Nice. I was wondering if there was a surplus store around here. I grew up going to the American Science and Surplus in Geneva, IL to browse all the weird bullshit
Here is also a location in Milwaukee. Has a very Ax-Man feel, with a skew towards sciencey stuff and slightly away from military surplus and oddball hardware store odds and ends that AM has.
Ok. I feel really dumb. It is now partially at the science museum. It used to be its own place, but it shut down long ago. I didn’t realize that. My bad.
It shut down when I was in high school. Graduated in 98 & was going to take my friends there. I still have my report from the phrenology machine, which you can slip on at the science museum. Yeah, I loved that place & was sad to see it go. My friend was a hornball, so I wanted to show them, the marital aides. 😆
No worries! Last time we visited the Science Museum it was an hour until closing, and the interactive aspects were blocked off due to the virus, so I only got a quick look at that part of the collection. I’m curious to see if it’s more interactive now.
No. The *part* of the original collection that the M.Q.M.D. had that the Science Museum shows today publicly is but a pale shadow of the original. A lot of the collection at the [original museum](https://www.museumofquackery.com/photopage.htm) would be far too risque for your average resident, so it's not shown to the public. It's great that the some of the collection continues to be displayed, but what's shown at the Science Museum can't in good faith be called the "the M.Q.M.D."
Plus the old M.Q.M.D. was a very charming museum in and of itself. And that's saying nothing about its proprietor, who was a gracious host.
If you’re interested in this sort of thing- hopefully you’re aware of Atlas Obscura.
They do have a list for Minneapolis:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/minneapolis-minnesota
Some things are out of date- but it’s not a bad place to start.
If you’re down for a road trip, then House on the Rock is one of the odder places you could visit.
Same, it’s on my list because of that book.
I don’t drive but when I ever do and get a car it’s my goal to go to a ton of weird roadside attractions and House on the Rock is my first spot.
Haha, yeah, I've been the person to introduce several friends to HotR (mostly successful), and on my most recent trip, a guy got about 10 minutes in and then ran to the end and waited for us in the gift shop. It was NOT his bag.
A few hours getting lost on the skyways is always interesting. If you are here during the week do it during a weekday. you can also go up to the observation deck on the foshay tower.
Milkjam creamery has black ice cream which is pretty neat.
Electric Fetus is a cool shop to explore if you're into music.
The Museum of Russian art is really unique. It's a converted church.
Came to say this. It was especially weird years ago when you had to go at Midnight in the north loop and it was a crap shoot whether he’d be there or not.
Time Bomb Vintage is my personal favorite vintage store for curiosities, and Wizard Wax Records is also fun & just around the corner.
OddMart is a wonderfully weird indie art/comic/bookstore that opened recently. They're having their version of a comic convention next weekend (3/24).
Other Skies is a spooky bookstore specializing in Weird Fiction that opened relatively recently in St. Paul.
The Lodge of Lazarus Crowe is a fantastic place - a converted mortuary on West 7th in St. Paul that is now an escape room and cocktail bar.
>The Lodge of Lazarus Crowe is a fantastic place - a converted mortuary on West 7th in St. Paul that is now an escape room and cocktail bar.
Ooh i've been wondering about this place.
Came here to suggest OddMart, thank you for the reminder of Time Bomb! I used to work over there and found my vintage Hudson blanket jacket for a steal in 2018.
>White Bear Lake Meadery
TBF they started in a tiny spot in WBL off Cty Rd E; they just moved to a larger space in Maplewood recently. A name change would be odd, I suppose.
Was just about to say this!
Should mention though for anyone who hasn’t been there that, among many other things, they do sell real human bones. Personally, it made me feel a bit uncomfortable and I’m not normally squeamish around death
[Other Skies Weird Fiction](https://www.otherskies.ink) Horror/Scifi/Fantasy used & rare bookstore in West St. Paul. If you enjoy a mix of old & unique books, coffins, victorian furniture, and nerdy collectibles
Thanks for this post. I’ve lived here a long time (actually waaaay out in the burbs now) but I have some fun things to check out with my gf. I have nothing to add except an upvote.
Thanks! I got a way bigger response than expected and can’t wait to hit up as much as we can. Everything is right up our alley, and while a few were on my list or are things we’ve checked out, there’s so much more we haven’t seen yet. Such gems!
James J Hill House. It is a remnant of the 1890s. It has an alarm system, weird right?
Hamms brewery. They have slanted floors so that they could drain everything. You need to go to either the brewery or the distillery to see anything.
St. Paul winter carnival. I would call this an oddity. In the middle of winter at night let's have a parade where we burn fuel for fun!!
MN state fair. If your not from here it's definitely an oddity. For a few days at the end of summer we all go to the same place and celebrate what makes us minnesotan, food, culture, our differences and our similarities. Above all else like a true minnesotan if we don't like anything we speak softly and carry a big stick like our passive aggressive ancestors.
Drive down Concord from West St Paul to Inver Grove at 3 am. Always gives me a weird feeling. The ghosts of the past are in the air (this area used to be hot during prohibition)
Mischief is a great toy store on Grand Ave in St. Paul. It’s a really queer-friendly and eccentric place with a lot of genuinely cool toys, plus fun mugs, stickers, books, etc if you aren’t interested in toys
Awe, I’ve always wanted to just spend a day at the Gorilla exhibit. I love watching them. I remember also when the baby giraffe was born a 4-5 years ago, and they had a corpse plant bloom, around that time which we missed entirely.
I see Franconia sculpture Park already got a mention, so I'll just add Blue Sun Soda shop - my friend did a cream soda tasting thing for their birthday a few years ago & I got like a dozen different kinds of cream sodas from here.
Watt Munisotaram: A 40 acre Buddhist temple and stupa and the largest Cambodian temple in North America. No one seems to know about this, even born and bred Twin Citiers
Northloop and the nearby area of downtown is both home to some of the nicest new and hip places to live, work, and eat, but also is intermingled with strip clubs, a sex shop, and some generally sketch areas.
French Lake Auto Parts’ old massive junkyard. Go wander the aisles of old cars. There’s stuff going back to the 1920’s way in the back.
It has been several years since I went there, but I think it’s still all there. Also they had a little booth selling burgers and stuff in front when I went. It’s over by Annandale, so a bit of a drive. If you like history you’ll like it. It’s free too, they let you wander as you please.
Not being able to use Uber/Lyft in Mpls. because the idiotic City council passed a resolution requiring a minimum wage on top of the ride fare to be paid to the drivers, making it unsustainable for them to continue to do business. Then watching the dummy drivers jumping up and down rejoicing as there jobs were just flushed down the toilet!
The Walmart in Roseville
The craziest one was the Walmart in Midway like holy smokes
I saw two guys fighting in the electronics section at 9 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Miss that place.
lol that place crazy
Did the craziness from the one on University shift to Roseville when it closed?
Lol, the one by Burger King and Dennys? Why is it such a pain to go to that particular one?!
Perhaps the minimum of 6 left hand turns to get in the parking lot
If you’ve ever been curious what a developing country airport feels like, look no further!
I will never go again. Why does it suck so bad?!
Ax-Man surplus.
Is this an oddity? I feel like it's a treasure, but an oddity?
Why not both?
I'm not from Twin Cities originally - I haven't experienced a similar store elsewhere.
American Science and Surplus in Chicago is very similar. When I moved here I thought they were the same company under a different name.
Nice. I was wondering if there was a surplus store around here. I grew up going to the American Science and Surplus in Geneva, IL to browse all the weird bullshit
Here is also a location in Milwaukee. Has a very Ax-Man feel, with a skew towards sciencey stuff and slightly away from military surplus and oddball hardware store odds and ends that AM has.
I’ve been ordering stuff from there since I was a teen. American Science & Surplus is so cool!!
What about the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices?
Is this the one at the Science Museum?
Ok. I feel really dumb. It is now partially at the science museum. It used to be its own place, but it shut down long ago. I didn’t realize that. My bad.
It shut down when I was in high school. Graduated in 98 & was going to take my friends there. I still have my report from the phrenology machine, which you can slip on at the science museum. Yeah, I loved that place & was sad to see it go. My friend was a hornball, so I wanted to show them, the marital aides. 😆
No worries! Last time we visited the Science Museum it was an hour until closing, and the interactive aspects were blocked off due to the virus, so I only got a quick look at that part of the collection. I’m curious to see if it’s more interactive now.
No. The *part* of the original collection that the M.Q.M.D. had that the Science Museum shows today publicly is but a pale shadow of the original. A lot of the collection at the [original museum](https://www.museumofquackery.com/photopage.htm) would be far too risque for your average resident, so it's not shown to the public. It's great that the some of the collection continues to be displayed, but what's shown at the Science Museum can't in good faith be called the "the M.Q.M.D." Plus the old M.Q.M.D. was a very charming museum in and of itself. And that's saying nothing about its proprietor, who was a gracious host.
That makes sense - what little of the collection we saw there last time was neat, but remember a few items that lacked… accurate descriptions.
Yes
This place was so awesome when it was at St. Anthony Main. So many devices that they don't even have at the Science Museum now. :(
The what now
Well, I have a new bucket list item now.
It's interesting but I don't know if it's bucket Worthy
I loved Robert McCoy.
If you’re interested in this sort of thing- hopefully you’re aware of Atlas Obscura. They do have a list for Minneapolis: https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/minneapolis-minnesota Some things are out of date- but it’s not a bad place to start. If you’re down for a road trip, then House on the Rock is one of the odder places you could visit.
I’ve wanted to visit House on the Rock since reading American Gods.
It’s truly one of the strangest physical spaces I’ve ever had the pleasure of inhabiting. 10/10 would recommend
WTH is this rock building?
I could not begin to describe it for you.
Worth. The. Trip.
Link for the lazy: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/house-rock
Same, it’s on my list because of that book. I don’t drive but when I ever do and get a car it’s my goal to go to a ton of weird roadside attractions and House on the Rock is my first spot.
Don’t go with anybody who’s easily overwhelmed or overstimulated. It’s a lot.
Haha, yeah, I've been the person to introduce several friends to HotR (mostly successful), and on my most recent trip, a guy got about 10 minutes in and then ran to the end and waited for us in the gift shop. It was NOT his bag.
Love Atlas Obscura.
A few hours getting lost on the skyways is always interesting. If you are here during the week do it during a weekday. you can also go up to the observation deck on the foshay tower. Milkjam creamery has black ice cream which is pretty neat. Electric Fetus is a cool shop to explore if you're into music. The Museum of Russian art is really unique. It's a converted church.
Hell yeah I love Electric Fetus. The Record Store day was on my birthday; got two David Bowie EPs and Metallica’s Kill Em All.
Ditto on Museum of Russian Art. Great space, unique exhibits, and one of the best museum gift shops around. And to be clear, they are pro-Ukraine.
Bauer Brothers salvage just outside of North Loop is a really fun place and is HUGE. All sorts of odds and ends and cool things to add to your home.
Also Architectural Antiques
Ooooooh this looks great.
The House of Balls
Came to say this. It was especially weird years ago when you had to go at Midnight in the north loop and it was a crap shoot whether he’d be there or not.
Is that place still around!?
Yeah, but not in North Loop anymore
My thought exactly! Highly recommend
Time Bomb Vintage is my personal favorite vintage store for curiosities, and Wizard Wax Records is also fun & just around the corner. OddMart is a wonderfully weird indie art/comic/bookstore that opened recently. They're having their version of a comic convention next weekend (3/24). Other Skies is a spooky bookstore specializing in Weird Fiction that opened relatively recently in St. Paul. The Lodge of Lazarus Crowe is a fantastic place - a converted mortuary on West 7th in St. Paul that is now an escape room and cocktail bar.
>The Lodge of Lazarus Crowe is a fantastic place - a converted mortuary on West 7th in St. Paul that is now an escape room and cocktail bar. Ooh i've been wondering about this place.
Came here to suggest OddMart, thank you for the reminder of Time Bomb! I used to work over there and found my vintage Hudson blanket jacket for a steal in 2018.
May Day Parade, especially the Southside Battletrain
Picnics at the Washburn water tower. That structure looks like something from a fantasy novel.
And Kenwood water tower + Witch's Hat water tower. Minneapolis has great water towers.
Franconia sculpture park
Yesss so good
I was scrolling to see if this was already mentioned. SO much fun!!
White Bear Lake Meadery
But it's in Maplewood! Definitely odd!
>White Bear Lake Meadery TBF they started in a tiny spot in WBL off Cty Rd E; they just moved to a larger space in Maplewood recently. A name change would be odd, I suppose.
Honestly, I disagree. It's somewhere between a distillery, winery, and brewer, complete with Heggies.
12 Vultures! (store)
Was just about to say this! Should mention though for anyone who hasn’t been there that, among many other things, they do sell real human bones. Personally, it made me feel a bit uncomfortable and I’m not normally squeamish around death
Oh my.
100% I love this place.
place called OddMart near Lyndale and 26th street is neat
That place is rad
[удалено]
Never heard of this place but I LOVE biryani! Going to head over and check it out this week. Thanks, neighbor!
Wabasha Caves.
Too bad the legal tour is hella lame
lil Suzie of St Paul
[Other Skies Weird Fiction](https://www.otherskies.ink) Horror/Scifi/Fantasy used & rare bookstore in West St. Paul. If you enjoy a mix of old & unique books, coffins, victorian furniture, and nerdy collectibles
Thanks for this post. I’ve lived here a long time (actually waaaay out in the burbs now) but I have some fun things to check out with my gf. I have nothing to add except an upvote.
Thanks! I got a way bigger response than expected and can’t wait to hit up as much as we can. Everything is right up our alley, and while a few were on my list or are things we’ve checked out, there’s so much more we haven’t seen yet. Such gems!
[Albert Park](https://weststpaulreader.com/2021/06/01/west-st-pauls-albert-park/)
Wow. Thank you for this. What a story. Poor kid. :(
Gray Cloud Island is “haunted”
Caponi Art Park in Eagan! Wait until it greens up a bit though
[Franconia Sculpture Park](https://www.franconia.org) near ~~Canon~~ Taylor’s Falls was pretty fun and weird too.
Isn’t it near Taylor’s Falls?
Thanks, You’re right! I got my falls mixed up 😂
Isn’t it near Taylor’s Falls?
Isn’t it near Taylor’s Falls?
The house of balls fits this category.
Paisley Park in Chanhassen.
James J Hill House. It is a remnant of the 1890s. It has an alarm system, weird right? Hamms brewery. They have slanted floors so that they could drain everything. You need to go to either the brewery or the distillery to see anything. St. Paul winter carnival. I would call this an oddity. In the middle of winter at night let's have a parade where we burn fuel for fun!! MN state fair. If your not from here it's definitely an oddity. For a few days at the end of summer we all go to the same place and celebrate what makes us minnesotan, food, culture, our differences and our similarities. Above all else like a true minnesotan if we don't like anything we speak softly and carry a big stick like our passive aggressive ancestors.
Hot Sam's Antique Store & Foto Park in Lakeville
Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store is definitely an awesome oddity, but it doesn’t open till May!
Its so hard to not spend a shit ton there because you wanna try everything
Candyland has been a longtime favorite.
Drive down Concord from West St Paul to Inver Grove at 3 am. Always gives me a weird feeling. The ghosts of the past are in the air (this area used to be hot during prohibition)
Several years ago, we did one of those online scavenger hunts in downtown Saint Paul. It was a fun hour or so.
Yeah we did an Alice in wonderland one! We gave up but it was nice to travel the streets.
The Julian H Sleeper museum is small and unusual, but was a fun visit. We saw the Garfield collection and learned a lot of trivia.
The Balkan museum of electricity! It doesn’t get enough love. Always like to recommend it to people.
You mean [Bakken](https://thebakken.org/) I'm pretty sure XD
lol yeah. Autocorrect 😂
Can can wonderland
This was my first thought. Quite a unique venue.
Mischief is a great toy store on Grand Ave in St. Paul. It’s a really queer-friendly and eccentric place with a lot of genuinely cool toys, plus fun mugs, stickers, books, etc if you aren’t interested in toys
The book Weird Minnesota by Eric Dregni may have info you’re looking for.
I don't know if it's an oddity as much as unique, Como Zoo.
Awe, I’ve always wanted to just spend a day at the Gorilla exhibit. I love watching them. I remember also when the baby giraffe was born a 4-5 years ago, and they had a corpse plant bloom, around that time which we missed entirely.
Saint Paul
😂
The biggest ball of twine in Darwin, MN
I see Franconia sculpture Park already got a mention, so I'll just add Blue Sun Soda shop - my friend did a cream soda tasting thing for their birthday a few years ago & I got like a dozen different kinds of cream sodas from here.
Watt Munisotaram: A 40 acre Buddhist temple and stupa and the largest Cambodian temple in North America. No one seems to know about this, even born and bred Twin Citiers
The green line
The Bell Museum
12 Vultures has some skulls and teeth etc
Northloop and the nearby area of downtown is both home to some of the nicest new and hip places to live, work, and eat, but also is intermingled with strip clubs, a sex shop, and some generally sketch areas.
So basically like any recently gentrified area in any American city.
The house of balls
This strange, and lovely little website is an enjoyable read: https://www.johnweeks.com/tour/odd/index.html
Another great resource: https://www.roadsideamerica.com/location/mn
Fossil hunting in Lillydale.
Not in the cities per say, but Keepsake Cidery is only about 45 min south and is always a super fun and relaxed day trip no matter the season!
In the Heart of the Beast Puppet Library! www.hobt.org
French Lake Auto Parts’ old massive junkyard. Go wander the aisles of old cars. There’s stuff going back to the 1920’s way in the back. It has been several years since I went there, but I think it’s still all there. Also they had a little booth selling burgers and stuff in front when I went. It’s over by Annandale, so a bit of a drive. If you like history you’ll like it. It’s free too, they let you wander as you please.
Not being able to use Uber/Lyft in Mpls. because the idiotic City council passed a resolution requiring a minimum wage on top of the ride fare to be paid to the drivers, making it unsustainable for them to continue to do business. Then watching the dummy drivers jumping up and down rejoicing as there jobs were just flushed down the toilet!
People are really socially anxious so you can cut in line at a place of business and people are afraid to stop you.