It has been a long winter; the tan lines of last summer have completely gone, but despair not! The sun has finally come out again, and the clocks have moved forward. This is the time of year when one realizes that Fargo-Moorhead is actually a great place to be, so how does one take advantage of the great weather? Well, here are some inexpensive ideas to enjoy spring to its fullest:
Go for a walk. The great thing about this activity is that walking can be substituted for longboarding, biking or roller-skating. Get creative and enjoy the weather by getting off campus and moving. You can go out for the sole purpose of wandering and enjoying the neighborhoods surrounding campus, or Moorhead offers some fun stops along the way such as the Dairy Queen on Eighth Street. Other interesting destinations include the Moorhead Public Library, which is only a short distance from campus. Even though Concordia has Carl B. Ylvisaker, the Moorhead library is still fun to explore and it offers weekly activities for people of all ages.
Other great places to check out are parks in the area. Moorhead has many parks at different walking distances from Concordia. The closest parks are Lamb Park, located behind the townhouses, and Knapp Park, found behind Fjelstad. These parks offer lots of room to start a game of ultimate frisbee and, of course, they have swings and playground equipment. Woodlawn Park, also easily walkable, has a Frisbee Golf course that is open to the public. Larger parks by the river include Gooseberry Mounds Park and Island Park in Fargo. These two parks are great for bigger events like barbeques. Island Park has a community pool that is open in the summer.
Downtown Fargo is always so beautifully lit up with festive lighting during the winter, but it is not a place for lazily wandering from shop to shop. During the spring months, though, it becomes a great place to explore and hang out. From campus, downtown Fargo is roughly a 25-minute walk and a place one could easily spend all day people-watching, checking out local attractions or just walking around.
Geocaching is a little-known activity that requires nothing but a sense of adventure and a smart-phone app. Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game using GPS devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the cache hidden at that location. There are tons of geocaches hidden all over Fargo-Moorhead. Now that the snow has gone, get some friends together and try your hand at geocaching. Geocaching apps are downloadable online. Geocaching is fun to do alone or with a group of friends.
The Red River Zoo is also a great place to explore as the weather becomes more agreeable. Though this activity requires a car and a small admission fee, the zoo is still worth checking out if you have never been there. Currently open on weekends, the Red River Zoo is one of the newest zoos in the state with 75 different species of animals, including Red Pandas and a family of timber wolves. The children’s section includes a petting zoo and a 1920s carousel.
With all these options available, you may just want to stay in Moorhead all summer.
