The651.com

I live in St. Paul. I work in St. Paul. I shop in St. Paul and I play in St. Paul. For me, there is no better vacation than to stay right here in the capital city and enjoy so many wonderful things just steps or a bike ride from my front door.

Me and the kids by the beach

This past Memorial Day weekend, my family stayed close to home and enjoyed some wonderful time outside. If your family loves to bike ride, I have a great place you must go to on the next sunny day. The bike path along the Mississippi River from Harriet Island toward Mendota Heights is a wonderful getaway. It is pretty level path, which is great for the young ones. At points along the path, there is a wonderful canopy of trees that almost makes you feel like you are on the North Shore of Minnesota.

If you have some budding archaeologists in your family, I highly recommend a stop at Lilydale Park. You can wind your way along the big hill and take part in some great fossil hunting. My 8-year old son went on a field trip with his third grade class to this area and now we love going there as a family. You play the role of an explorer and you sift through rocks looking for the ones that qualify as fossils. You may have to ask a friendly third grader to help you identify those clues! If you plan on keeping the fossils, be sure to apply for a permit.

Spooky Halloween in St. Paul

I am all about family adventures and St. Paul has many more places to go with your kids. If you are looking for a nice place to have a great meal, be sure to check out The Highland Grill at Ford Parkway and Cleveland Avenue. While you wait for your food, the waitress hands your children a tub of small toys to keep them occupied. When the food arrives, you realize why you came. They have wonderful gourmet meals that the kids will also enjoy. I think my husband and I lived on the Highland Grill food when our son was a baby. They got to know us pretty well!

We also really like going to a few other kid-friendly places on Grand Avenue. D’Amico and Sons feeds kids for free on Sunday nights. They also make sure the grown-ups glass of wine is always refilled for free. That is a nice bonus when you are going out with the family.

The beauty of the visit for us is that it is a short walk home after that. We also enjoy Billy’s on Grand. My son is a sports nut so we all enjoy watching the big game on the big screen while we wait for our burgers. If you don’t eat meat, they have a very nice veggie burger with any toppings. Bonfire on Grand provides a nice loud place so your kids won’t feel to intimidated to just be themselves. They have a great deal where kids make their own pizzas and watch them go into the woodfire oven. They also make their own sundaes for dessert. You can bet your young chefs will love being able to eat what they made.

If you are looking for a good spot to grab breakfast, Bread and Chocolate has the best Florentine

At the grand-opening of Rice Park powered by Xcel Energy

croissants. Get there early because they sell out fast. My kids love the cinnamon rolls. It’s a great way to kick back on a Sunday morning.I am “the” person to talk with about St. Paul. I often wish I would’ve grown up here. It is a big city with a small town feel and you really get the best of both worlds. I am just glad my children can call themselves St. Paul natives. Why would they want to leave when we have it all here?

- Vineeta Sawkar is an anchor on the Emmy-winning 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS mornings from 5-7 and Midday at 11a. Vineeta is a St. Paul resident and a die-hard Minnesota Wild fan (holding season tickets since the very first season in 2000)