit St. Cloud Minnesota

I partnered with Visit St. Cloud Minnesota to bring you this 48 Hours to visit S.t Cloud Minnesota post.

Whether you’re coming to St. Cloud, Minnesota for the holidays, sporting event, leisure getaway, or any other reason. There’s plenty of fun to be had. My daughter and I actually headed there recently to do the Passport2Purtity getaway and I’m excited to share our experience with you. So whether you have 48 hours to visit St. Cloud Minnesota, or perhaps a little more time, we’ve got some ideas for you.

Passport2Purity Getaway

First off, for those who aren’t familiar with Passport2Purity. It’s a little getaway program for parents to do with their pre-teen or teen. This cd and workbook journal set helps you guide your child through the information they’ll need as they enter into adolescence. It’s a wonderful program that we’d highly recommend!

GrandStay Residential Suites Hotel

The first night consisted of setting into our beautiful hotel room at the Grand Stay Residential Suites Hotel before starting in with session one of Passport2Purity. This hotel is located right down the street from the Mississippi River. And it’s conveniently located close to the St. Cloud River’s Edge Convention Center if you’re in town for a big event. Plus, there’s restaurants, bars, and shopping all in walking distance as well.

As we pulled up, the first thing to notice is the breathtaking grand entrance. Huge pillars and a large faux balcony loom above the doorway. It’s absolutely gorgeous.

Our Suite

After heading inside, we entered into the well kept lobby. In just minutes, we were quickly and efficiently checked in and on our way upstairs.

Our suite included two queen beds, kitchenette, living room, and bathroom. SO spacious! And the high ceiling as well as chic décor was extremely appealing! Check out our video tour to see it up close and personal:

This room would be perfect for a family, business travel, or a leisure getaway. It worked especially well for Hannah and I as we worked our way through the Passport2Purity program. As it offered plenty of space to stretch out and move.

We made it through the first two sessions and then toured the hotel before calling it a night.

What We Found Around The GrandStay Residential Suites Hotel

Very guest friendly, the floor plan layout of the GrandStay Hotel is simple. So no worries about getting lost of struggling to find anything. We were on the 3rd floor but you’ll find all the amenities down on the 1st.

Water Fun

There’s a pool and hot tub right off the lobby. We went down and spent over an hour enjoying the water. The hot tub was a perfect way to warm up on that freezing day!

Exercise Room

While the exercise room was on the smaller size. It had several pieces of equipment and got the job done. We spent about 45 minutes working out one night. The equipment was all in good, working order. And they even have a television and fan mounted on the walls for guests to use as well.

Work Hub

Another great feature is that in the corner of the lobby, there’s a work hub available. So guests are able to jump on to work or use for leisure. Perfect for someone who needs to get some work done but, perhaps, forgot their laptop.

And More

A unique little offering that the GrandStay Residential Suites Hotel offers is a mini convenience store. They offered a variety of snacks, meals, and beverages. And around the corner, they also have a small laundry mat! So if you are coming for an extended stay or just need to do laundry. You can complete that task right on site!

So after calling it a night, we snuggled into our comfortable beds and got a great nights sleep.

Breakfast Time

The breakfast area is a decent size and also located right off the main lobby. So it’s right at the hub of the hotel with easy access.

I loved that they actually serve breakfast until 10am each day! Most hotels seem to cut off by 9, which is early if you like to sleep in. The GrandStay Residential Suites also offered a nice spread of food choices too. They had hot items such as waffles, eggs, bacon, oatmeal, and more.

And then they also had quite a variety of cold choices too. Yogurt, hard boiled eggs, avocados, fruit, muffins, milk, juice, and more.

So after a delicious breakfast and another two Passport2Purity sessions, Hannah and I headed out for some fun around town. Since it’s full blown Winter here already in Minnesota, we spent the majority of our time indoors. However, there’s some great outdoor options for when weather allows as well.

Crossroads Center

Every town has one and St. Cloud, Minnesota is no different. This mini mega mall is a must stop for those who love to shop till you drop. It’s actually the largest mall in the state outside the core Twin Cities metro area. From anchor stores to little shops, they have food, shopping, and fun.

Lunchtim At Chick-fil-A

Right next to the mall is a family favorite. So we stopped by Chick-fil-A for some soup to warm us up before our next adventure. We both loved their Chicken Tortilla Soup.

Art As You Like It

Next up on our visit St. Cloud Minnesota tour, we headed on over to Art As You Like It. Hannah loves anything artsy so this was the perfect place to go.

This art studio has SO much to offer! We could have spent days there. No joke! There is something for everyone!

Paint Your Own Pottery
Canvas Painting
Glass Fusing
Pallet Wood Board Art/Signs
Pottery Wheel/ Clay Wheel Throwing
Clay Sculpting
& More

It took us so long to actually decide on what to do because we wanted to do it all! And one thing to note is that they have a large room where everything is centrally located. So if you want to get a group together and everyone wants to do different projects, that’s okay! You will be able to be right next to each other.

At first, we were thinking about doing a canvas art project. Art As You Like It has a big box of pattern options to choose from. But there were so many choices that we couldn’t pick!

Pallet Board Art

So after much thought, we finally settled on doing some pallet board art. Hannah really wanted to make something that would allow her to display pictures of our sweet Yorkie. So she settled on creating a board featuring clothespins and wording. We geared up in an apron and got to work.

For a base, we started by lightly painting the board white. And after small portions were complete, we’d wipe the board with a paper towel to keep some of the wood grain showing.

If you aren’t crafty enough to free hand your design or wording. There are several sticker options that you can choose from. And the process of applying to the board is actually not too difficult either. But the staff is willing to help whenever they can if you’re struggling or want input.

After our wording was in place, we did another thin layer of white to ensure the stickers were secure.

And after a mini lesson on mixing colors and learning how to get the perfect shade of blue, we were off to the next step.

Once the blue layer was completed and dry. It was time to remove the sticker lettering so see how it turned out.

Then came glueing on the clothespins. And our project was complete!

We had so much fun! And a couple more things to note. Art As You Like It offers classes for their different options as well as many walk-in projects. And not only that, they have specials for school groups, homeschool groups, and clubs! So check out their website for more information. I know we’ll be back!

Lake George {Park, Splash Pad, & Lake}

While Lake George is especially amazing to visit in the summer because they offer fun in the sun for all ages. (And Summertime By George music!)

It’s also a nice place to check out on nice winter days as well. The day we stopped by, it was super cold though. So we didn’t stick around for too long. But once the lake is safely frozen, they have ice skating there.

After heading back to our GrandStay Residential Suites room to warm up, we finished our final Passport2Purity session. Then, we got changed and headed out for a celebratory supper. So while our visit St. Cloud Minnesota adventure was winding down, we were still excited for this last stop.

Boulder Tap House

The fabulous Boulder Tap House is a relaxed sports bar and eatery with a menu of burgers, wings, tacos, & more. Plus they offer 40+ beers on tap.

They offer comfortable seating and a welcoming environment. Choose to sit in the bar section.

Or the restaurant table and booth side.

But no matter where you sit, the atmosphere is warm and inviting.

The Food

We began with an appetizer of House Made Boulder Cheese Curds. You get to choose between three different flavors: cheddar, white cheddar, or pepper jack cheese. We went with the cheddar and white cheddar….. These were AMAZING!

For her entree’, Hannah settled on a hamburger with fries. The Boulder Tap House serves up 6 oz. fresh ground Angus burger with lettuce, tomato, and pickles. But you do have the option to upgrade to a half-pound burger, turkey burger, chicken breast or veggie burger.

And I’m always a softie for a great chicken wrap. So I went with the Crispy Chicken Wrap. It comes with crispy chicken, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, bacon, and ranch. I’m not a tomato or bacon fan so I customized my wrap to forgo those two options.

And after such delicious starter and main courses, neither one of us could manage dessert. But we were seriously eyeing up their Cookie Sundae and Shakes. I have big plans to stop by again soon with my husband for a dessert date when we need a night out! The food was amazing and the service was great!

More To Do –

There were many other fun things to do and places to see that we weren’t able to fit into this trip. So we definitely plan to head back to St. Cloud Minnesota again in the future. If you’re looking for more ideas, be sure to look up: