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Spring is now in full swing and me and my 4-year old, Vincent, had Saturday to ourselves. Outside was definitely calling. Vinny, like most kids his age, is really into playgrounds with slides, ladders and climbing equipment. So we decided to make it our mission to find the best playground in the city.

We started with our favorite research method – just ask Mama. Janey mentioned a place I had never heard of called “Treasure Island” in St. Paul. A quick Google search on it brought up several references from parents calling it the best playground in town. I was still slightly skeptical. I mean, if its such a great place why have I never heard of it? It was enough to convince us to go check it out.

The playground is part of the Expo Magnet School near Snelling and Randolph, a block or two from Cretin-Derham Hall High School. Once we got nearby it was a little more obvious why I hadn’t heard that much about it. It’s not visible or particularly accessible from any of the main streets in the area. In fact it’s in a spot where Pascal Ave dead-ends into a parking lot [Map]. Let just say you have to know where you are going.

As soon as we roll up, it becomes obvious why people like this place. It is a huge, all-wood, structure decorated to vaguely resemble a pirate’s cove. There is a main structure of interconnected walkways, towers and tunnels surrounded by a few smaller areas with typical playground climbing stuff. Among the things we saw: a wooden Tic-Tac-Toe board, a climbing wall, 3 types of slides and several tire swings.

Just to give a sense of how big this place is, I took this brief video that shows Vincent walkthrough about a quarter of the total structure looking for a room he had earlier dubbed the “Iggywig”. Frankly I had as much fun chasing him as he did running around.

Vinny searches for the “Iggywig” at Treasure Island playground. from 651 Family on Vimeo.

It was also surprisingly un-crowded for a 65 degree Saturday afternoon, further convincing me that it might be more of a neighborhood secret than a destination.

The only way I was going to get Vinny to leave after a couple hours was to bribe him with food and ice cream. Another sweet side-effect of this playground is it’s proximity to tons and tons of family-friendly restaurants and shops, so we took Janey’s recommendation once again and cruised over to Snuffy’s Malt Shop on Cleveland.

Snuffy’s is another one of those places that I feel dumb admitting I have never been to, but I’m glad I finally went. The burgers were awesome, so was the ice-cream. The small, half-width booths near the front were perfect for the two of us. At first Vinny was slightly freaked out by the fact that the bathrooms were through the kitchen and down in the basement, but once he saw the walls painted with fish, he kept trying to find excuses to go back down there.

We had a blast at both places, and are already planning our next trip to the neighborhood.