St. Cloud: Romancing the Stone
From Itineraries Minnesota Fall Issue 2007
This itinerary can be customized for anytime of the year. You’ll find it at coordinates H-13 on the 2008 Annual Group Travel Map distributed in the Fall 2007 issue of Itineraries Minnesota Magazine.
In Granite Country we take our granite seriously, and are without equal when it comes to romancing the stone. So vast are the granite deposits that lie beneath Central Minnesota that some have run more than 11 miles deep. So vast is the influence of the granite industry that even our fabled minor league baseball team was the St. Cloud Rox.
Minnesota’s first granite quarry was opened in 1868 on St. Cloud’s east side to build the state reformatory. Granite was quarried to construct the prison and its great granite wall. While tours inside of the prison are not available, the outside of the building is a gothic masterpiece.
Due to its durability, granite is often used for memorials. Yes, you can tour a memorial orchard, but why not think outside of the box? Granite isn’t just for memorials anymore.
So much has technology advanced that an actual picture (wedding, anniversary, baby, etc.) can be precisely laser etched, virtually lifelike, onto granite. When you have experienced the ordinary tour, try the unexpected experience of granite at Granite Country USA!
10 – 11:30 am
Start your granite tour at Michelich Jones Granite. Here you have an opportunity to learn about granite itself. Browse the granite gardens with so many fun items such as benches, birdbaths, lanterns, feeders, and stepping-stones. Be adventurous and take the opportunity to try etching on a piece of granite yourself…and take your masterpiece home with you.
11:30 – 11:45 am
Afterwards see an etching demo and a short video of granite.
11:45 – 1:00 pm
Enjoy lunch at one of St. Cloud’s great restaurants.
1:00 pm
After lunch, tour Park Industries, a manufacturing plant that makes the extraordinary equipment that saws, shapes or polishes granite.
Our granite partners kindly ask you contact the St. Cloud Convention and Visitors Bureau to plan your next granite tour. Contact Jean Robbins, St. Cloud CVB 1-800-264-2940, ext. 129 or jean@granitecountry.com.
