19 Aug Artist Designed Mini Golf at Can Can Wonderland
What do you get when you mix art, mini golf, vintage pinball machines, boozy slushies and cereal malts? None other than Can Can Wonderland!
Can Can Wonderland is an eccentric, artist designed mini golf course located inside an old can manufacturing factory in Saint Paul, Minnesota. A wide range of cans were produced here from the late 1800’s to the 1970’s, including Spam cans and soup cans for Campbell’s and Del Monte. Even though the mini golf is the main draw, it’s really so much more than that.
We’ve actually had the opportunity to visit this gem of a spot three times in the past couple of months. And I honestly have to say, I’m still not tired of it! Our first visit was for a stagnation story we were working on with Visit Saint Paul. The second visit was with our blogger friends, Brian and Isa from Perfect Little Planet, as they were passing through the Twin Cities. And last but not least, we attended a MN Blogger Bash event there just a few days later. It was a whirlwind of mini golf…and I’m sad to report that I still have yet to win a game. Oh well, at least the art continues to keep me more than entertained!
Can Can Wonderland opens for all ages at 10 a.m., Thursday-Sunday (closed Monday-Wednesday) but after 9 p.m. the venue changes to 21+ for adult only fun.
There is an onsite restaurant where you can find items such as toasties, pizza, hot dogs with crazy toppings like mac and cheese, mini donut boats, old fashioned sodas and cereal malts. The bar menu is known for its creative craft cocktails, boozy malts and slushies, and beer and cider floats. One thing’s for sure, you always find something creative to order on the menu.
Before opening the mini golf course, Can Can Wonderland sent out a call to artists and asked, “What is the mini golf hole you have always wanted to play?” They received over 200 submissions from all over the world and teams of architects, artists, engineers and fabricators created the 18 holes on site today. Each hole has a sign that shows who designed and created it and a statement from the artist.
Some of our favorite holes were the State Fair hole with a Ferris wheel, the natural disaster hole with tornadoes and earthquakes, music mountain where you hit your ball over a 16 foot mountain for it to travel through musical instruments, and grandma’s living room, which is exactly what it sounds like!
There’s even a hole called grand slam where you put on a helmet and grab a baseball bat instead of your club.
Hole #18 is called, “The Mini Golf Hole Formerly Known As the World’s Longest Hole”, and the purple carpet and name are a tribute to Prince. This hole is basically an incredibly long, straight path that runs the entire length of the mini golf course. It took me several hits to even get close to the other end, but somehow, Micah almost got a hole in one here on two different rounds! It was quite a feat to say the least.
Lines for mini golf can get long as the day goes on, but don’t worry, there is almost always some form of entertainment taking place on stage. The event calendar is filled with activities like interactive storytelling, trivia against humanity, live music, tap dance lessons at “tappy hour”, art activities, and the “Yes We Can Can Variety Show”. In addition to the events, there are vintage pinball machines and arcade games, plus an old school photo booth.
No matter if it’s rain, shine, summer or winter, Can Can Wonderland is a great spot to take the family or spend an evening out with friends. There’s always something entertaining happening and you’re sure to have a crazy time!
Have you ever been to an artist designed mini golf course?
Special thanks to Visit Saint Paul and Can Can Wonderland for providing us with our first round of golf, Minnesota Bloggers Bash for our third round, and I suppose I’ll thank ourselves for the second! As always, all opinions are our own.