The Adventures of Ghost Squadron

Boston Trip: September 25-29, 2011

2011-10-11T17:57:00.000-07:00

Mother-Daughter Trip! I will admit, I was worried when 2 days before we left my mom presented me purse. But not just any old purse - it was a coordinating purse. It coordinated with her purse!!! It was seriously like the kid-size version of the one she bought for herself. Sigh. But this was her "bucket list" trip and I was going to be a good daughter. Plus, after I exchanged the purse, I was very pleased to have a new purse! ;)

Day 0

Evening airline ride to Boston, hopped a cab and got to the hotel (Westin Waterfront) to have a late dinner at the hotel's restaurant, MJ O’Connor’s. It was an Irish pub that played top 40s music – a pet peeve of mine. The hotel room had a decent view of the harbor, but no washcloths for the entire stay – I guess that was our trade off.

Day 1

We were able to get up and start the morning in Boston fresh and ready for some sight-seeing. The hotel concierge recommended the Upper Deck trolley tours and that turned out to be a great tour for us. Padded seats, entertaining tour guides and easy to spot buses painted bright green and yellow. We traveled the route until we got to stop 7, the start of the Freedom Trail. But before we could start that we needed lunch, I spotted an alley that looked interesting and it had a restaurant tucked into it, Sweetwater Tavern. Great good and super yummy sweet potato fries. We then entered Boston Commons to walk to the beginning and first site of the Trail, The State House.

Then we saw it all: King’s Chapel and burying ground, Boston City Hall, Old South Church, Old State House (where we stopped for a tour to hear more about the Boston massacre) and that is where we stopped for the day. We got back on the bus and toured around the city til we got back at our hotel. The hotel had a free shuttle that returned us to Faneuil Hall in the evening so we could enjoy dinner at Cheers. For being such a tourist trap I was really impressed with the food!

Day 2

We started the foggy morning by heading to the harbor for our harbor tour that was included with our bus tour. So glad we took the first boat tour, it was just me, my mom and some lady from India – it was like a private tour of the harbor and as we were out on the water the fog lifted and it was a beautiful ride.

After the boat tour, it was time for lunch! Right on the wharf was Chart House and it seemed like just the place to eat and enjoy the harbor view. It was our nautical day so next stop: USS Constitution. This was the one spot I didn’t see last time I was in Boston cuz Rachel and I lost track of the RED line that was on the sidewalk. It is a beautiful ship and was neat to see how well it is taken care of.

Back on the trolley! Next we were going to stop at Prudential – there is a bar on the 52^nd floor that has great views of the Boston skyline, good place for a rest stop. Hopped the last trolley back to the hotel to freshen up and back to Quincy Market for dinner! We wandered for a bit trying to decide where to go and spent some time checking out the Holocaust memorial. It is actually pretty horrific. There were 6 towers to represent the concentration camps and a gassy fog came up through the vents in the sidewalk while you read quotes from Holocaust survivors. Nothing like eating after seeing that! After realizing some places were just too loud and bar-like we finally ended up on the patio of Anthem. Pleasant evening.

Day 3

The morning came and we were back in a taxi, cabbing it to Faneuil Hall to start up where we left off on the Freedom Trail. First stop, actual Faneuil Hall. I am glad we went inside, it was beautiful! Very nicely restored and oozed a wonderful sense of history. A few short blocks and we step into the North End, Boston’s Little Italy. It was a clear divide! Italian restaurants everywhere! We had some sites to see before I could gorge myself on Italian food though, like Paul Revere’s House! We were able to tour the inside see how it would have looked at the time he owned it. It was actually quite a large house for that era – which is good considering he had like 16 children!

Then on to the Old North Church. One if by land, two if by sea. Finally, time for some lunch. Italian lunch! On the plane ride to Boston we discovered we had a Boston local sitting next to us and he recommended Antico Forno. I can't say it was the best Italian meal I ever had but the server (from Brazil) had the most amazing eyes. So good lunch and onto Copp’s Hill Burying Ground which signaled the end of the trail for us. All we had to do was cross a bridge and we would be back at the USS Constitution which we already toured! So my mom did it - Freedom Trail, check!

Before we left the North End we had one last stop...everywhere we went we told to go to Mike’s Pastry for cannolis. So I guess we had to go! Um, yeah, it was pretty yummy! After that we were pretty tired out and retired early – we didn’t even have dinner this night!

Day 4

Figured out the subway system on the final day! We saved a bunch of coin and avoided all taxis. It took me a minute, but we got it figured out and didn’t end up taking us on a ride to Harvard or something – instead we made it to the lunch spot of the day: Omni Parker House’s The Last Hurrah – home of the parker rolls and creator of the Boston Cream Pie. Enjoyable lunch chatting with the couple at the table next to us who were from Saint Cloud! HA! Oh and there was a Best Buy conference at the hotel also so MN was all around.

After lunch we entered the subway again for a closer look at Boston Public Library and Trinity Church. Both beautiful structures, inside and out.

At this point we had really seen it all and pretty tired of walking so we headed to the airport and dined at Jerry Remy’s Bar and Grill for our final Boston meal. Smooth plan ride home and a little kitten was happy to have me home!

Graceland Road Trip: June 18-24, 2011

2011-06-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

Road trips seem like a good idea... no airline ticket to purchase, amazing amount of scenery and attractions you can visit, but then as the trip starts to approach I start to calculate how much time I will be stuck in a car and I get a bit anxious! I don't like to sit still. But I gotta say, with all the breaks and sites we saw, the time passed quickly! I am already thinking about planning another. I think it is time to see more of the west coast... but focus... this blog is about my fabulous trip to Graceland!

Saturday, June 18th: St Louis
After spending 10 hours in the car, St Louis seemed like a good stopping point! We arrived in St Louis late afternoon and the sky was blue and bright, so it seemed like one should really travel 630 ft in the air to experience it! The Gateway Arch was really a site to see. The 4 minute ride up to the top was fun... and cozy, they cram 5 people in these little cars designed in the 60s - so you learn to make friends quick! It was unfortunate that once on top, the viewing windows were dirty and small, which diminished the view, but it was still one of my favorite stops!

Now it was time for dinner! We had read an article that listed some of the best pizzas in the country and St Louis had a listing: Pi Pizzeria. We decided to go to the Central West End cuz it was 2 miles closer to us than the other location and we were starved. I had no idea that Central West End was that adorable. Super trendy and cute. The pie was pretty decent, but I think they are known for their deep dish, which we didn't get.

Sunday, June 19th: Drive to Nashville
We woke up the next morning, ready to drive to Nashville. Along the way we made a stop at Land Between the Lakes. It is a section of land that is sandwiched between 2 lakes, with walking trails and historic locations. I was happy to get out and walk around a bit, too bad the weather didn't want me to. So hot, so humid and a bit rainy. So we got back in the car to visit the bison prairie, excited to see some roaming bison! Um, the bison didn't want me to see them. They were not feeding or roaming, they were hidden somewhere among the trees, so that was a bust.

Our Nashville hotel had a shuttle to Opryland Resort, which was great cuz parking over there is $18! The resort is grandiose and over the top, at a constructed corporate level that I don't appreciate, but I made the most of it! I road the boat that wound through the courtyard (that is how big the hotel is) and enjoyed the fountain show and had dinner at one of the hotel's restaurants: Jack Daniel's. There was a band playing at Jack's which was fun to watch, great cover band and I even picked up their CD of original songs. It was a fun night!

Monday, June 20th: Nashville, drive to Memphis
Back on the hotel shuttle in the morning, so we could tour the Grand Ole Opry. It was super lavish, all the dressing rooms and the green room were a site to see. The thing that really got me was the circle on the stage. The current location of the Grand Ole Opry is pretty recent, the "real" location was the Ryman Auditorium. So in order to keep a piece of that history, they cut out a section of the Ryman stage and installed it into the current Opry stage. After hearing all the Opry history, we had to tour the Ryman Auditorium also! Between the two, this one was the most interesting for me. The history of the building is fascinating and the talent and legends that sang on that stage gives you the "chill bumps".

Our time at Nashville was at an end (bummer) and it was time to get to Memphis! But with one stop along the way... Grinder's Switch Winery. We all know the special place that MN wineries hold in my heart, so I was excited to visit a TN winery! This winery is in a super charming log cabin, in the middle of what seemed nowhere. The owner is super friendly and pours some great and unique wines. Quite a few sweet ones (just like MN), but some real treasures too. The Chardonnay was one of my favorites, which is rare, those are not usually my favorite!

Tuesday, June 21st: Memphis
It's time, time for the whole purpose of this trip: Graceland. Before arriving, we had read somewhere that you can expect to spend about 2 1/2 hours touring the property. We spent 7 1/2 hours. HA! Ok, so we did take a shuttle over to Sun Studio for a tour and come back to finish the Graceland experience. But Sun Studio is so closely tied to Elvis that it seemed like all part of the Graceland experience. And it was all so great. How to even write about it? Graceland, the house, is much smaller than I expected and we could only tour the first level (lame), but it does have a lot of other building on the property to poke around in. To have a house like that frozen in the 70s era of decorating, well, that is pretty eye opening! I want a jungle room. Sun Studio was also a great tour. Heard some old and original tracks and really got that feeling of history.

Dinner that evening was at BB Kings on Beale St where we were entertained by the house band and I got some good mac and cheese! Beale St is pretty touristy so we thought a good way to view the city would be a Trolley ride. They restored their vintage car so it was a charming 45 minute ride around the city as the sun disappeared for the night.

Wednesday: June 22nd: Memphis
I was absolutely giddy to watch the Peabody Ducks make their daily trek to the fountain and who knew you had to get there an hour early to watch this! Good thing we showed up so early. The elevator doors finally opened and the 4 ducks came running out - they bee-lined for that fountain! Just so cute. We then visited the top of the hotel to see their "palace" at night and some great views of Memphis.

Time for lunch! We ordered sensibly so we could binge on dessert (at lunch! I never get dessert at lunch, but considering the South considers mac and cheese a vegetable side, it seemed right). Rumor had it that McEwen's on Monroe had some fabulous banana cream pie, and I have to agree!

When we at BB Kings the prior evening, the waitress recommended the Gibson Factory Tour. So after licking the dessert plates clean, we headed to the Gibson factory. Interesting tour, learned stuff about the guitar making process that I had no idea about!

I usually seem to end up at a cemetery on my vacations and this was no exception. Elmwood Cemetery is a Memphis cemetery that was started in 1852. And I think this was the most amazing and largest one I have been to at 80 acres. So many awe-inspiring headstones and crypts. I could have spent hours here, but it was too hot to wander and it was closing time soon, which meant dinner...

Every site you read to research Memphis tells you to eat at Rendezvous Restaurant, so we thought we better! The entrance is in an alley, the wait is long, and you find your own table after the hostess points you in the general direction. It is simple and good! A place to visit for sure!

Thursday, June 23rd: Memphis, drive to Branson
Well, that was it, time to start our return home. But not before we made one last overnight stop at Branson! We were going to make a stop to tour some caves in Arkansas, but before we got there, we saw all these signs advertising the Natural Bridge. Our curiosity was peaked, we had to stop. The drive down to the starting point was kind of crazy! We actually had to put the Prius in a low gear and weave our way down and hope we didn't run into another car! Safely made it and we walked the short trail, taking in the beauty of the land and seeing the bridge. Wish we could have walked on the bridge. Ah well.

Once at Mystic Caverns, there were 2 caves on the property that could be toured. The first one, just 1 week earlier was flooded tens of feet, so glad we showed up a week later! The second cave was bigger and had a small pond/wishing well. The pennies that are thrown in there are eaten away in about 2 weeks by the chemicals in the water! It was real pretty there and nice and cool.

Um, so wow. Wow. I don't even know where to start to describe Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede dinner show. Maybe just the name is enough? :) It wasn't until I was buying tickets that I realized that we had to pick a side: North or South. And they meant North or South in the Mason-Dixon kind of way. The whole evening, the audience was pitted against each other in all sorts of crazy competitions, some performed by audience members, some by professional horse riders. There were some fun horse riding tricks and baby pigs plus mini-ponies stole the show, but still sometimes I was kind of wide-eyed, trying to wrap my head around what I was a part of that evening.

Friday, June 24th: Branson, drive home
We really only made one stop on the 10 hour drive home, so I have to mention Osceola Cheese Shop! It was a good stop. I sampled a bunch of cheese, found my MO souvenir mug (I earned 2 new state mugs on this trip!) and then was ready for that final push home! Final mileage count: 2149.9 miles!

St Croix Valley Train Ride

2011-06-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

I spent a lot of May in the St Croix River Valley, it is a really beautiful part of the MN landscape! I traveled back up here to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom (and brother) since I was not in town on actual Mother's Day and we went on a train ride. Truth be told, my brother and I were the only people on the train our age, but whatever, I had a wonderful time! We opted for the 1.5 hour ride that traveled through scenic bluffs and over waterways, starting in Osceola. The engine does a run around at Marine on St Croix to bring us back on the same track. I saw a wild turkey, deer, an eagles nest (do you know that they can weight up to 1 ton!?) and some fantastic scenery.

It was fun to hang out by the open doors where you could see the view uninterrupted...

The train had several variety of cars that you could travel in between during the ride. There was a mail car, an old passenger car (that I don't understand how people could fit in, the seats were so small and close together), and a slightly more modern passenger cabin (from the 50s) that had super comfy seats and air conditioning.

Marine on St. Croix: 1.5 hour, 20-mile trip. Board the train in Osceola, Wisconsin at the historic SOO Line depot, located at 114 Depot Road.
Adults $17, Children $8 (ages 5-15), Family $45 (two adults and two to four children ages 5-15), Children 4 and under ride free with paid adult but do need a boarding pass.

Dresser: 50-minute round trip takes you from Osceola, Wisconsin to Dresser, Wisconsin. Board the train in Osceola at the historic SOO Line depot, located at 114 Depot Road. Once in Dresser, passengers are allowed some time to exit the train and stretch their legs while checking out the fully refurbished 1887 Dresser depot.
Adults $12, Children $6 (ages 5-15), Family $30 (two adults and two to four children ages 5-15), Children 4 and under ride free with paid adult but do need a boarding pass.
**I want to try this one next, the turn around on the Marine on St Croix is long and slightly boring, so it would be nice to get off the train and wander for a minute like at this stop.

My NE MN Wine Trip: May 6-8, 2011

2011-05-14T18:00:00.000-07:00

This was the 4th annual and means we have hit all the quadrants in the state! But not all the wineries... I have routes planned for next several years. :)

By the time we all met up and got the car packed we were starved! Time for some brunch, unfortunately, the original destination (Tilia) was too long of a wait so we popped next door to Cafe Twenty Eight. That is right, I let us deviate from the itinerary! 28 was super yummy and we got an outside table, which meant I also got my first sunburn of the season. Full tummies mean time to wine taste! So we piled in the car and headed east to New Richmond, WI where we found ourselves at a vodka distillery. I know, I know. Vodka is not wine, but I love 45th Parallel so I had to add it to our stops. We had a quick tour and vodka/gin sampling, then we headed to our rental for the weekend. If there is a word better than perfect I would use it. Someone should invent a word to describe this place! Google maps may have put us on a (unnecessary) dirt road to get here so when we were weaving through rural suburbia for about 2 miles I started to get nervous, but then we saw some water (Kroon Lake) and our driveway. The unassuming house was in a peaceful setting, and then after unlocking the door we all were trying to figure out a way to stay here forever! So many meals, glasses of wine and laughter were shared on that deck perched overlooking the calm water lake. We never even turned on the well equip TV cuz the wildlife provided enough entertainment! We now have a realty show about geese we need to pitch to someone...

We had to tear ourselves away from the house though, we had a gala to attend! A winery about 30 minutes away was hosting an event serving a buffet of local foods. So after attending the Taste of St Croix at Chateau St Croix, we all wished we would have visited another night. If you are expecting 250 guests, why would you set up 4 tables to dine at?? It was a food event! It is hard to eat and drink standing up. And then on top of the $25 ticket we had to still pay another $6 if we wanted to taste the wine. And there were 2 people pouring. Sigh. The whole event was poorly organized, but I will admit the food was good and I ate my share (albeit sitting on the damp ground).

Saturday was a pretty open day, we were only dictated by the operating hours of the 2 wineries we were going to stop at. So that meant we lazed around and fixed a late breakfast, enjoyed on the deck. Once noon rolled around we had to get a move on, friends were meeting us in Stillwater! It was awesome timing but all three cars pulled into the St Croix Vineyards lot at nearly the same time, we were ready for a tasting! About half way through the tasting we found out they were offering a free tour, so we jumped on board that. We learned about growing grapes and the making of wine. I gotta tell you, I have gone on several of these and every time I learn more!

With the tour over and our tasting wrapping up, it was time to think about lunch. The Dock Cafe it was! I just ate here the past September and loved it so happy to return and actually sit on the dock. It was a great lunch and saw some crazy boat-cars.

We were in Stillwater, which meant we had to shop! We wandered in and out of shops til we started to crash, then thought we better hit that last winery cuz nothing wakes you up like wine. :) We only had to drive about 6 blocks til we hit Northern Vineyards. And then we waited and waited and waited. We were tired and didn't have the patience to deal with this crowd or wait. So we randomly pulled bottles off the shelf and figured we would have our own tasting back at the house. Before settling in the night we had to stop at the crazy park we passed several times: Franconia Sculpture Park. I will let the pictures speak for themselves and also say it is a destination to visit in person!

Could the weekend really be over? Ugh. How does this happen every year!? Thankfully we had all morning to make breakfast and sit on the deck and enjoy the sun (before it disappeared behind the clouds as the day progressed). Last winery was on the way out of town, Winehaven Winery. We were in and out pretty quick and on the road home. And I hoped I wouldn't run into any more pheasant...I can't close without mentioning the poor bird I completely destroyed when we were in the St Croix valley. Oh man, I didn't even see it, I guess I took care of things before the next hunter could!

Ireland: February 2011 (day 4-6)

2011-02-13T13:28:00.001-08:00

I am so full. I had a wonderful Italian dinner tonight, but before that the day started with a super home-cooked breakfast at the b&b (hmm, food here turned out to be much better than I expected). We shared the breakfast table with a Toronto couple that were traveling with their 3 month old child (brave), they were very nice nice and traveling opposite than us so provided some tips.

We checked out and visited a 13th century church in the Dingle area (Kilmalkedar Church) and then drove to Killarney for lunch. Once we found Main St, it was really charming. After lunch, it got really rainy and just not pleasant to wander. We stopped at the woolen market, tried on 80 different wool sweaters but couldn't find anything so just checked in our next b&b for the night.

Oh and I have to give a shout out to our GPS at this time. Roads are not labeled and the signs appear after we pass them, it is just so nice to let the voice guide us. Oh and car... It is still holding in there but when I put it in reverse the back windshield wiper turns on and oh the drivers door only shuts about 60% of the time.

It was so nice getting up and not having to pack up before breakfast. We could wander down for breakfast and then head back upstairs to get ready. We walked all over the town of Youghal today. A seaside town, that not during off season is a very different town I imagine. We visited the 18th century clock tower and lighthouse and then did some local shopping, but then we decided to go on an Experience. Ohooh, but before that rachel spotted a guy in youghal wearing a Minnesota sweatshirt!

Ok, so The Jameson Experience. Super fun time. After a tour of the old distillery those of us the tour sat down to earn a certificate as an official whiskey taster. I learned a lot about Scottish, Irish and American whiskey. Plus it was a real fun time sitting around the table talking with the other folks on the tour. One Irish couple told us to visit Carlow for some interesting ruins and another Irish girl mentioned Kilkenny. Kilkenny we hit first and after some GPS trouble we found it, really busy town! Kind of crazy to drive in. They had a castle in the center of town and the Smithwick's brewery! Adorable city, I could spend a lot of time here given the chance.

Next we drove to Carlow and realized the town was much bigger than it seemed, but also the most run down. We visited the city castle, well just one wall...a guy in the 1800s was trying to remodel and accidentally blew up the whole thing. Then we saw a portal grave dating back 5000 years and Carlow held one more surprise, another castle, with a grand stone wall entrance. In the setting sun it was magical.

We arrived then at our final b&b, in Athy. The owner knew of a bar playing music this night, finally! We had yet to hear an Irish band. We waited a long time, long time...but they finally got on stage. I was giddy listening to them, it was so awesome.

The next morning, our last day. :( We had the last home-cooked breakfast today, I am going to miss eggs every morning, I would never take the time for such things. After a 10 min hunt for the car keys, we packed up the car...well we tried to pack, the dog at the b&b jumped in the car!! He was so excited to come with! It was such an ordeal to get him out but super funny. Finally on the way to the airport. The airport shuttle guy told us someone earlier in the week had wrecked the rental car and ended up paying some local 400 euro to drive him around. Ha! Glad we were able to manage on our own. Wow, the flight back is long when you are not sleeping, I managed to watch The Town, Due Date and Red. After a connection in Chicago... Home!

Ireland: February 2011 (day 2 and 3)

2011-02-09T00:13:00.001-08:00

I spent a lot of time this morning trying to figure out why my curling iron didn't work...turns out you need to turn the outlet on. All the outlet here have switches, different.

We found our way out Dublin and hit the open road. Our stomachs planned our next stop and it was great, Kildare. We had a filling lunch at the local pub and then traveled over to The Grey Abbey, erected in 1260. It is ruins now and an outlet mall sits behind it, but it was fun to wander around.

After being in the car about an hour it was time to stretch the legs and when we saw a castle high upon a hill, that was the place to stop! The Rock of Cashel would have been so cool to tour but we missed closing by more than an hour. That didn't stop us from climbing around the muddy exterior and getting some lovely views.

I would love to visit the town of Cashel agian, but not the town of Bruff. Bruff was our first B&B and they did NOT have our reservation!!!! Thankfully they had space, but after the screaming children and barking dogs I had enough. There was one pub in town and we did have fun sitting there for 3+ hours but we didn't want to stay any longer in town come morning.

We left Bruff by 10am the next day and started to Dingle. Driving those narrow roads are so much easier in the daylight!! Although I still screamed at every oncoming car, but it was a more comfortable scream. Our route took us through Newcastle West, charming little town with nicely maintained walk paths and a castle in the center of town. We then started our drive to the B&B outside Dingle, it was such a remote area that the GPS wouldn't even pick it up, but we found it!

The view outside our window were sheep and the second tallest mountain in Ireland, beautiful. The B&B owner laid out a wonderful path for us to tour, but of course we managed to miss every single site she circled for us on the map. Our new plan is to find them in the morning after a filling breakfast! In the mean time we drove around the Dingle penninsula and thoroughly enjoyed the views.

Ireland: February 2011 (day 0 and 1)

2011-02-07T03:28:00.001-08:00

If I could find an air ticket for $20 I would buy it just for the chance to sit in the Surdyk's Flights bar again. There was not a soul at the MSP airport on Saturday afternoon (odd) and we were through security in 10 minutes, with an hour+ to kill. Hello, "small bubbles" wine flight and pretzel! Our first awkward interaction when I asked the waiter if we ordered at the table and he said yes and just walked away. Um, ok.

Terminal 5 at Chicago O'Hare, we are not friends. A 2 hour lay over and you don't have a restaurant for me? Just fast food and a bar that sells Bud Light for $8.25. And just our luck to discover that the food was only on the other side of security we just went through.

Finally seated in the plane for the ultimate destination!! I love in seat movies. Watched "Never Let Me Go" til it was time to get some sleep.........

We landed! And we found our way to the car rental without too much confusion. Who bet I would break the car in 10 minutes? You win! The curbs here are deadly and I forgot the bulk of the car is to my left, not my right. Whoops. Although I don't believe the amount of hub cap damage is all me, all 4 are pretty trashed. But thankfully it is now parked safely underground til tomorrow morn.

Lots are walking in Dublin. The shops were still closed when we started out, nothing opens til noon on Sundays. But we wandered til we found a pub to have lunch at, a hunk of Brie cheese on toasted bread is pretty tasty! Then the rain and wind got to be too much and we did the most touristy thing we could, jumped on city tour bus.

Good decision, it brought us right to the Guinness tour! The top floor observation area is amazing, views of Dublin as far as the eye can see.

We also hopped off the tour bus to get a better look at Christ Church Cathedral, which was stunning.

Three and half of sleep on the plane and endless walking the next day meant an early night....

Chicago

2010-10-22T18:36:00.000-07:00

This spring I had a conference in Chicago and I had to take advantage and extend my time just a bit. I didn't spend an extra night, I just spent a few extra hours and got to see a lot! Funny how different time can pass on my couch vs real life!

First the views from my hotel room weren't half bad...
And my co-worker and I got to eat at some fantastic spots. One night was at a great Italian restaurant and the next was at Uno Pizza - where they happened to be filming a show for the Travel channel! If I am on camera, it would only be because of the funny faces I was making at my co-worker's kid.

So conference over and I have 6 hours to kill before I need to think about the airport, so I headed for the Field Museum.
So the part of the museum that holds the dioramas and taxidermied animals... well it scared me. Freak me out. I swear to you, I looked in the eyes of this beast I think it blinked:

Then I fled to the mummies and tombs, not sure if it settled my soul:
And then the totem poles of Alaska (I think it was Alaska), are messed up:
Next I was off to the dinosaur bones and I even caught the 3D movie - sure it was geered a bit towards the kids, but whatever, I enjoyed it and it did not freak me out.

Well best be heading out and see a few more sites... like the Married with Children Fountain!
I waited forever for this water show to happen, but it was a lovely day and I enjoyed my ice cream cone and book while I waited.

Finally Millennium park. There are some weird things scattered about this park, but I enjoyed a nice stroll in my last fleeting moments in Chicago...

Minneapolis Tours

2010-10-22T18:11:00.001-07:00

I have confessed my love for tours in the past, so no surprise I went on a few this year...

* Who knew the southernmost bog resides in Minneapolis? I didn't! But once I heard about a "quaking bog" tour I had to go on it! Tucked inside of Theodore Wirth Park is this fascinating wetland (that is right - fascinating). Did you now that the pinecone from a tamarack, which can reach heights over 60 feet, is smaller than the size of a dime? So what other kind of plants grow in this low oxygen environment? Carnivorous ones of course! Pitcher plants and sundews are about the only thing that can survive. Oh and buckthorn. Sadly, buckthorn is taking over the bog now and the caretakers suffer an endless battle. And if you are interested in the definition of a Quaking bog, well it has a vegetation mat half a meter or so thick that floats over water or very wet peat. Walking on this surface causes it to move – larger movements may cause visible ripples of the surface, thereby creating a quaking surface.

Ok, this shot is not the bog, but just outside of it... poison ivy!

This is not in the bog, but just across the street is Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and there was a cardinal! It made my day.

* Lake Harriet Traditions (co-sponsored by the Linden Hills History Study Group) was a lovely walking tour starting at William Berry Park (Queen and 40th St) and brought us through Linden Hills and ended at Lake Harriet. It was a fun look at the neighborhood and homes.

* Tour: Red Cedar Lane and the Purcell and Elmslie Homes. Starting out near 54th and Upton Ave this tour was all about the architecture in the area and the people who built it. Interesting folly spotted along the way!
I highly recommend checking out the walking tours of Minneapolis: www.preserveminneapolis.org

California Wine Trip: September 10-12, 2010

2010-09-28T14:03:00.000-07:00

Ah, California wine country, I returned! As soon as we landed I wanted to get started and visit all 280 wineries and the fact that I couldn't stressed me out, but in 3 days we still made a good effort! Michelle and I flew in Thursday evening and after waiting far too long for the airport shuttle we finally arrived at HoJo where Rachel was waiting for us with a chilled bottle of champagne! Awesome.

The next morning, after filling up at the continental breakfast, it was time to travel to our actual destination: Glen Ellen. Oh, but wait! The Golden Gate bridge! And it was a typical foggy San Fran day, the bridge never looked so cool.
Last time I was in the area we just jumped on the main highway, but I had heard that CA 1 was the way to travel. You follow the water and cut through some charming towns, like the little unincorporated water side town of Olema. Cute. A lovely lunch was served to us on a charming outdoor deck at the Farmhouse Restaurant. Unfortunately, the fog that made the Golden Gate so charming stuck with us the entire time on the 1 so the views weren't what they should be.

By this point though we needed to get a move on it, the wineries were going to be closing for the day and we hadn't even made it to 1 yet! It is really a shame the tasting rooms close at 5pm. As closing hour started to approach, we (luckily) missed our turn off so decided to stop at the winery just ahead: Anaba. This is a new winery that took over a previously existing vineyard. Their blush and pinot were my favorite!

Glen Ellen was minutes way at this point and oh, what a picturesque city Glen Ellen is! It is a small town and has all the small town charm. On the main drag is a tasting room for Hop Kiln so we could fit in another tasting for the day. The lady at the tasting room was kind enough to make reservations for us at Glen Ellen Inn for dinner. After eating there I wanted to move to Glen Ellen and only eat the ravioli that they served me that night. Oh and then there was dessert...

During our stay at Glen Ellen we rented a cottage off VRBO.com. Vanity Vineyards had some pluses and minuses. So never was it made clear we were renting a guest house in the backyard of the main house. Which meant when we arrived at the address we just entered the house...it wasn't our house! Ugh. Once we got that all settled our cottage was adorable, but we always had that feeling that we were intruding on someone's space.

Morning came and we were first in line for when the doors opened at Kunde. This turned out to be my favorite vineyard on the whole trip. We started with a cave tour and ended with a wonderful tasting. The Sauvignon Blanc here was pretty delish!

Before visiting our next winery, just up the road was a local olive oil shop, Figone's Olive Oil. It was great! Sipping olive oil out of little cups is an interesting experience! Ok, now for the next winery! Kenwood. The guy pouring our wine was a trip.

After 2 tastings (pre-lunch) we figured we better get some food in our bellies! So just up the road was Ledson. Um, we didn't even try the wine here, but we took advantage of the beautiful grounds and deli! The whole place was just so commercial and grandiose that I couldn't bare to be inside it and sample the wines, so we rushed out with full bellies and traveled the roads of Santa Rosa til we arrived at Paradise Ridge. The views here can't be beat. I didn't sample all they had to offer, I just purchased a glass of the bubbly. It wasn't my favorite, but it was nice to sit high atop the hills and look down at the town and vines.

We now needed to get on the back roads and find us some charm and boutique wineries. The first one we stumbled upon was DeLoach. Is not boutique, but it was good! And all pinots. I might like pinots now! But I am still scared to order them, you just never know - I always follow the rule, purchase a cheap cab before you purchase a cheap pinot, and you all know I am pretty cheap! Next, we found our boutique winery! Harvest Moon. I think we arrived 20 minutes before closing so it was a bit rushed, but great. The Zins here were good and we got to nibble on actual wine grapes.

For dinner on Saturday we decided to drive into Sonoma. We wandered a bit, but it was dark and you couldn't see much and our tummies were growling! After a day of drinking, nothing sounds better than Mexican so we stopped in at La Casa. They had a spot in the back courtyard, so we could just relax and over indulge in cheese and carbs!

Yet again, we were first in line when the wineries opened Sunday morning and we were ready to sample the fine wines at Chateau St Jean. I had a fun time here and really liked everything I sampled, but left with a Gewürztraminer. By this time we had figured out that you could share a tasting, which meant one could still taste the wine by the end of the night and not by hungover by 4pm!

Then we traveled back into Glen Ellen and stopped quick at the tasting room of Mayo . Some really good one here, particularly the Barbera. Lunch was calling and we ate at Garden Court Cafe , great food in a small cafe in the heart of Glen Ellen.

I had heard all about the tram ride and vineyards of Benziger and was really interested in seeing it for myself. The grounds were breathtaking. And it was nice to just sit and have someone drive me around. The wines here are bio-dynamic and I don't know if it is my head or not, but it all tastes a bit earthy for palette. The reserve cab is pretty darn good though!

I didn't want to leave! We had to go, we wanted dinner in San Fran and I guess at this point we were getting a bit full of wine, but on the way out of town we pass by Cline. I realize how commercial it is, but I do like their wines so this was our final stop. It was crazy busy here, but we found a spot outside and I could leave with a non-fortified port that I had been hunting for.

We drove around San Fran for a bit and I suffered a panic attack being stuck near vertical on the hills but finally got us to Lombard Street...and we drove the crooked street! Then we drove for like an hour to find parking and finally stopped and ate at an Asian-French fusion place. It was good! But I still had enough room for a second dinner at the airport! :)

My NW MN Wine Trip, May 14-May 16, 2010

2010-05-18T19:36:00.000-07:00

The third annual MN wine trip has come and gone. I am nearly done planning the 4th annual wine trip for 2011, but sadly I have to wait a whole year before that is going to happen! However, in the mean time, hopefully writing about the 2010 trip will help me relive it and not long for the next one quite yet!

This year 7 of us piled into 2 cars and hit the open road for NW MN. Well actually the open road didn't come right away since the first stop was in St Louis Park! About 6 miles away from our brunch stop at Victor's 1959 Cafe (where "wine trip 2010" is now penned on the walls), was our first stop: Warehouse Winery. By appointment only, we were able to schedule a tour of these new winery and enjoy all the rich bodied wines they are creating. My favorite was #3, the Sangiovese blend, it was nice and peppery.

Second stop (and second time Google map failed us) finally brought us to Millner Heritage Vineyard and Winery in Kimball. Opening the tasting doors in May of 2009 (but in operation since 2006) - Millner is one of the newest in MN and they have a strong tie to their heritage (hence the name!). Our host was dressed in a traditional German outfit that was pretty adorable. :) All the wines have a German/Austrian name. My favorite here? Freizeit. Great patio wine for those warm summer evenings! There website is helpful to know how long you can continue to age the wine (if people can actually wait around to drink it!).

We then drove to our rest stop for the night: Brophy Lake Resort. So... who else knew it was fishing opener this wine trip weekend?? The stir that 7 girls made traveling to a resort lake was pretty impressive! And then when the guys realized we couldn't get our fire pit started, oh boy. Finally we had a hero come to our rescue. Although I still claim that we couldn't get the fire started cuz once we realized we needed paper we got distracted and started to read the magazines instead. This resort was so fantastic, I highly recommend it and if you go fishing opener, you get to experience a very interesting subculture!

The next day started with the first of our 6 theme stops....

Then we continued on to the real business at hand, drinking wine! We traveled to Carlos Creek Winery and stayed for much too short of a time. The grounds here are so nice and they had all sorts of activities that we couldn't just stick around for. We did go on a tour here and then quickly slammed some wines. Recently Carlos was taken over by new management, and I think they are still working out their recipes. I had a hard time finding a wine I could name my favorite, but finally sampled Trinity and I really liked it!!

It was then off to a surprisingly wonderful stop: Leatherwood Vinegary. I say surprising because I left with 2 bottles of vinegar and I have never used vinegar in my recipes or meals before! I thought I didn't like it. One man's hobby has turned into a exciting new adventure! Set up in a humble workshop connected to him home, there are endless containers of vinegar of all stages of fermentation. I left with a tangy combo of rosemary and apple and a plain apple cider. Yum.

We had the luxury of not having to stay in a hotel or resort the second night, someone in the group had a cabin right along the travel path! We visited the best Mexican joint in the Northwoods: Companeros. We were all wishing we were wearing stretchy pants by the time we left there!! Once back for the evening, we watched loons dive for endless minutes and ran from june bugs.

The next morning was lazy and wonderful. We only had 1 winery left: Forestedge Winery. I have to admit, I was a bit hesitant. All their wines are fruit wines and well, the thought of drinking sweet fruit wines was not appealing after a weekend of wine tasting. But before we were were going to see if we could handle it, we had theme stop #2!

Ok! Now we could drink down some syrup...however, we were in a treat for a treat - these wines were dry, not syrupy sweet! The black currant and rhubarb raspberry were both my favorite. Great stop!

We then had the long drive home from Laporte to Minneapolis, thankfully we had 4 kodak moments to stop at!!

Foshay Observation Deck

2010-05-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

The skyline of Minneapolis was a different place in 1929 when the tallest building opened and held that title for 40 years. It may not be the tallest building in 2010, but it is rooted in downtown liked an old oak tree. Recently it had a rebirth and now holds a trendy nightclub, a trendy bar on the 27th floor and a trendy hotel, however the 30th floor is not so trendy... but instead transports you back to the "conspicuous consumption" era of the 1920s.

When you enter the Foshay Tower (on Marquette and 8th), held straight to the info desk of the W hotel. After handing over a chunk of cash ($8 for adults), you will get a special key card that takes you to the 30th level.

The museum is lined with old papers and letters highlighting the history of the Foshay. Hanging on the walls in 2 places is an electronic screen that will play videos outlining the past and current stories this building has had. One of the most interesting things I retained is that each floor is 4.5 inches shorter than the one beneath it. Therefore plumbing and duct work has to be offset at each level, which leads to quite an engineering feat! After wandering and reading gobs of memorabilia for a good 45 minutes, I finally climbed the final steps to the open air observation deck. And here are a few of like the 42 pictures I took....

Open Monday - Saturday from 12pm - 9pm
Open Sunday from 12pm - 6pm

Observation Deck Winter House are subject to the weather - call ahead (612-215-3700)

Midwest wine tour season has started!

2010-05-10T18:34:00.000-07:00

First winery visit of the season: Hook Stone Winery

Tucked right in with all the tourist shops lining main street is a little wine tasting room right in Hayward, WI. Four dollars will get a full tasting and a glass etched with the winery's name and "mascot". In addition to having fun wines like "Campfire" and "Rock Bass", the shelves are also lined with great food items like olive oils, mustards and sauces. I fell for the olive oils which were lined up right by the front door. These oils were different in that the olives are pressed right along side the accompanying flavors. For instance, the roasted garlic is pressed right with the olives as opposed to the olives being pressed, then infusing the oil later with the flavor. Pressing together allows for a much more predominate flavor and richness.

All wines are made on premises with grapes from California and Washington. I really enjoyed the whites. The reds were all pretty oaky. The port was my "best in show" - it is non-fortified (meaning no brandy added) and I thought it was just lovely.

Address:
10588N Main Street
Hayward, WI 54843

Phone:
715-634-WINE (9463)

Atlanta trip: February 26 -March 1, 2010

2010-03-07T15:13:00.001-08:00

Travel Log

Finally! It seemed like forever since I had gone on a trip!! This winter has been a long one (I think we - Minnesotans - say that every year, but really, this one seems like the worst in a long time) and I really needed to get away and not see snow. So after searching and searching on Expedia, I found a great deal to Atlanta. Rachel was going to be the travel companion on this trip til, well one diabetic cat later and it wasn't looking good. So turns out Neville was also looking to get away so I still had a travel buddy!

Friday
I had to get up before the crack of dawn, I didn't believe the sun was ever going to rise. It finally did when the plane took off! Oh well, at least during these early morning hours I had the meat raffle to entertain me!
I won 1 dollar! Well it wasn't enough to pay for the trip, but it was lunch time and I was ready to start spending some money! About a block away from our hotel was Steel. Odd place, I couldn't tell until we got a menu that this was an Asian restaurant! It was vacation so that meant wine with lunch! The server asked if we were celebrating something. hee hee.

A full stomach and I was ready to start exploring the city. First tour of the trip: the Federal Reserve Bank. The very first thing on the tour was a map showing where all the Federal Reserve banks were...um, Minneapolis was on that list. I didn't even realize, then I was worried that I could be going on this same tour back home - how lame would that be? Turns out Atlanta is the only one that has such a display. It was pretty neat, the museum part had all sorts of old money and items that use to be used as money. You got to inspect counterfeit bills and lift a gold bar. And you leave with a bag of real shredded money. Fun times.

What to do the first evening in a new town? How about tour a brewery!? Jen and I had read about a crazy place called Sweetwater Brewery. We didn't realize how crazy it was until we there there. It was like being a college house party again. If you ever want a refill on a beer you need to stay in a constant line or you are never getting back to the front again. After sampling all their beers, it was time to get out of there! It wasn't worth the $32 round trip cab ride, but I did love their blueberry beer. On a nice night it would have been fun to be outside and wander the grounds, but all being crammed into the building was a little too much for me.

Time for dinner! We headed back to our hotel and thought we would try another restaurant that was just across the street, Prickly Pear Taqueria. Not the best Mexican, but it was close and warm. This restaurant was one of several I saw on the trip - a joint Mexican and Pizza restaurant. Kinda of like an upscale joint Pizza Hut and Taco Bell combo! Oh and another unique restaurant type in the Atlanta area - a place that serves salads, just salads.

Saturday
After a nice, lazy, vacation morning, we decided to head out and explore some more. Next on the bracket - the CNN tour. Sadly, the earthquake in Chile had just hit in the middle of the night so this Saturday CNN tour was a bit more happening then other typical Saturdays. Our tour guide was pretty pumped that Rich Sanchez was there.

After the tour we stayed in the busy CNN center and ate at Dantanna's. This is a total sports bar place, with fun over-sized booths that have individual flat screen TVs, although we were seated at a boring table. Food was pretty good!

We thought we would check out Piedmont Park on the way back to the hotel. All the travel guides say to go here, but maybe because it was out of season, but it wasn't that cool. Just endless stretches of dead grass. For dinner we met up with Jen's aunt. It was so nice to let a local drive and decide where to go! She picked a great place, La Tavola. Great Italian food.

We were home early enough from dinner to run over to the liquor store across the street and then go back and rent a cheesy movie off cable. My favorite thing to do on vacation is rent a movie off cable!

Sunday
We still had a lot to see and this was our last full day! Got an early start to the morning and took the MARTA to Oakland Cemetery. Founded in 1850 this cemetery is filled with so many interesting things. Old epitaphs to read and old headstones to inspect... we spent a lot of time here.

I do a lot of research before trips and I didn't hear about the Cyclorama until we were in Atlanta. Such a shame, they need to boast their marketing skills cuz this place needs more visitors! It was fantastic! A giant oil painting completed in 1886 that is now strung up in a circle with a diorama blended into it, you get to view it by setting in a rotating stage that takes you through the 360 degree view of the battle of Atlanta.

I was starved at this point and we had past a cute little neighborhood joint called Dakota Blue. Tables filled with young, hip, artsy couples and local art hangs on the walls. I left with a new craving, jalapeño cheese grits from Dakota Blue. Yum!

Grant Park was a really neat neighborhood. We even checked out a couple of open houses in the area to see what the houses were like there. Grant Park totally beats Piedmont Park!

Well, time for the most touristy thing a person could do, The World of Coca-Cola. This is one long commercial, a commercial I didn't want to change the channel on! :) We got to view old memorabilia and old commercials. There was a 4D movie we watched twice. And then the finale, sampling 50 different Coke products from around the world! I stopped drinking Coke about 4 months back so I was nervous how this would go... thankfully I didn't stick my head under the soda fountain and just let the soda pour directly into my mouth!

As soon as we stepped on the MARTA to head back to the room to refreshen before dinner, someone started to yell, "the girl in the blue coat! the girl in the blue coat!" I can't even stress how much I didn't want to be wearing a blue coat at this time. I look up and this other guy started to introduce himself to me saying that he was a retired clown and now does magic tricks for entertainment (and tips). Oh god. I don't what is worse, a random guy yelling at me or a retired clown. Turns out it was all pretty hilarious. The clown hid a scarf in his sleeve and made it reappear under the sleeve of my jacket. Too funny.

The whole time we had been avoiding Marlow's Tavern, another restaurant across the street from the hotel, it looked chainy and meat laden. However, we didn't want to pay for a cab ride so we decided to give it a try. I am glad we did! Dinner was great, and they were happy to have us for hours (which I love to settle in a booth,with a good friend and a bottle of wine and not think about leaving the safety of booth life and entering the scary world again). The server was adorable and we got free asparagus fries, life was good.

Monday
Last day. :( Thankfully our plane didn't leave til mid-afternoon so we figured we had time to do one more thing... tour the Fox Theater. The outside is so nondescript, so I couldn't believe the inside when I saw it. Unbelievable. I got to sit in a chair valued at $50,000! Our 1 1/2 hour tour turned into 2+ hours by the end, but that is ok. I totally enjoyed poking around every nook and cranny. I just can't believe some guy gets to live there. He is like the protector of the Theater and they let him convert some old offices into a 2 story apartment. Lucky.

One last lunch before it was time to head to the airport. Right across from Fox Theater was a good looking place, Baraonda Caffe Italiano. They had pizza! For some reason I had been craving pizza the whole trip so I finally got my fix. Now I go could to the airport and head home...

Float Tank

2009-10-17T10:40:00.000-07:00

I have to write a bit about this morning's adventure: The Float Tank

First, spa week is just one more thing that makes Fall awesome! Every October several spas around town participate in offering select treatments for $50 - sometimes this offers huge discounts! For instance, I have had my eye on the Float Tank plus massage at the Wellness Center in Minneapolis. Normally this would cost $80, so once spa week rolled around I knew it was time to make this appointment!

So what exactly is the Float Tank? Well, it is like a sensory deprivation tank. But I punked out and had the music pumped into the tank the whole time and I left a towel in the tank door so a bit of light came in. The tank itself is about 6 or 7 feet long and maybe 4 feet wide and has 9 inches of salted, heated (to body temp) water. Normally you would float for 90 minutes, but because of the spa week discount the float time is 60 minutes, which is more than enough time! The first 30 minutes I probably just played in the salt water! HA! It is crazy though - you can't help but float! It took me a few minutes to really believe that and let my neck relax.

There is a salt smell that eventually you get use to, not sure how "true" sensory deprivation tanks deal with that. After a while I really relaxed and "floated away". At some point I floated over to the side wall and my elbow hit the wall and I completely freaked out. I didn't realize I was moving and I thought a fish or something got in the tank! heehee. The treatment finished with a good, tension relieving massage. Ah....

Minnesota State Capitol

2009-09-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

What is my next favorite thing to do when I can't visit a winery? Go on a tour! I prefer the tours to be historical in nature, but also to have something unique about it. So the Quadriga (yeah, I still can't say it so don't ask) Evening Viewing and Tour at the Minnesota State Capitol was right up my alley. I tried to attend this tour last year and it didn't work out so I was even more determined to go this year! I have never been to the State Capitol. I don't know how that happened. I have been here all my life and since I have committed to making this my home I felt I had to go. It was pretty sweet. Construction, on the 3rd capitol building MN has had, took 9 years and finished in 1905. This is one of those buildings that you are just not going to find anymore, modern construction is really a big failure when it comes to beauty and presence. The building's estimated value now is $400 million dollars and yup, that sounds about right.

The tour itself was 90 minutes and included the much acclaimed climb to the rooftop for a close up view of the Quadriga. What is the Quadriga? Yeah, it is the fancy word for the 4 gold horses on top of the capitol. Turns out Quadriga is just 4 horses pulling a car or chariot. And according to Wikipedia, there are 13 significant ones: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadriga. Now my new goal in life is to visit all those listed on Wikipedia's page. The one on the MN capitol is titled "Progress of the State". So the horses were cool and all, but sadly the approach you view them at pretty much leaves you with a bunch of pictures of the horse's ass.

The most unfortunate part of the tour? The 3 costumed characters that you "run" into while on the tour. I didn't know about this. "Oh, fancy running into you, Mr. Sibley - the first MN state governor who served from May 24, 1858, until January 2, 1860". Sigh. The people wore time-period inspired clothing and did their little act, thankfully it was over quick and it gave me more time to figure out my camera. Seriously, I spent half the tour trying to figure out where the setting for "inside/low light" was. I know I have that setting. I never found it. Help me. Oh well, I still enjoyed seeing the building - it is pretty impressive!

Oh and look - someone spent 100 hours to create the capitol using Lego's!

~Posted by Ann

Lake Pepin Weekend: August 2009

2009-09-03T19:07:00.000-07:00

Travel Log

Ghost Squadron Vacations Together Again! (that would have been the headline, if we produced a paper) The last time we all traveled together, as such a large group, was for a wedding in Disney World WAY back in 2003. I would say it was about time. Of course there was talk of an "epic" trip, you know the kind that puts us on the road for 36 hours again or the kind that puts us in an airplane again, but there just wasn't the time to pull that off. Instead, we got to do my favorite thing - explore the sights that are within a couple of hours from my house. I really think Minnesota (and Wisconsin) have a lot to offer to the local explorer!

We are all becoming so spread out that we thought it best to meet at a central location that would be on the way to our final destination. A restaurant makes for an ideal "central location", so Levee Cafe in Hastings was our ground zero. It is your normal Midwest restaurant, specializing in burgers and sandwiches. The food was OK, although I would say it was the train that traveled around the tracks above our heads that really excited us. Since we were Hastings, it probably would have been sacrilege to not stop at the Alexis Bailly Winery. It was such a great day out, the kind of day that calls for an early afternoon stop at a winery where you can order a couple of bottles of wine and play lawn bowling among the grape vines. Alexis Bailly filled that role perfectly! Such a great stop.

The true scheduled winery stop was at Maiden Rock Winery and Cidery. I was so excited to go to a producer of hard cider, but sadly all cider for the year had been sold out long before we ever got there. So I imagine Maiden Rock Cider will now be something that haunts me until the day I finally get to sample it. They have free wine tasting, which we did partake in and learned that Maiden Rock only produces one kind of wine (and it is apple). All other wines that they sell are from wineries in the area.

Well, wouldcha look at that, time flew and we could now "check-in" to our cottage. Oh wow, was this place special. Just the drive up the bluff was stunning. Once you turn onto the gravel road that butts up against crop fields you are know you are entering a special land. The actual driveway meanders for quiet some time - long enough to block out all signs of civilization and noise. You finally reach a clearing that perfectly fits 3 parked cars and even still you can't see the cottage. All you see are 2 lions, flanking a stone pathway. A few feet onto the path and then bang! you curve around and there stands the most charming home. The A-frame with wood shingles is just like that fairy house I have sitting in my garden, except this one is real and I get to sleep in it! You enter, through the heavy wood door with rod iron accents, to soaring ceilings and breath taking views of the lake. However, I now just have to point out the lamp. They is no taking in the view without spotting the lamp that sits in front of the paned windows. The furry, 4 footed lamp. I had to turn that lamp off one night and as my hand grazed the leg of that poor departed deer, I gagged, just a bit.

After I ran around like a fool, snapping pictures and exploring our borrowed weekend home, it was time to have a cocktail on the deck and discuss dinner. No one wanted to grocery shop right then, so best eat out. I had been reading and hearing a bunch about Harbor View Cafe in Pepin, WI and really pushed for that. Again, it was OK. Pricey to start and then you start adding drinks well, then it is real pricey. And they don't take plastic. And there isn't even an ATM on site. Sigh. I have to say though, the chocolate buttercream pie we had to end the evening was just the best thing I have had in a real long time. Time to head back to the cottage, lit a fire in that giant stone fireplace and relax (or play a board game or two).

The chill was in the air when we woke up the next morning! We all sort of milled about in the morning and finally got going around noon. There was no real destination, except maybe the cheese factory in Nelson, but we were passing by Stockholm and thought that would offer a place to grab food. Before we ate though, a couple of people in our group knew a couple that lived there, in Stockholm, and had created a showpiece garden. A picture perfect French garden, used for weddings and featured in magazines. So we invaded. They let us roam their grounds and tour their 1850 civil war era home (no running water/kitchen/bathroom makes this not their "true" home, that is actually next door). It was fun! Then we got to eat. At this point in the day we started to split up.. girls going one way the boys the next. Half went to Bogus Creek Cafe (my best meal of the weekend) and the other half to Gelly's Eatery.

Us girls continued on to Nelson Cheese Factory. Real shame they don't offer and samples of the cheese (or even the wine). After I bought out the store, we got to stop at my favorite kind of store: an Unclaimed Freight store! I couldn't believe there was one, there, on the side of the road! These places are fantastic - you never know what you find! Anything from the evening entertainment (a horror movie) to lesson material for your 3rd grade class! Next stop was the Little House on the Prairie museum and house in Pepin. Boys don't know what they missed! I think the best part though was just retelling our favorite episodes and quizzing ourselves on what we remembered. It was getting to be that time, that if we wanted to eat anytime soon we best buy some food and start preparing it. Timing all that food for 9 people is tough. We have got corn, meat, potatoes, salad, bread, etc - everything that cooks at different speeds. But oh well, we got our bellies full eventually! And it was yummy!!

The evening wrapped up with some viewing the horror movie (purchased at the Unclaimed Freight store!) and other retreating to the grotto under the house. This grotto was my favorite thing ever. One wall was floor to ceiling screens, with a flagstone floor and thick stone walls. It was fun to stand right next to the screen and see if you could handle the bats swooping inches from the screen without flinching. It was my own kind of horror movie!

Sunday arrived too quick. 2 people from our group left before I even got out of bed, our weekend trip was quickly coming to an end. The 7 of us that remained had a great breakfast, but then all too quickly another group of 3 left us. We were down to 4, the holdouts that bummed around on the deck, squeezing out a few more minutes of the kind of peace you only experience in a place like that, but then we packed up and headed home.

~Posted by Ann

New Hobby

2009-08-18T10:55:00.000-07:00

I think I found a new hobby: visiting wineries! Recently I found myself sipping "juice" at 2 more wineries.

Cedar Creek Winery
Location: Cedarburg, WI

It had been awhile since I had visited a winery and actually gone on the tour. I usually just belly up to the tasting bar and get right to the goods, but we had the time and figured, why not!? So glad we did! Sure I heard a lot of the same stuff and saw a lot of the same stuff, but I also learned a lot of new stuff and partook in a lot of new stuff! For instance, I learned what "Estate" means when you see it on the bottle. All this time I thought it meant something like "reserve" - like it was a higher quality or something. Not necessarily... it really just means that the producer of the wine owns both the winery and the vineyard and everything was done in-house.

I also learned that "oak aged" can mean the wine maker put oak chips in the fermenting tank -- a much cheaper method. So you want to look for "aged in oak barrels" if you really care about such things.

The last highlight: trilling. This was tricky, I nearly drown. :) We were instructed to "slurp" the wine - so inhaling and aerating the wine to release flavor and aromas. Without exhaling we were swallow the wine, then exhale. I found it really hard to swallow without exhaling or exhaling while swallowing, hence the drowning. However, if you could manage it, it was an interesting to taste and taste the smell of the wine.

Right now I might be declaring Cedar Creek Winery my favorite upper mid-west winery!

Door Peninsula Winery
Location: Carlsville, WI (Door County)

Door County itself was a treat to visit. I hard heard so much so I am glad I got to see it for myself. I was glad to see the highway wasn't lined with tourist shops filled with tacky t-shirts. However, I can't say I thought it was anymore charming than parts of Upper MN (but I am bias).

Again I was fooled, the advertisement for the winery said: located in a historic schoolhouse. Just like the winery in Lake Lillian, MN - it was not a cute one room schoolhouse that I envisioned in my head. It was huge inside! And they have nearly 40 different wines. Free tastings of almost all of them, so you need to be careful!

They have some great novelty wine, for instance I got a mulled Christmas wine that I am excited to try in a few months!

Pet Cemetery

2009-07-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

I didn't think something could be tucked away right next to a freeway, but this cemetery does a good job of hiding! I had heard rumors of a pet cemetery in MN, but until I saw it with my own eyes, I wasn't going to believe it. Turns out it is true! Several U-turns were made, the same residential homes passed by time and time again and a thorough search for the cemetery on the grounds of the Humane Society in St Paul and I was losing hope. But we finally stumbled upon and I couldn't believe it! It was huge! Thousands of animals are buried here!

It is truly remarkable. You will see markers that must have cost thousands of dollars and even a beloved hedgehog found its final resting place here. Sadly, they are no longer accepting new burials.

Street Address: 694 Cope Avenue, Roseville, MN

Animal Humane Society site: http://www.animalhumanesociety.org/services/lossofpet/cemetery

My bonus wine trip: July 18-19, 2009

2009-07-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

Travel Log

I cheated on my Wine Club co-members and took a summer wine trip without them! I hope they forgive me. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend a relaxing weekend at a co-worker's home in the quaint town of Lindstrom, MN.

Once I arrived at my co-workers home nestled in 80 acres of tree filled land we headed right out for our first tasting at Chateau St Croix. Located just over the MN border and in St Croix Falls, WI we saw the chateau, perched in the midst of green farming lands. The vines and grapes are still too young to produce bottle quality juice so in the mean time they are getting grapes mailed from California. I am excited for the Northern wines they will eventually produce, but until then, they have a few bottles that will occupy my wine rack!

Next stop was Trade River Winery and presumably the smallest wine tasting room in the state! We let the crowd of tasters finish up before starting ourselves and wandered on the beautiful grounds for a few minutes. This winery, located in Grantsburg, WI, is an interesting supplier of boutique wines shipped in from Argentina. They have 3 different tasting lists: red wines of Argentina, white wines of Argentina and Trade River wines of Argentina. They have no vines on their property, but instead grow in Argentina. I sampled from the Trade River tasting sheet, next time I think I will try a different tasting sheet and bring a picnic to soak in the charming landscape!
After all the tasting, we were starved. Headed back to Lindstrom, we stopped in Center City, MN to gorge at Eichten's Bistro & Market. And wow, did we gorge! Great food in a cute little smalltown bistro.

Before heading home on Sunday, we made 1 more tasting stop at WineHaven Vineyard in Chisago City, MN. This was the traditional MN vineyard I was use to! Several red and white wines produced from grapes developed by the U of MN, plus fruit wine. For the first time I think I found a fruit wine I liked! Cranberry. So tart, yet refreshing - yum.

Weekend over - and then I had to go home and mow. Sigh. If only Midwest wine tastings could be my life!

~posted by Ann

My SW MN Wine Trip, May 22-May24, 2009

2009-06-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

Second Annual MN Wine Trip!

This year the area of focus was Southwest MN, an area I haven't spent much time in. The itinerary held 6 wineries and 1 brewery for us lushes. Before all this drinking, we had better start with full stomachs! So that brought us to Blackbird Cafe. Love it! Wonderful dishes and fun atmosphere. Ok, now we were ready - bring on the wine! First stop, Crofut Winery, only 45 minutes away. Well... I thought it was the first stop until someone actually read the itinerary I made up and it clearly says: Open Saturday and Sunday. Um, it was Friday. DOH! I had ruined everything! :) Thankfully it was spotted in enough time and we could easily redirect and head straight to New Ulm and Morgan Creek Winery. Oh, little tangent here... you know why I love road trips? Cuz you stumble upon cute little towns that you would never see or visit otherwise. Like, Henderson. Adorable. Totally looks like it frozen in the 1950s. We had to explore and do a bit of antiquing.

The drive to Morgan Creek Winery was just one of my favorites. Once you leave the city of New Ulm you travel on lonely country roads and pass by farms where cows linger under trees and near shaded creeks. The final turn even brings you onto a gravel road. The grounds were just lovely, with a nice large patio out back with chairs and a fire pit. The thing that surprised me the most during the tasting - the wine was good! I know, people wonder why I do this wine trip sometimes because, well, MN does not have good wine. We have lots of fruit wine, cuz that is what grows - apples and strawberries. But lately the University of MN has been producing really hardy grapes and I think Morgan Creek is finally benefiting from such engineering. Their wine was at a level of sophistication that I haven't found in MN before. They say the first 100 years are the toughest in wine production - I think once these U of MN grapes really mature then we will be noticing more and more decent wine from the land of 10,000 lakes. Morgan Creek also serves appetizers, which provided us with a great excuse to buy a bottle of wine or two and sit outside, enjoying the spring sun.

We thought we would explore New Ulm for a bit - turns out it is like all the small towns of the world and it pretty much shuts down at 6pm. So it was mostly just window shopping for us and compiling a list of places we could eat at. Ignoring the advice of the winemaker, we sought out the most German looking place - Kaiserhoff. I don't think any of us regretted it. Of course there were no vegetarian options, but I like salads! Even if it comes with like 8 slices of American cheese. The deep fried sauerkraut balls were a hit! After dinner we had the pleasure of retiring to our humble abode for the night: Super 8. And boy do I mean humble. It worked for the evening though! An air mattress and a sleeping bag were all we needed to make the cozy accommodation even more cozy.

After slyly heading down to the continental breakfast in shifts, we had time to really shop in downtown before our 1pm Schell's brewery tour. We were determined to squeeze in every highlight in New Ulm that we could and then meant, after our shopping spree, we had to visit Herman. For some reason I still don't know who Herman actually is (the information will not stick in my head), but they have a monument of him and for $1.50 you can climb to the top. I mean, how can you not spend the $1.50? After signing a waiver dissolving the park of any liability (um, ok) Pam and I raced up the stairs. My thighs burned but I was going to concur Herman! Triumph! Once on top I got to experience some stunning views!

We could now move onto the Schell Brewery. This was my second time there, I wish it was my second home. The whole compound is lovely and has such history. The tour lasts about a half hour and then we get to visit the basement pub and partake in a generous sampling of beer. We were on a schedule so we couldn't linger all that long. We had to get on the road and get our focus back on wine, next stop: Fieldstone Vineyards in Morgan. Very cute mom and pop winery. The owner was there running the tasting, with his wife for extra help and their kids were out back playing. They even had wine called "The Wine-ing Farmer" and "The Wine-ing Farmer's Wife" - it was cute. They were very sweet. They were also very helpful in getting us to the next stop: Olde Country Vineyard in Lake Lillian.

So I had heard this winery was in an old school. I guess I took that to mean old schoolhouse - like those old one room schoolhouses you see. Well no, this was in a 1954's building, looking very similar to my intermediate school. I was getting so use to the cute that I wasn't ready for that. However, the owner's wife that was running the tour - well, I think she is the sweetest woman alive. They had the most wines I have ever seen, I don't know if I even got through half of them. It was mostly all fruit wines and with this being my third tasting stop this day I had reached my limit.

We needed to get to our hotel for the night: Spicer Castle. I heard about this hotel because they host Murder Mystery Dinners on the weekend. Something I have always wanted to do, but we were not going to arrive on time, plus I don't know if I could have gotten the other girls in my group onboard! We checked in quick and then headed out for dinner. We were told to head to Melvyn's on the Lake as I think everyone else in the state of MN was told to do also. When we got there we were warned that we could take a table outside, but that the wait on food was pushing 1 hour. Wow - not use to hearing that in small town MN! Oh well, at least they could get us drink and we had the lake to look at. This area is very much like Up North - tons of lakes. We returned to the Castle for spa night and then settled in for a good night's rest. The next morning we were treated to a three course breakfast while the owner regaled us with stories of the Inn and of the town.

The next winery was right in Spicer. We thought we would check-out a bit early so we could see the Main street and then head over for our tasting. Um, Spicer has no Main street. There is one antique store and it didn't open til noon! Oh well, we bummed around for a bit - it isn't that hard to find ways to waste time! Time to taste at Glacial Ridge Winery. The owner was celebrating his birthday and had cake for all his visitors. Yummy! Ok, time to head home and stop at our final winery: Woodland Hill Winery. Truth be told, I have been here before (it is right by the best orchard in the world, Fall Harvest Orchard) and I clearly remembered the apple wines still! It was another beautiful day so we got to sit outside and enjoy some live music and just relax.

Biggest lesson learned from this trip: Bring some snacks for the wine tastings. Not all of the wineries provide a way to cleanse your pallet and sometimes water (if you can even find that) is not enough.

~posted by Ann

My Florida Keys Trip: May 17-21, 2009

2009-06-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

Travel Log

I was lucky enough to attend another out of state conference for work this year so I decided to do what I did last year and mix a little business with pleasure. It was actually a super interesting conference, but all the same, I was happy for Sunday to arrive and my vacation could start! Turn off the nerd side of the brain and just chill. I met Michelle and Rachel at the Miami airport mid-afternoon; the temp was maybe 80 but felt like 120. That humidity really sucks any life out of you, it is amazing to be standing, in shade, and just sweating. We hopped the shuttle to the rental car location and cozied up to a kiosk to slickly check-in and get our car voucher. We were then told to walk to the "mid-size" car corral and pick any mid-size in the lot. There was one lone car left, but it was shiny and white and held our luggage so it was a perfect fit! (keep that in mind, more about the car later) Then off we go to SoBe.

We found the Ocean Five Hotel with no problem. The hotels in SoBe are old and tired so you never know what you are going to get when you are looking in my price range. This hotel was fine -- not sure I would want to stay more than 1 night, but it worked for what we needed it to. However, the TV didn't work, the air conditioner was like a airplane and the bathroom was the size of my kitchen pantry. But like I said, it worked for the night.

After checking in, we headed off to find food. Ocean Drive is an interesting place. Lots of people and lots of vultures. Most restaurants have hostesses that try to get you to stop by sharing their "best" deals. We fell for it - half priced food, free glass of wine and 2 for 1 drinks. Worst pizza I had, but great deal on drinks! After dinner we had to get our feet wet so headed to the beach for a stroll.

The next morning, after having a little continental breakfast at the hotel we packed up the car and headed to the Keys. Once we rolled into Key Largo, I stopped the car at the Visitor Center. It is pretty rare for me to do that, but last time I was at the Keys we did that and got some good tips. Bob (or was it Jim?), the Visitor Center worker helped us with a great lunch tip and snorkel outfit. Ah...The Big Chill and Key West Ale. The Big Chill was probably on the same level as say Champp's, but it sure didn't have Champp's view! I quickly became use to deck eating and staring at the water. Sadly I didn't appreciate Key West Ale as much as I should have, I can't find a distributor back here! Such the perfect beer for an excessively hot day.

After full tummies we left to find our snorkel shop and head out to open water. We went through, http://www.snorkelingisfun.com/reefs.htm, which brought us to Garret's Reef in Pennekamp State Park. Sadly, the snorkeling wasn't the highlight that I wanted it to be. I got pretty nauseous on the boat (and in the choppy water), it was cloudy so the coral didn't really pop and my brand new snorkel I bought did not block the rush of salt water directly into my mouth. However, maybe once I get my underwater pics developed I will remember it differently. After snorkeling we remained on the benches for a bit til I could get my land legs and the captain of the boat asked us,"is that your MN tags" and pointed to the parking lot. After stuttering and much blonde-like confusion we said we are from MN, but have a rental car. After he left we ran to the rental car only to see MN license plates staring back at us. WHAT!? We were in FLORIDA! We rented a car in FL! It only took us 2 days to figure it out.

Onward to Key Colony Beach where our next hotel waited for us: Ocean Beach Club Resort. So in retrospect, it might have been more exciting to stay right in the heart of Key West, but the nice thing about Key Colony Beach was that it was out of the way (off of Hwy 1) and our resort did have a private beach area. For all the water that surrounded us it was like a sick joke that our shower produced no more than a sprinkle of water. Although visiting with the check-in guy made everything all better. :) For our first night he recommended The Island. It was great, I think we hung out for hours - of course at one point we were scared to leave because of the massive rain storm.

The next morning we had breakfast at the restaurant next door - it was nice! Beautiful view and our gay waiter was adorable. After breakfast we had a little walk and then thought we would try some beach time. Nature wasn't that cooperative. The rain clouds moved in so back to the room to change and get a pedi. Well, I had to get a mani since earlier in the week I had tore up my feet from (cute) sandals. After getting pampered for an hour we needed a break so we took a nap and then we were ready for dinner. A recommendation for sushi sent us to Castaways. The worst view ever - especially considering what we had gotten use to, but the food was good even though we had to sit next to a refrigerator truck.

Last day in the Keys are we were going to do it up big and travel to Key West. I really barely remember it - I was so hungry and so overheated I don't know where I was. I think we went to Hemingway's House and saw his poor cats also nearly past out from the heat. We did some shopping, but it was more tourist/tacky shops then my last trip there. We ended the evening with dinner on another deck staring at the water and watching the storm (that would ultimately cancel the Sunset Celebration for that evening) roll in.

So after sweating through all my clothes, I was ready to head home, oh but no, Northwest had different plans for me. The airline thought it would be fun if I got drunk at the Budweiser Brew House and waited 3 1/2 hours til I could board the plane. Not cool. Especially since I had a MN Wine Trip to repack for...

High Tech

2009-02-25T12:05:00.000-08:00

I am living in a high tech world I realize and sometimes I grudgingly accept it. Recently, two things have come to my attention and I thought there wasn't enough places out there that mentioned it so I wanted to share...

How can I connect my computer to my TV?
Yes, I have cable and yes, I have a DVR. However, that doesn't mean that I still get to watch as much as TV as I really want so I have now developed a strong relationship with Hulu.com. I hate to cheat on my TV and watch shows on the internet, but it is so easy! Actually, because of ease of watching TV shows on the internet, I know a person that dropped their cable service entirely! For me, I am only bugged by 2 disadvantages:

1. I actually have to watch commercials. There is no skipping through commercials on Hulu, however, I have noticed that the volume will drop when a forced commercial starts so at least I don't have to listen to it at normal listening level. Plus it is just one commercial that lasts at the most 90 seconds. I can handle 90 seconds.

2. My laptop will get heavy and hot on my lap! Which finally brings us to the answer to the question: how can I view Internet TV on my actual TV? The answer - a VGA cable. Just a cable, that is all you need! This cable connects to my monitor output on my laptop and the VGA connection on my TV (note: I believe only HDTVs have this VGA output). Oh and then once you connect you can save on your laptop screen by switching to an external display. For my Dell that means I hit the Fn key plus the key that has the picture of a monitor on it (F8) at the same time. If I hit that sequence once the picture is displayed both on my TV and laptop, if I hit it again the picture is only displayed on my TV.

Now, there is the issue of sound... this VGA cable is for picture only. So the sound is still coming out of my laptop. Which, yes, that is annoying, but I figure I could get better speakers for the laptop or get a sound cable to output the sound from the TV. I haven't tried either option yet.

I got my VGA cable on clearance for $25 (I notice most run about $40-$50).

Roku
I am a little ashamed to admit I first heard about this through my 60-some year old co-worker. I personally haven't tried it myself, but stay tuned, cuz I think I am going to have to get me one! I am a NetFlix.com subscriber, but constantly feel like I am wasting away my membership because I am not using the "Instant Movie" feature. The thousands of "free" movies we have access to and play on the computer at anytime we choose. I have been meaning to do it ever since I got the VGA cable, but for some reason a 2 hour movie sounds like such a bigger commitment than watching a 50 minute TV show via the VGA cable.

So this tiny device streams Netflix movies directly to your TV. The Roku connects to your TV just like a DVD player would. It also needs to connect to the Internet - if you are wireless, it does have Wi-Fi built in. You access Netflix's site on your computer and fill up your instant queue with all the movies you would want to watch. Then, this device comes with a remote that you use to access your Instant Queue on your TV and you make your selection. And viola - you are watching your movie! The remote also allows you to pause, rewind or anything you would do with a DVD. So you can think of this Roku device as a digital DVD player, really. And it is only $99!

~Posted by Ann

Recycle the campaign yard signs

2008-11-10T12:17:00.000-08:00

Here's how to recycle those campaign signs...

Pulled from: EcoMetro Editors
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 04:12 PM

If you have a political sign in your yard, you're probably wondering what to do with it right about now. Depending on whether your signs are are plastic, metal, wood, or corrugated plastic commonly called coroplast, there may be a special collection pickup or drop off location near you. Visit the GreenGuardian.com for individual county instructions. Call the hotlines or visit the sites for Hennepin (612-348-3777) and Ramsey (651-266-1199) counties.

Obama supporters can put materials up for free at ObamaCycle to be claimed by another user.

Cooking classes around town

2008-10-27T19:43:00.000-07:00

The last Community Education class that I took I raced home to find my yoga pants. I don't use yoga pants for yoga, I wear them as fat pants -- they stretch so well! I had just returned from consuming my body weight in Indian food. Indian food that I made! And it was good - darn good. So I thought I would take a moment to send a shout out to some of the cooking classes I have taken around town...maybe some of the lesser known ones...

Minneapolis Community Ed
Yes, community ed is hit or miss. I have taken enough classes to know that there are a few good ones out there! So give it a try - you never know!

Mississippi Market
After you take the homemade mozzarella class you will wish that everything you touched turned into fresh mozzarella!

Byerly's
All classes are $10 per person and are of the demonstration kind. At the completion of each class, registered attendees receive a $10 coupon for the culinary and gift basket shops at Byerly’s in St. Louis Park. So in a way it is like getting your money back, so even if the class isn't your favorite, you don't lose out too much!

Whole Foods
I think most of the classes are around $20. They are like the Byerly's classes, in the sense that it is demonstration. Although, they do have a sushi class where you get to roll.

For all these classes, be sure to arrive hungry! I am amazed at the amount of food I get to eat.

Surly Brewery Tour

2008-10-26T18:15:00.001-07:00

Surly Brewing Company
So after a bit of organizing, some friends and I found a Friday that would work for the Surly Tour! The thing that excited me most was the free tour, which meant "free happy hour Friday"! Plus, I love tours and yes, that seals my status as nerd.

This brewery is small! But bare in mind the last one I toured was Lienie's, so that isn't fair for me to judge. But the fact that the entire tour could be conducted in one room was amazing to me. They just have one machine to can all the beer. Just one!

The man that conducts the tour is the owner/founder/CEO and he is adorable. I was fine with him talking about himself and his company for like an hour and half. I could have easily seen myself be annoyed by that, but I wasn't, he was fun to listen too. Plus, at anytime we could return to the bar and get a refill on the beer!

This is a fun way to start the weekend, I highly recommend it!

We missed Darkness (the newest in the family of Surly's) by like two weeks, but we did get to sample:

Furious, American IPA
Bender, Oatmeal Brown Ale
Cynic Ale, Belgian Saison (no wheat!)
Coffee Bender, Coffee Brown Ale

~Posted by Ann

Happy Hour at a Museum??

2008-10-20T15:07:00.000-07:00

It is true!

The Bakken is a very "hands on" museum, showing us the power of electricity. The night I visited was "Monster Mash", so it was very Halloween themed. There was a big focus on Mary Shelly and Frankenstein, although there is a permanent exhibit on Frankenstein. Bakken may have had an obsession with the story (did you know Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein when she was 15 and it was published when she was 18!?) and has a first edition book.

The Tudor style house is quite beautiful too. And, it does have a quirk - the amount of doors. A small den had 6 doors! The man that built the house, Goodfellow, was a little paranoid (like eccentric, rich folks tend to be) and thought an intruder would get lost in the dead end of doors, giving Goodfellow enough time to escape. Poor guy should have been more paranoid about his relationship though. He built the house for his girlfriend, but before the home was even finished she dumped him. He never married.

Probably one of the top highlights was this:
Yes, you get to have your picture taken -- showing the power of static electricity!! HA, strangers were screaming at me, "you look like a dandelion!"

So be sure to check this out sometime, the second Tuesday of every month. And yes, admission (which is $7, but don't forget to log onto the site before you go, sometiems they have links for 2 for 1 coupons!) does cover wine and appetizers!!

~Posted by Ann

Best Apple Orchard!

2008-10-12T21:26:00.000-07:00

I have been to several apple orchards over the years and I finally found one that I want to return to year after year! Fall Harvest Orchard, in Delano, MN. Now getting there is an adventure in itself (especially now with the construction), it takes about 45 minutes from Minneapolis, but it is so worth it. Plus, I still love the road trips and you know you are on a road trip when the local gas station in the area has this out front:

I think the thing I love most about this Orchard are all the chickens and goats...

You get to pick your own apples ($1/pound, that is a bargain if you ask me!), but you also get to be a part of the farm. They have daily egg pickings (and you can buy the result in the store), along with a chance to visit with animals I don't interact with in my daily life! My only complaint is that the grill only sells things like soda and nachos. What about slices of apple pie? Oh well, this just means I need to buy more apples and make my own apple desserts!

A new neighbor to this orchard is a winery! Woodland Hill Winery I was obliged to stop, of course. The tastings are $3 and due to a number of wines being sold out we had 7 we could taste. We were able to get samples of the whites and reds, luckily. The apple wines (made from the apples at Fall Harvest Orchard and Apple Jack Orchard) were my favorite, far and away. The semi-dry apple is dangerous! Tastes just like cider. The sweet apple wine they served warm, with brown sugar and a cinnamon stick. WOW! I left with a bottle of both.

Here is an applesauce recipe I made today:

6 medium apples; peeled, cored and cut into 1 inch chunks
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup water

Place apples in a large saucepan. Add lemon juice and water. Cook on medium heat for 15 minutes, then on low for another 10 minutes, or until apples are soft. Mash with a potato masher.

That is it! It was so easy. And if you like sweet apple sauce, you can add:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

My Washington DC trip, July 6-13, 2008

2008-07-22T20:24:00.001-07:00

Travel Log

It isn't often that I get a free ticket to DC, so even though the main purpose was a work conference, I was going to take advantage of it.

I flew in Sunday, early enough so I could have most of the day to play. Well, after waiting 40 minutes for luggage, then a fairly long cab ride and finally a long check-in, turns out I didn't have all that much time. Still, I hurried to the room, determined to make my way to DC. After shelling out $28 in cash to the cabbie I was left with just coin, so I made my first stop finding an ATM. I had planned to check out this Moonlight Walking tour of DC, but I needed cash to do that. However, my beautiful sense of direction sent me off in opposite direction of the monument the tour was to start from. Next thing I know I am seeking shelter under a tree near the WWII monument getting soaked. I even had an umbrella, but it was of no matter, this storm was not one to be caught outside in. Having this moment to reflect on my situation, forced me to come to terms with the fact that my feet were not sore, they were profusely bleeding -- cuz I decided to wear brand new (super cute, I might add) shoes that are not made for walking miles. Plus, well a glance at the cell phone clock confirmed that I had completely missed the walking tour - if it was even happening due to the storm. I found a cab and got the hell out of dodge.

Leaving DC meant I had to return to the conference hotel: Gaylord National Hotel. It was a monstrosity. One of the only hotels open in a brand new development in the middle of nowhere. It was like being stuck on a cruise ship. No options, over priced food ($7 for a muffin and a bottle of Coke???) and generic everything. Plus, for a brand new hotel, I really disappointed in the lack of "green" - no motion lights, they replaced my towels every day even though I hung them up and I am sure there was other stuff! I went completely stir crazy in this place! Not to mention the fact we had to wear giant nerd beacons during the conference (I have had this problem before at IT conventions), our "name-tags" were really mini-computers (the size of TV remote controls) that contained our agendas for the week, online survey forms for classes we attended and a way to transfer contact info between fellow colleagues. I am filing worker's comp for a sore neck.

Thankfully I was able to get away from the hotel and conference nonsense in the evening. The first night my co-workers and I took a water taxi and headed to Old Alexandria. Cute old town, filled with historic buildings that now contain Starbucks and Gaps. While there I did tour an Apothecary Museum that I found oh so charming. Another night a fellow co-worker discovered that the Nationals were playing while we were in town. So even though I am not a fan of baseball, I had to get off "campus" and the Nationals are playing in a brand new outdoor stadium so I really wanted to go. The stadium was filled with all sorts of activities to keep you from watching baseball so that was interesting!

The final day of the conference arrived and I was fried. Some of it was interesting, but for this anti-social girl it got to be stressful. It was time to return to DC. This go round, I had a co-worker with (I could split cab fare!) and some company so I think that is what I needed to turn things around. I got to see the sites that I wanted: Lincoln Memorial (and the theater and house he died in), Vietnam Memorial, and Old Post Office (some great views of DC and it is free and it has no line like Washington Memorial).

Finally! We could leave Gaylord and National Harbor! The plan was to pick up the rental car and then head to Harper’s Ferry. Well maybe an indirect travel path to Harper’s, I wanted to check out some Virginia wineries. My research sent us to Leesburg, not really as charming as I thought, however, we didn’t spend much time there. Probably the most time was spent at the Visitor Center where they told us to head to Hillsboro if we want to go to wineries. Before alcohol we needed some food in us, so we stopped at Fire Works (a Visitor Center suggestion) that was just inside town. They mainly do oven baked pizza, it tasted yummy! Now we could get down to business and do a wine tasting. We stopped at just one: Hillsborough. They only do blended wines. Rarely do I like every wine in a tasting, but these wines were nice… and free shipping!

Climbed back in the rental for the last stretch to Harper’s Ferry. The mountains were in our view the whole time. They were magnificent, full of green and lush. I knew we had arrived at a special place, but nothing prepared me for the B&B that my coworker had found. It was really special, Laurel Lodge, built in 1914 by a fellow that had a thing for the Civil War and collections. Scattered through-out the entire outside of the house are relics from the past. Messages stamped in the concrete. Bottles, dolls, gears and “junk” incorporated into the stone pillars. Gun and bullets, now mostly plundered, adorning the doorways. The real pièce de résistance is the view from the back porch. Stretched out before us was the Potomac River and view of the mountains in next door Virginia.

Joan and I took a trip into downtown Harper’s, but by the time we got there the stores had mostly shut down. 7 pm is late for such a little town! Not wanting to retiring and wanting to see more of the town, I decided to stay for the Ghost Tour. I went into it knowing it would be cheesy, but still hoping to gleam some local lore and maybe a history lesson. It lived up to all that. Once the tour ended I had to make my own way back to Laurel Lodge, located on the opposite side of town. I started my trek, and up ahead of me I saw a person walking the same direction me. I think living in MPLS you learn to fear people on the sidewalk when the sun is starting to go down. It was all fine until this person crouched down, right when downtown ended and the woods began. Great. This meant I was going to have to pass them, something you should never do! However, once I got close enough I realized it was a woman trying to hand feed a baby deer. Ok, that is not scary!! And then the next thing I knew, I was sipping wine on her porch and being entertained by my new friend and all her neighbors. The sun kept dropping though and I really had to leave before my coworker called out the state troopers to look for me!

Saturday morning and I pulled myself out of bed, ready for a little breakfast. I had no idea what kind of feast was in store; dill scones with salmon cream cheese, strawberry parfaits, French toast bake and soy bacon. This gourmet breakfast was what I needed before heading out to hike Maryland Heights. We had plenty of warning, it was going to be strenuous, but the view was to make it all worth it. Well, it was strenuous and the view was breathtaking. However, the view was clouded by the fact that I would have to return down the trial. I had a power nap that rejuvenated me that afternoon, then I could think about dinner. We thought we would travel to nearby Shepardstown, the oldest town in West Virginia. As soon as we pulled in town, I asked to stop at the General Store – I needed caffeine or some kind of beverage. I walked into a guy behind the counter playing a crazy looking instrument. I wheeled around and ran to the car, Joan had to see this, I knew she would appreciate it. Well, I just wanted her to see the instrument and hear the performance, but the next thing I realized was that she was buying the instrument!! Joan was now the proud owner of a Hammered Dulcimer. Well, I never did get my beverage at the General Store, so I was dying for a Sangria when I ordered one at 3 Onions.

The last day of my trip arrived, like it always does… but not before another feast: coffee cake, broiled grapefruit, frittata, hash browns and soy sausage. Side note, this soy meat business is really weird. It actually tastes like meat. Why would I want that? After 15 years or so, you really lose the taste for muscle. However, there was something about that soy bacon…maybe you never do lose the taste for bacon. So time to pack it up and thankfully we could fit in one stop before my flight out of town and that ended up being, Frederick. Not all that charming, but still historic. We visited the Civil War Medicine Museum, very good display and quite sobering. It was good to get some official Civil War memories instilled in me since I was in the heart of it. Quick stop for lunch at Nola and then off to the airport for me to sit for 3 hours.

~Posted by Ann

Baby Owen Andrew

2008-07-14T18:02:00.001-07:00

Baby Owen Andrew and his first shot with gang tags!
Since this won't be posted on his own blog, I had to post it somewhere!!

My SE MN Wine Trip, May 30-June1, 2008

2008-06-29T07:30:00.001-07:00

Travel Log

It was time for a girl's weekend and having some time on my hands I decided to map out a wine tasting and tour of Southeast MN...

Day 1: two wine tastings
It started where most trips start for me, in South Mpls. We all gather at Cafe Maude for a filling lunch before hitting the road. Thankfully the company and atmosphere won me over cuz the menu did not. Not many vegetarian choices so I ended up with the most boring of dishes: eggs and potatoes. Still though, it hit the spot! The road trip could now commence!

First stop, Alexis Bailly Vineyard in Hastings.

This was when we first realized this trip would go off without a hitch. Once in downtown Hastings, the MapQuest directions really started to fail us so we had a decision to make, go left or right at this t-bone intersection. Instinct told us left. That put us in a traffic jam that was timed to take 20 minutes before we would hit the bridge that was only a few blocks ahead. During the wait, we called the vineyard to see if we made the right decision at the intersection. We didn't! However, we were stuck in this parking lot of traffic. The only out that I saw was to do a u-turn and jump the median. Now, before heading out we really hemmed and hawed about what car to take; the efficient Civic or the not so efficient Tribute SUV. We settled upon the SUV, we decided that even though extra space came with a cost we wanted to pay for that. So we did it, right then and there, we jumped the median! We laughed about how if we were in the Civic and tried that we would have still been stuck half way across it. Now with our re-direction change we found the vineyard in no time flat. The tasting was $10 and that included a souvenir wine glass.

A couple of wines to note:

Ratafia: smells of oranges. It is a fortified sweet dessert wine, it reminded me a chilled mulled wine. Price, $19.99.
Isis Ice Wine: a very nice ice wine (you think there would be tons of ice wine in MN!), with hints of apricots, peaches and honey. Price, $29.99.

We had another decision to make as 3:30 crept up on us... hurry the tasting so we could make to the next vineyard or take our time and find something else to do to occupy us. Like troopers we decided to rush and drive to Red Wing for the Falconer Vineyards tasting.
This tasting was only $4. The employees were nice enough to not make us feel rushed either, even though I am sure they were super annoyed that we were there 15 minutes past closing.

A few tasting notes:

Riesling: Semi-sweet, German style Riesling. Price, $15.95.
La Crescent: U of MN white grape. Apricot hints. Price, $17.95
Frontenac Rose: Frontenac is a locally grown grape. This wine has a fruity, cherry flavor. Price, $12.95

We now had a task on hand, find a place to stay! I had done some research beforehand and was finding that even road side motels in Red Wing were pushing the $100 mark. We had a goal of trying to find something for $80. We came across a brand new hotel that I hadn't checked the price on and the lot was deserted so I thought we might have a chance of negotiating the price down to $80. We put Pam in charge of making that happen. Well she walks in, head held high, ready to fight for the $80/night rate. She asks, "What is your rate for one night?". Reply: "$84.50". Well you can't really fight that, can you?? The room was great! Very clean, Bath and Body Works soaps and lotions, and a wonderful continental breakfast (make your own waffles!!) the next day. I would recommend this place and happily stay again, Nichols Inn.

After settling in at the hotel, we got ready for the big night ahead of us in Red Wing. It was the weekend opening of "Sex in the City"! We had dinner at a weird (not so little) local restaurant before the movie, Liberty's Restaurant. They served EVERYTHING - mexian, italian, breakfast all day, burgers, pizza, seafood, etc. I always find that scary, I guess I am use to more specialized joints. The one thing I can say that none of us had a problem finding something to order! Oh and the movie, sorry to the die hard SITC fans, but I found it to be like the dinner we had - sub par. But granted, I had only seen Season 1 and 2 before the movie so I don't think I am as invested in the characters as others.

Day 2: Lanesboro
We tried to connect with Diamond Ridge Winery in Peterson, they are an appointment only winery, however, no call back meant no tasting. So we had to skip this and head directly to Lanesboro. Now, Lanesboro has its own wine boutique, Scenic Valley Winery, but we got there after it closed. Thankfully, all liquor stores in the area (and restaurants) carry the wine. So we could have are own wine sample that evening. They are heavy on the fruit wines: cherry, rhubarb, etc. None of the wines really won me over. I think maybe mixing the cherry wine with a Sprite might be a very refreshing spritzer.

This evening we had made reservations ahead of time and so we drove over to Preston, MN (about 15 minutes outside of Lanesboro) to check in at Jailhouse Inn. I had stayed here before and found it delightful. This was an old Jailhouse that opened in 1869 and operated as a jail until 1970. It has now been fully refinished and converted to a very charming and unique B&B. They have preserved one of the original cell blocks and that is the room we got! I shouldn't really say "preserved", they may have saved the space, but I don't think prisoners had queen sized beds and/or a 2-person spa tub.

As guests of the cell block, we have access to the second floor porch. It was beautiful night so we checked out a bottle of wine, pulled up a rocking chair and all just relaxed for a bit. They only shame is that the porch looks out to the back alley and back yards of the next door homes. They some what obstructed and clouded the view of the bluffs. After a breather on the porch we decided we needed some dinner and we had to get a move on, it was approaching 8:30 and well, in towns like these even restaurants close down at 9pm. We found one open restaurant in Lanesboro and ate there. Again, a wide variety on the menu and we also had a dinner show. There was a party of 4 sitting a few tables back from us that were great entertainment. One of the couples were fighting like I had never seen in public! But then, well our dinner was rudely interrupted by Mother Nature. Out of no where came this storm. We were watching the lightening come in (that should have been a clue), and the next thing I know, we were getting pelted with hail! Those little things hurt! We ran screaming for cover and finished our soggy dinners inside.

Ready for a little ghost story? So, I was finding it hard to sleep that night in the jail cell. It was kinda eerie actually, the way the light hit the jail bars and casted the shadows. It didn't help when at 2 in the morning one of my cellmates decided to clip their nails. That noise for me is such a grinding sound, I can't stand it, I even hate to trim my own nails because of that sound. Well, the next morning when we all were up, my roommate yelled over to the next room, "Which one of you started to clip your nails at 2 in the morning?" Thank you! She was also bothered by it!! Well, our friends in the room over swear they didn't do it. OOOHHH!

Day 3: one wine tasting
Well Sunday arrived, like it always does, and that meant we had to head home. After a little shopping time in Lanesboro we hit the road to drive up through Cannon Falls. There the last wine tasting of the weekend awaited us. Cannon River Winery, wine tastings: $3. I don't know what kind of mood I was in, but the blushes here really won me over. For some reason I was transported to a warm summer night, sitting on a porch, sipping wine - and that is a wonderful thought.

Trip pictures: Click here!

~Posted by Ann

Visit to 35W

2008-06-25T15:40:00.001-07:00

A few days ago we decided to head over to see the progress being made on the 35W bridge. There is something surreal about the stage it is a right now; the North and South sides are slowly approaching each other.

As we were staring out at the concrete and steel we noticed how it was raining in the distance, we probably should have taken that as a preview of what was to come, but I wanted more pictures... and I got some. Although, I also got soaked to the bone.

~Posted by Ann

My California Trip, February 16-20, 2008

2008-06-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

Travel Log

Oops! I have been bad and not writing up my travel logs. 2007 will now be lost forever. Considering my memory, that could very well be true.

Cali, oh Cali. Well, I can't really give a fair critique of this trip, considering one night was spent throwing up, the next day was spent in bed and the rest of the trip I was nauseated and weak! And, NO, this wasn't my fault. The food poisoning gods had it in for me. I was so jazzed leading up to this trip. I was going to my motherland - Wine Country. I had it all mapped out, places I would like to see, wines I wanted to try. Sigh.

So starting from the beginning... we safely landed in San Fransisco, where half of our trip was to be spent. A quick shuttle ride to our rental car company and we were off to our hotel. Oh, first off, rental cars. I never get the cool ones. We got this horrendous green/sage colored Ford Focus. I guess the type of car was fine, but the color... awful, enough to make me throw up (HA!). We then left the rental car company and after an accidental tour of the neighborhood around Fox Rental Cars, we found the freeway and got ready to sit in traffic! UGH! Seriously, the directions we had were to go around San Fran and stay on the "scenic drive", while we were sitting there I thought that was a grave mistake (I learned when we were leaving that maybe it was not all that bad). We finally made it to our hotel, Buena Vista Motor Inn. Yes, Motor Inn, but you know what, it was an ideal location for us - walking distance to Fisherman's Wharf and other low-key cute neighborhoods, plus, free parking!

We had nearly the whole day ahead of us, so we set out for a quick lunch and then decided to hike it over to Ghirardelli Square . Cute shops, street vendors and free chocolate samples were the attraction here. We were also right by the Pacific Ocean. Now, I have been to the Atlantic Ocean side and gone swimming plenty of times, but this was the first time at the Pacific - I needed to at least get my feet wet, I figured I could wait though, I would have plenty of time (or so I thought).

Lots of walking this day, so I was ready to sit down and have some dinner. We settled upon a sushi place, since I only eat vegetarian sushi, I can't really comment, but I thought it was good! We then decided to do some driving around and see San Fran at night. We checked out the Golden Gate, all lit up at night and then drove around some more, not sure what we were looking for, but then we decided it was best we got some dessert. So we found a crepes place. The creation presented to me was beautiful, a delightful artistic piece of syrups and whipped cream. Unfortunately I got to see the piece again at about 2 in the morning and in very different light.
We were pretty beat, so after dessert we headed back to the hotel to call it a night. The stomach pains kicked in about midnight and by 2 am the bathroom had become my new bedroom. Poor, poor Rachel. The bathroom couldn't have been closer to the bed and should I mention here that the toilet was broken, wouldn't flush. Morning finally rolled around and Rachel was outta there! Sadly she had to roam San Fran by herself because I still couldn't keep down water. My view of San Fran that day was watching an episode of House Hunters on HGTV where the couple looked for a new home in San Fransisco. Sad.

Early afternoon was approaching and I had a big decision to make - could I rally and go on a tour of Alcatraz Island? I had to do it. I was going to do it. We had bought our tickets in advance and I was determined to make it to this island. Worst ferry ride ever. We went on the night tour so the ride over was layered with unbelievable shots of the sun setting behind the Island, but I couldn't move from my chair, I was scared to even blink. We finally hit dry land! It was a huge triumph to me to make it there and it was so cool. Straight to bed after Alcatraz.

The next morning we were ready to begin our journey to Sonoma. First though, I wanted to ride on one of the infamous cable cars. Side note, did you know that the cable cars were invented because horses couldn't make it up the steep hills in San Fran? We headed to downtown San Fran on the cars and got to see fantastic views of the Bay and we got off on Lombard Street (crookedest street in the city and super fun to drive on!). On the way out of town we had to make the obligatory stop to really see the Golden Gate Bridge. We walked half way across and got some great shots. Maybe half way between Sonoma and San Fran are the Muir Woods, a redwood forest. I didn't have much energy to hike (not sure if I was eating by then or not), but we strolled a bit through the park. It was quite impressive.

After our little stops along the way, we finally reached Sonoma and could check in at the Best Western Sonoma Valley Inn. So cute! Fireplace, large room, breakfast delivered to you in the morning in a cute little basket. Loved it.

I was in Sonoma for goodness sake, so I had to suck it up and go to some wineries. We visited:

Korbel: I am now in love with champagne.

Armida: They are more into novelty than wine I think. I left with a bottle cuz it had a cute picture on it and was labeled, Poizin. Rachel left with a hoodie! The views were breathtaking though.

Porter Creek: Just a guy in shack. I don't think he like us at first, but we won him over with our charm and then felt obligated to buy a bottle of wine.

Mayo tasting room: Nice wine, but poor customer service.

On the way out of town, we made a stop at The Olive Press for an olive oil tasting. The stomach was still a little shaky or else I might have gorged myself at this place! The grounds were absolutely beautiful.

Pictures: Click Here!

~Posted by Ann

My Western Caribbean Cruise, April 8 - 15, 2006

2008-06-11T12:18:00.000-07:00

Travel log

I finally got that trip planned for April! We were really getting close to the wire and 2 weeks before our planned leave date I got something booked for the three of us! A Texaribbean cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line. That is Bob’s favorite word by the Texaribbean by the way. Ha, actually never say that word around him or if you do, be ready for a tirade about it.

The cruise left from Houston – Let me just cut in here and talk about Houston and then I never have to mention it again. Ugly! Ooogly is the more correct term I guess. The port, oh, excuse me, “La Port” was never meant to be a passenger cruise ship port, but with the hurricane of last year it has still left some things displaced. Although, as bad as it was, it was better then being out on the Houston airport runway! When we landed in Houston, we got to enjoy the additional benefit of sitting on a plane for nearly 1 hour. How madding! So close, yet trapped. Apparently there was some mechanical problems with this other plane that was blocking our gate; whatever, I hate Houston. – and so back to the trip, the destinations were: Cozumel, Mexico; Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras; Belize City, Belize.

So cruise ships. Hmm, I don’t know. I can say, with certainty, it isn’t my favorite way to travel. I mean, I love the concept – being able to stop at all these ports of calls that I would probably not go to on my own, it is a great way to sample places, but ultimately I don’t think cruising is the way for me. Sure, I became a little cynical (cuz that is my way), so by the end I was just glaring at everyone and thinking, “So this is what us white middle class people do. Sit on a boat that burns 1,100 gallons of fuel a day, to visit a town that is so Americanized and tailored to just get us to buy stuff and not really learn anything about the culture or destination that we are visiting because we enjoy spending our free time waiting in buffet lines instead of visiting gyms.” So don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate it, I just found myself questioning this means of travel! There were definitely highlights on the cruise, like the Murder Mystery Dinner. That was fantastic! It had been awhile since my friends and I had done one, but it was just like any of the kits that you would pick up at the game store. The family we ate with and played the game with was great, I totally enjoyed meeting them and solving the crime with them. Oh and I solved the crime, I was the only one in my group to get the right murderer – I am so smart! :)

Activities on the ship…..well there wasn’t enough. I don’t know for some reason I felt really anxious on the boat and I just couldn’t sit down and relax. I couldn’t be outside like everyone on the ship because my sun rash hit the first day (however, I talked to a dermatologist I work with and found out what this all about, PMLE is what it is called, and I now know how to prevent it in the future!). I was kind of annoyed how every lounge, every outdoor seating area had music playing, you could never find a quiet spot. I would have much rather eavesdropped on people’s private conversations than hear “No Woman, No Cry” once more! I tried to attend talks or presentation onboard, but the first one I went to just talked about how Cruise Ships are “Soft Targets”, meaning it would be very easy for a terrorist to take one out and it would make sense for them to take one out. So great, I had that in the back of my mind the rest of the trip!

The evening entertainment, ha! It was better than the entertainment at the Mexican resort at I was at a few months ago, but that isn’t saying much. The worst show: “Sea Legs at Sea”, they actually dropped a dancer on stage.

Cozumel:

Cozumel is all about shopping. Store fronts line the beach in classic strip mall fashion. However, before we shopped we booked an independent excursion through some pusher on the pier. Destination: San Gervasio, Mayan ruin site. So bare in mind, I had just been to Chichen Itza (a grand Mayan ruin site) like 6 months earlier so seeing these ruins were not impressive, but they were cool in the sense they are thousands of years old. Our tour guide was wonderful, Joaquin, he is a native Cozumelian (um, how would you say that?) and he loves Cozumel, thinks it is the best place in the world so it was great that he was our guide for the morning. He told us all sorts of stories and information about the Mayan site and Cozumel, I thoroughly enjoyed it. On the way out of the site we crossed paths with other two groups, each had like 30 people in it. I loved that we booked this as an independent excursion so it was just me, Bob, Gump and two other girls from our cruise. On the way back to the main city he told us of this local restaurant, La Mission, off the strip to eat at and it ended up being my favorite meal of the trip. The rest of the time I just spent shopping.

Roatan:

Approaching this island from the water was like viewing this lush, tropical oasis that had rolling hills and greens of every color. Once we landed though, well some beauty was stripped away. This is a very poor country – very poor. Apparently when they see the cruise ships come in, the kids get out of school so they can beg for money. Considering cruise ships have been docking here for awhile I was shocked at the level of shopping and how there was none! There was only one semi-ok store and it lost power when we were in it! However, I didn’t come to Roatan to shop; I came to zip-line!

We took the most nerve-wracking and scariest bus ride up the side of a mountain to get to the zip-line destination. Once there, we had harasses put on us, were given a helmet (cuz that would really help) and then proceeded to the first station. There was some talk of safety and what to do, but it all seemed to happen very fast. Before I knew it, it was my turn to fly like the birds! I had that 2 second panic where I was like, “what am I doing, I don’t want to do this, it is really high up!”, but I saw the person before me get to the next station and they were like 50 so I had to do it. In a weird way it ended up very peaceful and soothing for me. I believe there were like 13 stations, so each stretch of rope you glided on lasted somewhere between 100 and 600 feet. Each time you were slowly descending so the last stretch deposited you onto solid ground, a sandy solid ground. When we first started we were above the trees, so I am going to guess 100 feet off the ground or so, but you rarely noticed how high you were up cuz the vegetation was so lush and thick, plus you were watching for the next station so you didn’t careen into it. The beautiful beach that we finished on turned out not to be the beach we were going to spend the rest of the afternoon at, we had to get back on the bus and drive to ours.

Our beach, Taybana Beach, is designed strictly for tourist. It was fine though, it was actually quite nice. A ton of loungers were all over and there was shade, lunch was provided, there was a band and they had snorkeling equipment. Gump and I took this opportunity to snorkel. I have decided I totally love to snorkel. There was a coral reef right off this beach, although, I think it was pretty damaged from the hurricane, it didn’t seem that colorful, however the fish were colorful! I saw some great underwater life and a few of my pictures did turn out! So after everything we did today, we still had time to wander back into the city and have a beer at a local bar. There is nothing better than sitting by the water, drinking a beer and watching the sun as it goes down.

Belize:

Belize has been one of the places that has haunted me. I have wanted to go here for years and I feel like it is always taunting me. I see ads for it or it is mentioned in movies and finally I can now say I was here! We started the day pretty early; the ship arrived at Belize at 7am. However, we had to tender to the shore (the barrier reef prevents cruise ships from getting any closer than one mile out from the shore) and by the time we did that and met up with our tour group it was time to hit the road and head out to the rainforest. It was an hour and half bus ride and even though our tour guides did a lot to entertain us, I was ready to get off the bus and walk! So as soon as we stepped into the forest the heavens opened up and it poured, like I have never seen before. But how fitting right? Here we were in the rainforest! After about half hour of walking we came to the river that we would be tubing in. Now, the other night we had had dinner with this couple that told us that they heard there were snakes in the water and snakes hanging from the walls in the caves. Liars. All they managed to do we make me spaz out every time something touched my leg or hand. I don’t mind snakes, but I really don’t want a hidden one wrapping around me or anything – but that goes for anything, I wouldn’t even want a kitten crawling up on me if I didn’t see it coming. So, but anyway, I never saw a snake, I saw bats, but not snakes. Cave tubing ended up being a little more strenuous then I thought it would be. The current wasn’t all that strong so to stay with the group you had to paddle. There were a few rapids that sort of pulled you in and spit you out and that was fun. Although those rapids were responsible for pulling out Bob’s wallet and passport and not spitting it back out! Yup, Bob lost his whole identity in the river! Gump and I were clueless to this whole thing, here we were patiently sitting on the bus wondering where the heck Bob was. Turns out he was hunting in the river along with a bunch of other workers and tour guides! The un-Belize-able thing is, they found it!

After the river tubing adventure it was back on the bus to return to the ship. We all sort of had a big day so the bus was pretty quiet as we were all reflecting and having a siesta; that is until there was a horrendous noise along with smoke bellowing out the side of the bus and tire fragments pelting the window. The driver was desperately trying to maintain control of the bus, cuz you know they drive like madmen out there on these roads that wouldn’t be acceptable in a farming community out here. Of course I am thinking, “wow, so this is how it ends for me, on a tour bus in Belize – sorry mom.” But we gradually came to a stop and after a call to the station to get a new bus sent out we were allowed to get off the bus and roam around. I was the first one off the bus because I needed to get out and stretch my legs and burn off some nervous energy, so I popped out of my seat, headed to the front and waited for the driver to open the door. Now, I kid you not, the door opened and right in front of it, right in front, is this lone grave marker. Are you kidding me!? What kind of omen is that!? I am looking up and down the road and there is nothing, but we stop right in front of a grave marker that has fresh flowers on it! I guess it was a marker for some cyclist that died at that spot like a year ago. I could not Belize it. After a half hour wait we finally got a new bus and back on the ship with no more problems.

pictures: Click Here!

~Posted by Ann (transferring travel logs here)

My South Beach Trip, December 1 - 4, 2005

2008-06-11T12:10:00.000-07:00

Travel log

Ah, sunny Florida! If you are unfamiliar with the show Miami Ink on TLC, familiarize yourself with it because it was the catalyst that drove Terri and I to go there!

I am tempted to post the Excel spreadsheet that Terri and I used to plan this trip, some people might be scared. Both of us cannot imagine going on a trip without one! The biggest research project we had was figuring out where to stay. There are so many hotels in that area that this was quite a challenge. I don't think I could count how many frenzied emails we sent back and forth trying to decide! We finally, finally made a decision and went with The Kent Hotel. I think considering the amount we were willing to pay, it was a good decision. Side note, Book It is a great website for finding cheap hotel prices. So the hotel, it was purple. And I mean purple. The bed sheets, purple. The walls, purple. The ceiling, purple. The robes, purple. Get the point? It was kinda fun though, I love anything that has a theme. Oh, but the hardwood floors? That probably is not a good thing unless you can really insulate between floors in a hotel.

After checking into the hotel and paying $15 for valet parking, we decided to reclaim our rental car (our Impala Holla, it was pretty ghetto, there was even duct tape spotted on the bottom of it) and head to Coral Gables to try and make afternoon tea at the Biltmore Hotel. Our flight was delayed on the way out so that really screwed up some plans. Well we hustled but did not make it in time, but once we had arrived at the hotel we figured that was ok, they may not have served us anyway in our jeans and sandals! This place was swanky! I had no idea it was going to be that fancy! It is this mammoth, golden structure in the middle of town and it is just beautiful. Built in 1926, it is on the historic record for hotels. After we shuffled around there a bit we realized it was 5:30pm and we had not eaten since that morning so we rushed off to find some dinner. We found a little Vietnamese place in town and over some stir-fry, discussed whether or not we should return to the Biltmore for the ghost story and Christmas hour that they had. Right now there was one strike against the Biltmore. See, it was the hotel that made us miss the tea and made us feel dumb for being underdressed and mid-Western, so that equals strike one. Well, we decided to go back. That was not the right decision. For the next hour we were subjected to two old women, dressed in handmade outfits fitting the descriptions of Mrs. Claus and the Gingerbread Lady, telling the sappy story of Charlie's magical Christmas and doing bad magic tricks. The ghost story we were so hoping for consisted of this: "This guy died on the 13th floor after he was murdered and he is still around." Which was told very quickly before a horde of children came running up for the story telling hour. Biltmore, that was strike two.

Back at our hotel, we were left with the question of, what next? Terri and I are not big clubbers and the club/bar scene kind of scared me here. So I popped in a movie, and it turned out to be the best movie ever! I have an affinity for Vampire movies, especially low budget, filmed between 1950 and 1980. The Taste of Blood is a cult classic and I can see why, any time someone has a ring that hypnotizes you well that equals cult classic for sure! We got some good laughs out of this movie.

The next morning we woke up all set to see some gators! We were going to go on an airboat ride in the Everglades. I had done that the last time I was in Florida and really enjoyed it. We went to the Everglades Safari Park and it was really nice! We had lunch at the cafe on site (I passed on the gator nuggets) and then we were off on the airboat. The scenery is just very pretty, lily pads everywhere, mixed in with the signature tall grass, it was very nice. At one point our driver, Jamie, diverted our attention and when we all turned around he was holding a snake above someone's head. I can't believe how jumpy people are around snakes! In fact, if this was the airboat ride I would have gone on with Gump he probably would have jumped right off the boat and taken his chances with the gators! I got to hold it after it was passed around to the few people wanting to. We finished up the airboat ride with only seeing a baby gator in the water and some amazing hurricane damage. Part two of this park is an alligator show and a jungle walk. At the show, the gator handler filled us in on some really interesting facts about the alligator and then at the end of the show she singled me out! I was going to be her "volunteer" for this last part. I think the handler thought I was going to be a squirmy, scared little girly girly when she went and placed a 10 pound baby gator in my hands. But I wrong candidate for that job, I was like bring it on, I was just holding a snake 10 minutes ago! Little Snappy was so cute with his little gator smile! We walked around the rest of the park and saw more alligators, crocodiles and caiman.

We returned to South Beach for some dinner, shopping and sight seeing. Even though we were staying in the heart of SoBe we really hadn't explored it yet. Dinner time is crazy time on Ocean Drive. So many restaurants, all offering 50% off happy hour, and every hostess is trying to get you to stop. We walked up and down the strip trying to find this place we had read about, A Fish Called Avalon. After we managed to successfully walk right by it without seeing it, we gave up and ate at PrimeTime (part of the Waldorf Towers). Our waiter didn't realize we were in his section so we were forgotten about for quite sometime, but finally we were served. It was fine, nothing to write home about but it was great people watching! I guess that is when I finally started seeing how fake the beauty was down there....and I mean with the people. I hope to God that corsets never make it to MN as a fashion trend, cuz it is hot down there. After shopping at a cute little art deco Gap and a cute little art deco Banana Republic, hey we tried shopping at a local shop but 300 dollar sweaters are out of our price range, we returned to the hotel for another movie (such party animals!).

We woke up pretty early the next day cuz we knew we had a drive ahead of us if we wanted to get to the Fruit and Spice Park before the tram tour left. The Fruit and Spice Park...what we had read about it, it had made it out to be a real life Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Fruits and spices from all around the world and you were allowed to try them all! Fruits that tasted like chocolate pudding or vanilla ice cream were rumored to be hanging from the trees. Here is a tip: don't go if a hurricane just ransacked the area 6 weeks prior. There was nothing left of the park! Overall we really had not seen that much damage so it never occurred to me that this is something we would have to worry about. So many trees had been uprooted and/or all their fruit stripped from their limbs, it was pretty sad. It really wasn't a total bust though, the tour was still interesting and we did get to sample a few things. I would highly recommend going to this park, but go in the summer when most of the fruit is ripe and make sure a hurricane hadn't visited recently.

On the way back we decided to swing by Bayfront Park. I don't know why really, I think just to see some boats in the harbor or something. Turns out this place was fantastic! We had a late lunch right on the bay and stared at the ships and boats coming and going. We wandered around the shops...I bought a new sweater a cute little bayfront shop. Ok, fine it was Express, I am telling you the real local shops are expensive! We left with the idea that we would return after dinner to go on a city lights boat ride. So we left downtown Miami and headed back to South Beach. We freshened up in the room and then thought about heading out for dinner, but beforehand we wanted to make a reservation for the boat tour. Um, so we called and realized that all the late night boat tours were not happening! We had 1 hour to make the only night tour that was going to happen. So we rushed out the door and drove all the way back, but we made it! The lights were pretty from the view on the schooner that we were on, but it was freezing! So now we could finally go back and have dinner and we found the restaurant we were looking for the other night, A Fish Called Avalon. After dinner we went to Miami Ink...

I think I should now tell the tale of Miami Ink. The first night in South Beach we did a drive by, turns out the place was only 4 blocks from our hotel! There were cameras, lights and commotion all over! Of course that meant that there was no way we were going to try to walk into the middle of that, but I was super happy to see that they were filming another season of the show. The next night we walked over to the shop and discovered that by day it is a normal tattoo parlor but on weeknights is the stage of the show we love. We also found out that you can just walk in and get a tattoo, but we were too flustered to do anything so we just ran out. However, our last night there we made another return trip. This time Terri was actually going to get the tattoo she designed! James was artist on duty that night, he isn't on the show but maybe someday I will see him working next to Ami!

Our last day! In the morning we strolled over to this nice little alley market and had breakfast. You are not going to believe this but we decided to spend our last few hours in Florida by returning to the Biltmore. See, on Sundays they offer free tours. So we went. The tour was to run from 1:30 to 2:30, with another tour starting at 2:30. All that seemed perfect on paper; we had to leave the Biltmore no later than 2:30 if we wanted to make our return flight. I knew it was all going to go horribly wrong when the tour didn't start until 1:45.... Now, our tour guide....I can safely say that the tour did not start late because she was working on her makeup. I wish everyone could see it because it is like a walking PSA on how to NOT apply makeup. Foundation smeared here and there, not the right color tone. Blush was globbed on, traveling all the way to her ear and onto it. It was facinating really. Anyway, she was all excited because she had procured keys to the 13th floor. The floor where the murder occurred, the floor where the illegal casino operated, the floor where the walls were able to rotate between library books on one side and gambling paraphernalia on the other. For nearly a half hour we listened to the lady ramble on about the history of the hotel. I was slightly more interested when I discovered it use to be a Veteran's Hospital, but really all I wanted to see was the 13th floor. Finally she declared it was time to move on! But it was just into the ballroom, from there it was the pool and then, when I really thought we were about to travel to the 13th floor, she steered us into the courtyard. Grr!! I couldn't believe it, it was 2:26 at this point, there was no way we could continue the tour. So while we exited the hotel, the remaining members of the guided tour boarded the elevator to ascend to the 13th floor. Biltmore, that was strike three.

pictures: Click Here!

~Posted by Ann (transferring travel logs here)

My Ft Lauderdale Trip, January 11 - 16, 2005

2008-06-11T12:06:00.000-07:00

Travel Log

Remember when I was "in-between jobs"? Good times. Actually, that time did allow me to watch hours and hours of television, swim and go on this trip! I figured I could justify this trip if I only went for 5 days, instead of the full week like Gump and Drew. When you are unemployed you have to look for cost saving alternatives! And yes, I realize one cost saving method is don't go on trips.

I arrived late on Tuesday (or early on Wednesday if you want to look at it that way) and along with my suitcase full of shoes, I also brought clouds. We never really saw nice weather when I was there, but it wasn't a total wash out and thankfully Florida has more to offer than just sunbathing. The first day there we piled into the rental car and drove to the Southernmost spot in the United States, 90 miles from Cuba, Key West! This was a very cool drive, there is just one highway that will take you down to Key West so there is no getting lost. We stopped at a state park for lunch and ate by the water, just lovely. After a long drive we made it to Key West just in time for dinner. I was starved, we all were, so mission critical was finding a restaurant to eat at. Main Street was lined with local restaurants, heavily populated with seafood joints, after a desperate search to satisfy everyone's appetite we settled upon Hard Rock Cafe. I am really not a fan of chains, but the food was good and arrived quickly so we had time to wander around the streets before having to head back.

Some fun things about Key West....

yup, so roosters do roost in trees! Key West is filled with wild roosters, they are all over the street and up in the trees! Odd!!

Also, local legend has it that once you get sand from Key West in your shoes, you end up having a never ending desire to return over and over again.....I did get sand in my shoes....

Back in Lauderdale:
Airboat ride in the Everglades! Scooter! This was a great experience and one I highly recommend. There are many companies around the area that offer this, we went to Everglades Holiday Park. The boats here are not your typical kind, they were all covered, but considering it was raining that worked out well for us. We drove up to the facility via a dirt road, past a row of trailer homes and parked on a grass padded parking lot. Open the car doors and what did we find ourselves surrounded by? Wild peacocks! They were everywhere, it was a little unsettling actually. I could have touched one if I wanted, but then I also could have had my eyes peeked out so I opted for running away from them. After a short wait we were on the boat and out cruising the Everglades (Did you know that the Everglades actually sit upon a river and not a swamp. That is why companies where never able to drain the area and use it for commercial property). Our boat operator and tour guide claimed to be a backwoods Tennessee local, named Scooter. He was great. Although he loved doing doughnuts with the airboat that nearly spun me into a panic attack. After working for years and years in the same area, he had trained some wild birds to eat right from his mouth! We also got to see a 6 foot gator up close and in the water. If you want to know how big a gator is, look at the distance from his eyes to his nose. Five inches equals five feet, six inches equals six feet and so on.

This night we decided to do something other than dinner out and drinks after. We wanted to go to a comedy club. We found that the Hard Rock Cafe in Hollywood, FL had a comedy show so we decided to go. Well turns out this was also the grand opening of the restaurant/casino/club so it was hoppin'. The neat thing was that mostly locals were there so we got a break from the usual tourist crowd.

Gump and I were jazzed to go Miami, Drew had recently been there so decided to sit this out. The traffic was horrible from Ft Lauderdale to Miami and I ended up making Gump get off the freeway and get gas because I was sure we were going to run out. However, I made him stop probably in the most ghetto/scary area outside of Miami that I could find! Sorry, Gump! I learned a little something on this drive, that South Beach is in Miami Beach and Miami Beach is an island pretty much and not in downtown Miami. Loved South Beach. The art deco look of the entire city is really something to see, so glad we went. The next morning we flew out...

pictures: Not on line yet

~Posted by Ann (transferring travel logs to this site)

My Arizona Trip, March 6 - 13, 2005

2008-06-11T12:02:00.000-07:00

Travel Log

Bangerter Family Trip! I don't know the last time my mom, my brother and I took a trip together. So how did this come about? Well, my mom's employer offers this perk: use of the company time share along with the company van in Fountain Hills, AZ (located about 10 minutes outside of Phoenix). We also invited my aunt, Marlys, to join us on the trip.

I really enjoyed Arizona. It had been raining for weeks before we arrived, so when we did arrive, the land was so lush and green, it was beautiful. The accommodations for our stay - wow! The home was in a gated community - you actually needed a code or a remote control to open/close the gates. The house was lovely, it was furnished beautifully and the backyard was impressive. It had an illusion pool (you know, where it looks like the water is just spilling over the edge), a hot tub with a waterfall and a firepit. The rest of the backyard, well, it was a golf course, the sixth tee to be exact. I guess at times that was awkward, the players were like right there and probably wondered if we were watching them or enjoying the views.

So how did we entertain ourselves on this week long trip? Well that was easy! One day, my mom, my aunt and I took the van and headed to Sedona. It is this breathtaking, red rock canyon city. Along the way we stopped at a National Park with a cliff side dwelling that was used hundreds and hundreds of years ago, now called Montezuma Castle National Monument. I had never seen anything like that! These people dug rooms/homes into the side of the cliff, they needed ladders to get to their homes. Very neat to see.

Frank Lloyd Wright is my hero. Well, a lot of things he did/said spoke to me. One afternoon we went on a guided desert walk and the home tour of Taliesin West (Wright's Arizona home and school). The desert walk was quite interesting and picture perfect. Our guide informed us of many desert plants and cactus, I was fascinated. Next it was a guided tour of Wright's home. So do you hate how people tend to crowd in the entry way of a home? Well, Wright solved that problem by making the entry ways too short to stand comfortably in. He thought people needed to decide if they were in or out, no stalling by the door. He was also the most stubborn man...after a few years his wife finally wore him down and convinced him to install glass to keep out the bugs. However, the was one room that was decorated just how he wanted and installing glass windows would mean this one vase on this one table would have to be moved forward. He wouldn't allow it, so instead they had to cut a hole in the glass. So the vase remains untouched on the table and half of it sticks out the hole in the window.

One free afternoon I took the opportunity to go Horseback riding. Fort McDowell Adventures was right outside Fountain Hills so I took the short drive over there. Turns out I was the only person signed up for the 1:00 guided tour (the 12:45 tour had 15 people!) so it was just me and the guide! I did not bring a camera and I think the guide thought I was loony because of that, but I had just done the desert walk the day before so I had a ton of pictures, I just wanted to sit back and enjoy the scenery on this one. After that outing I met up with the family back at the time share for a family bbq. I have 2 other sets of aunts/uncles that live in AZ year round or just during the winter.

This day we drove out to visit my aunt Tudy and uncle Dean. They live in Apache Junction during the winter (they have a great view of Superstition Mountain). They told us of this Flea Market near them that we just had to go to. Wow, am I glad we did! This place had it all, some prices were good, some weren't, but that is the way of a Flea Market. You would also find yourself looking at something that a few booths away was several dollars less, so it was the luck of the draw if you picked to buy the item without seeing what was ahead. After spending the afternoon shopping we went to dinner at the coolest place ever: Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa, AZ. Imagine a Chuckie Cheese for adults. You order pizza at a counter and then run to find a good seat. The seating is set up in these long tables and benches - it is nothing fancy but it is fun. All eyes face the stage that showcases these organ pipes that are immense (and scattered around are these stuffed animated animals and other instruments, so I guess it is gaudy, but whatever, you just go with it). At show time, up from the middle of the stage floor rises this organ, the sound is incredible. Plus, the organist knows every song out there; I was shocked to hear him play the University of Minnesota song! It was a fun night!

So yeah, it was a good little family trip. I still found time to lounge around by the pool and visit a local spa for a massage, so it was great, I would love to visit Arizona again!

pictures: Not on line yet

~Posted by Ann (transferring travel logs to this site)

My North Shore Trip, August 26 - 30, 2005

2008-06-11T11:56:00.000-07:00

Travel Log

How about I break this down by day, it was such a whirl-wind trip that this might make it easier to follow along...

~Friday
Right after work Bob and I hit the road! We quickly made it up to Two Harbors by 9:30 or so (after making a dinner stop at Culvers so I could spend $13 on fast food). Our lodging that night: The Voyageur (be sure to say it in a French accent). It was your typical highway motel, very JoyRide-esque.

~Saturday
We awoke in the morning to a sunlit, 20 foot tall, paper-mache looking man in the parking lot, I guess this was the Voyageur? We headed out for breakfast and ate at a cute local cafe, Vanilla Bean Cafe. After a moment of exploring the local cemetery, we were off to our first hike: Gooseberry Falls. Talk about mob, so many people were milling about the Falls, I was sure that I was going to see a 2 year old (or Bob) take a head dive off the cliff. We wandered off down some path and found it easy to lose the crowd then, most everyone just plays by the Falls.

After walking around at Gooseberry we had worked up an appetite and found the greatest lunch spot: Lemon Wolf Cafe in Beaver Bay. Even the bathrooms were decked out! It was totally the cliché looking MN cabin, but adorable, plus the food was actually good!! After refueling at lunch we were on our way to Grand Marais. However, we didn't make it far because we stumbled upon SugarLoaf Interpretive Trail. LOVE IT! The trail was densely wooded, with an inch of pine needles to soften your walk. Every few yards or so there was a numbered post, you would use that number to correspond to the number in your guide book (found at the entrance) and there would be a little history lesson about the site you were at, trust me, it was fun! Although there was a blind dog that followed us back to the car, it actually ran into a post, that stressed me out, I just wanted it to return to the center! We climbed back in the car and then it was onward to Grand Marais! I now believe it is time to introduce you to Five Mile Rock. Bob and I traveled this stretch of road more times than I would like to count and Five Mile Rock faithfully greeted us every time. I have no idea how that stupid rock got a name and why the city paid for a sign to alert us to the rock, but it was there. We stayed at The Outpost Motel for the night. It was the smallest motel room I had ever been in but it was very clean!

~Sunday
Mmmm...donuts....Mmm...World's Best Donut Shop... Ok, how could you go wrong with a bakery name of World's Best Donuts!? Needless to say Bob and I stopped for a donut, or two. It was a cute little shop, the place is plastered with pictures and notes from people who have traveled all over the world representing World's Best Donut Shop. Countless collages of people gleefully holding a mug that says 'World's Best Donut Shop' with the Eiffel Tower in the background or the Great Wall or Coliseum in Rome or, well you get the idea. After that filling and energy producing breakfast it was onto Devil's Kettle. The woods quickly enveloped us as we started the hike on the earth trodden trail. Several minutes later, after a continuous ascending climb, we came upon stairs, 171 stairs to be exact. Thankfully on this round they descended, but I was already dreading the fact I would have to climb them to complete this trail. But on with the hike for now, we stopped for a quick photo moment at the Upper Falls, but I could hear Devil's Kettle in the distance and was eager to see it. Devil's Kettle is a very mysterious water fall, just before the water crashes over the cliff into the river below, it separates so there are essentially two waterfalls. One waterfall powerfully empties into the peaceful river below, while the other waterfall, well it disappears into this cavern (aka: kettle). The thing is, no one knows where this waterfall eventually empties out! They have tried dyes and debris but they never see the dye or items again. Best guess is that there is a network of underground rivers that possibly travels all the way to Lake Superior, but it is quite the mystery, plus I think no one really wants to solve it, it would take away the magic of the place.

Hey we are in Disney World! Oh, no, wait it is Mt. Rose Trail. I don't know, there was something Disneyish about this trail. Maybe it was because it was fully paved or because we had an annoying family in front us that yelled the entire walk up. This was probably not my favorite trail. Although, the lookout on top of the "mountain" was quite the payout and on the walk up we learned about local trees, but I was hoping for more.

And now the story of my death....the Grand Portage Trail. Again, this trail started out fully paved, but Bob and I quickly spotted a trail that branched off and lead us down to the water, which we took advantage of. Here I paused for a left-over donut break and some pictures, then it was on to view the tallest waterfall in Minnesota. It was magnificent, but we were off, we spotted on the park map another hiking trail. Ok, so some advice, if you read a sign that says "use extreme caution, extreme hiking trail", you might want to start out with more than a donut in your stomach and a half a bottle of water. The trail was amazing; at times it was hard to know if we were even on the trail it was so back-woodsy. But I was slowly wasting away, the humidity, the intensity of the trail, I thought I was going to have to tell Bob to go without me and leave me to the bears. However, I survived and actually made it to one lookout view but then we had to head back.

Ann and Bob cross the border! We successfully made it to Canada! People, here is a tip, don't go to Thunder Bay. Ok, I am being mean, but just be prepared. It is not charming, it is dirty and industrial and gray. We spent a good part of the night driving around and looking at the city, it was like the residents had all given up. No one had a garden, no one had any bit of color on their house, it was just depressing. The only saving grace was the White Fox Inn. This is the hotel we stayed at, it is a diamond in the pile of coals. It was clean, it was cute, they had their own maintained trails on site! The only downside was the food, not good, not good at all. However, I wrapped myself in the hotel's plush bathrobe and nothing could get me down for the rest of the night.

~Monday
The wet and dreary morning began with a cheese tour, at Thunder Oak Cheese Farm. It was actually interesting and there was oodles of free samples to snack on. Bob and I both left with an armful of gouda cheese and then we were off to our next stop; the 600 foot long suspension bridge! Who knew that if you drove an hour out of Thunder Bay you would come upon sheer rock faced canyon walls that reached to the sky and lush canyon beds filled with trees and meandering rivers? Eagle Canyon Adventure is the place to go if you can. The sights are amazing and it was fun to walk across the suspension bridge.

Well our time with Canada quickly came to an end and we were back to Minnesota to stay at this Northern hide away, Naniboujou. Interesting place. Don't go there looking for a drink with dinner (manager's choice) or a television in your room (manager's choice). There is this eerie Christian vibe to this place, but it is still remarkable. The dining room ceiling and walls has this vibrant, Native American design that has not been retouched since the 1920s when the lodge opened. It was originally a private country club of sort, with members such as Babe Ruth and local wealthy folk. When the depression hit, the lodge couldn't survive and closed it doors. It opened a few years later as a public hotel for all to enjoy and has been going strong since. The food is wonderful and I would list it as a not to miss place if you are in the area.

~Tuesday
You think Bob and I would just head home after several days of hiking and activities... well, not us! I think, for the both of us, the North Shore had lost its charm and we were looking for some new scenery. That is how we ended up in the Iron Range, more specifically, Ely. For those that haven't been there, go. It is the most charming Northern city I have been in! It beats Two Harbors and Grand Marais, hands down. Oh and Hwy 1! Best highway ever! I only wish we had more than an hour to spend there. We stopped for a quick lunch at The Chocolate Moose (which I heard later is where all the "out of towners" eat at). We then got back in the car, longingly looking at the city that we wished we could explore and drove to the next town over, Soudan. On one of our hikes we saw a brochure for a mine tour, a mine tour where you get to travel 2,341 feet underground! That was the only hook we needed and how we ended up at Soudan Iron Mine. Bob and I donned our hard hats and entered a cage for the trip half a mile underground and where we learned all about the world of underground mining, from an actual old miner. Once underground we also traveled 3/4 of a mile in a tram to the last and deepest area mined, um, there were bats. It was a very interesting tour and I could tell our guide got a kick out of turning out all the lights when we were underground, it was a little unsettling. I plan on returning hopefully in the near future to check out the underground Physics department that the mine also has. However, we ran out of time on this trip and had to leave.......the road trip had come to an end.

pictures: Click Here!

~Posted by Ann (transferring travel logs to this site)

My Mexico Trip, October 14-17, 2005

2008-06-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

Travel Log

Can we say train wreck? No, no, I joke, but there were some classic Ann and Rachel traveling event! For instance:

Minneapolis security: Rachel gets scanned
Cancun security: Rachel gets scanned (and only because she pressed the button and she lost)
Cancun security (return): I get scanned

All I am saying is that every time I turned around it seemed like airport security was focused on taking us down. It must have been Rachel's middle eastern heritage (Lebanese), she is such the terrorist.

Cancun airport: Girl heads off with my bag, thinking it was hers - don't be dumb, double check the tags when you pick up your suitcase - and I have to chase her down in the Cancun airport!
Cavie was on my flight/transfer bus/resort. Not that I have anything against Cavie, it is just for once I would like to leave Richfield behind, I was going to another country for Pete's sake!
Rachel discovers she does have a shrimp allergy.
Beware of the bugs. I thought there was a small sparrow type bird flying towards me, turns out it was a moth. I then of course stopped saying "birdie" in a welcoming tone and instead ducked and screamed.

Resort:

I have zero complaints and would highly recommend the Barceló to everyone. Rachel and I were actually lucky enough to get a room with a view of the ocean (you would be surprised how hard this can be, the hotels are designed so not many rooms face the ocean, because if all the rooms were lined up with the beach, well come hurricane time all the windows would be blown out). We had a free mini-bar that was filled everyday by the mini-bar fairy; beer, candy, pop, water, everything you want on a trip! The first day we realized the sink was leaking when we stepped in the bathroom and nearly drowned. I was slightly worried that we would have to put up with that the whole trip, but they fixed it the same day we complained about it.

Food:

GREAT! The two main questions I heard when I got back were: how was the food and did you buy vanilla (the seasoned Mexico travelers always asked me that). The hotel had a choice between the ocean-side snack bars, the buffet or the sit down fancy like restaurant. The snack bars were probably my favorite, they had pizzas, fruit and the best guacamole I have ever had (go figure, I guess I was in Mexico). The buffets were probably on par with OCB, not stellar, but tons of variety and something to suit every appetite. The food was really fresh and every time we walked into the buffet restaurant we were greeted and offered a drink (champagne, margarita, etc). We were able to make reservations for one night at the fancy restaurant (no shorts, sandals allowed), the atmosphere was lovely, a ton of waiters were there to fill up your drinks when they got half empty (best Sangrias ever!). This restaurant was actually really lacking in the vegetarian department, the only time I ever had a problem on the trip! They had egg dishes for me to eat, eggs are not my favorite, but I believe Rachel's meal was excellent.

Activities/Entertainment:

The resort had an abundance of free activities, we partook in a couple. Snorkeling was by far the highlight of the trip for me (Rachel may have a differing opinion on that). After spending a moment being beat and battered against the rocky shore, I made it past the breaking waves and into this incredible underground city. I had the best time letting the current move me around while I peeked into this undersea life. There were tropical fish of all sizes and shapes, some would swim right up to me, others would sneak a look at me from under a coral cliff and some would take off so fast I couldn't see anything but a silvery tail in the distance. Patches of the coral were so vibrant, pink fans would wave at me from afar, almost beckoning me out further. Stark white cactus-shaped, bonsai-sized trees lined the dark rocks. Dirty white mounds of sponge in the shape of brains were scattered around, it lead me to imagine that just maybe this underground paradise did have an intelligence of some sort that guided them all.

Other resort amenities

Mini-golf: Free! We went after dark one day and it was actually a little spooky. The course is set up in a jungle. Very wooded (bugs can be bad) and dark if one of the lights on the course were to be out. Fun time though.
Arts and crafts: Well, it wasn’t free, but still, arts and crafts! I love arts and crafts! We purchased the items we wanted to paint and then sat down and tried to keep the paints inside the lines, I have more respect for kindergarteners now. Once we were done we were told we could pick up our items the next day, they glaze them for us and add a black border around the designs that cover any mistakes!
Nightly Entertainment: Wow. Now this was a train wreck. Granted the entertainment was free, so I wasn't expecting much and well, this was not a Vegas show. Oh, this singer must have thought he was Michael Jackson and not just impersonating him. Granted this guy could moonwalk, but who can't? Just walk backwards without picking up your feet, I never really understood why that was so cool. I can't even explain why this was bad, maybe the Day-Glo outfits for Thriller had something to do with it. However, I did find it surprisingly hard to pull myself away.
Pools: The pools were huge, not crowded and wonderfully clean. Most resorts are now using this new kind of filtration where chlorine is not needed. Some form of soft salt is used instead that is just as effective as chlorine at killing the bacteria but it does not leave you all smelly, that was pleasant. The pool bars were great, it is so relaxing to wander around the pool and sip a margarita.
Beach: The definition of paradise. There were lounging chairs all along the shore and 95% of them were unused. The palm trees were scattered along at perfect locations so you could easily pick between a shaded chair or a sun soaked location.

Excursions:

CHICKEN PIZZA! Er, I mean, Chichen Itza ! This was a very long day, but so worth it. It started at 8 am with Rachel and me waiting at the front lobby for the tour bus. I won't get into it, but it might be possible that the bus and everyone on it was waiting for Rachel and me. We were standing exactly where we were told we should the day before, but well, thank god for the Mexican that looked like Ryan Paetznick (my landlord)! He steered us in the right direction. So we boarded the bus and seven hours later we arrive at the ancient Mayan city! Thankfully, it was not a solid seven hours of driving. There were many stops along the way. We stopped at a Mayan market, aka, a tourist trap. Eee gad, the stress! As soon as you walk in the workers surround you. They try to find something that interests you, something you linger on and then watch out, they will not let it go. I managed to bargain for a necklace here so I felt pretty proud, it is not a place you can browse at. Next stop was a cenote (a natural well). This was magical. We descended this enclosed, stone staircase and emerged on a landing, how do I even describe what I saw....breath taking. Long vines trailed down into this sun-sparkling pool of water. From overhead, small waterfalls splashed into the pool below. The water was cool, but very refreshing. We only had 30 minutes to spend at this place so it was in and out. Wonderful stop. Back on the bus and on the way to lunch. It was buffet style and decent enough, but, ugh, I was ready to move on and see the main purpose for this excursion! We finally arrived! Once there we broke off into two groups; the Spanish group and the English group and off we went. Our guide was Mayan so I think she offered a very interesting perspective on the happenings of this ancient city. It was just fascinating and we did not have nearly enough time. All the buildings and structures are amazing, but the main temple is what it is all about. Built perfectly in lined with the sun, 91 steps grace each side of the structure leading to a main room on top (add it up: 91*4 + 1= 365). It is a wondrous thing that something like that could be built so many years ago. During the excavation they discovered that the main temple had a smaller one inside of it; that is what I climbed. There was just a small hallway carved out that could be used to climb to the top. The stairs were steep, the heat was oppressive, the lighting was dim but when you reached the top, incredible. There were two remaining statues from the time, untouched by looters. There was a man carved out of stone, with his hands open as if as an offering and behind him was a jaguar statue, painted a vivid red, with green spots and jade eyes. Neat.

pictures: Click Here!

~Posted by Ann (transferring my travel logs to this blog)

Oh, Minnesota

2008-06-05T08:04:00.000-07:00

Is this because we consume the most or because we recycle the best?

Recycling Fun Fact:
The Metrodome recycles more beverage containers than any other stadium in the country. Last year, they recycled 44.2 tons of brown plastic beer bottles and plastic cups.
Information provided by: www.StarTribune.com

No reservations

2008-05-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

Craftsman
address: 4300 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55406
website: www.craftsmanrestaurant.com

I ate here in the summer of 2007, on the patio, on a beautiful, warm night. My experience then was wonderful - I even found the chipmunk that was running in-between people's feet charming. However, my return to this restaurant was not as stellar. It was a Saturday evening, there were 7 of us and we had not made a reservation. I had no idea what a mistake that would be. We were shamed by the wait staff about not making reservations and after that they grudgingly pushed 4 tables together. We were told over and over again about how on a Saturday night you must make a reservation. Odd though, several tables around us remained open and after some people in our party were no shows, they never reclaimed the extra table that we didn't need.

Another downside to not making reservations was that bartender had to serve us. She had to cover our table and serve drinks to the entire restaurant at the same time. I think that was making everyone crabby. I don't really enjoy eating and having this tension around me. And our experience did not grow brighter as the evening went on. Someone in our party ordered a hamburger - well done. GASP! I know. But you know what? This what not her first time eating out and that is how she preferred her burgers. Well, she had to argue with the server/bartender regarding that choice. I am sorry to say that I can't think of a reason to return to this restaurant.

Melting Pot
address: 80 S 9th St, Minneapolis, MN 55402
website: www.meltingpot.com

Not again! It was a Tuesday night, after happy hour had ended, my friends and I showed up for a little melty, ooey-gooey goodness. After standing at the entrance for 3 minutes without an acknowledgement, we were finally greeted by, "Do you have a reservation?". Um, no. No we didn't. Again I was shamed into not calling and setting up reservation. We told if we could wait for 5 minutes they could get a table set up for us in the bar - as long as we were ok only doing cheese fondue and small apps. Turns out that is all we were there for so that worked. Now, to be fair on the walk to the bar you don't go through the dining room, but as I craned my neck all I saw were open booths. Odd. We walked into the bar --- not a single person in there. The MO was the same at this restaurant, no reservation means the bartender serves you. Turns out this bartender was very attentive. He had nothing to do but serve our table. No drink orders were coming in either, which makes me wonder how full the dining room really was.

The hostess station and setup might need some work, but the food doesn't! There is just nothing better than covering a carrot in melted cheese or dipping a strawberry in melted chocolate. And the best part about eating fondue out? No clean up! If I remember right, the dining room has warming stations built into the table. In the bar they don't have that, but thankfully the pots of melted cheese and chocolate stayed warm enough to keep everything liquid. The other thing about eating in the dining room, if memory serves, the level of noise is overwhelming. Eating in an empty bar meant we could actually hear each other! So once seated and I got some food in me, this turned out to be a much better experience then how it started.

~posted by Ann

2008-02-08T14:01:00.000-08:00

I have been tinkering with some of the numbers being published regarding campaign donations. I read about Obama having a very large percentage of "small amount" donors (47% of his 2007 money from donations of $1,000 or less, and 33% from $200 or less) and also that both he and Hilary eclipsed Bush's record-setting year in 2000 when he raised 96 million (they were both around 99 million). This is especially impressive due to the fact that the Democratic candidate is not even decided yet, and traditionally the majority of campaign money does not show up until AFTER the parties decide on their candidate. For TWO potential candidates of the SAME PARTY to surpass the previous donation record held by an actual nominee is astounding.

So I started wondering about the total number of people donating, but due to privacy laws and whatnot, campaigns are not required to report donor names if the donation is under a certain amount. This means you have to roughly back into the numbers based on percents and totals currently published, with a dash of creative license to determine your average variable(s). According to Obama's site, their claim is that almost 500,000 people have donated, which is an absurd amount based on previous election estimates.

I began to wonder if that's even possible, so I have tried to validate it using the matrix below. For the most part I have used percentages published by the CFI (specifically, "less than $200", "$1,000 or more", and "$2,300 or more"). As you can see I've taken some liberties in giving Obama slightly smaller averages and a 50-dollar bracket as a sub-section of the "less than 200 dollar" bracket. As pure scientific methodology that would be considered a reach, but from a practical standpoint I think it's a very valid amount. In doing so, my math comes extremely close to that 500,000 number. Freakish.

Clinton $98.7MM in 2007$ 175 avg (14%) = 78,960 donors$ 600 avg (11%) = 18,095 donors$1200 avg (25%) = 20,562 donors$2500 avg (75%) = 29,610 donors APPROX TOTAL = 147,227 donors

Obama $99.6MM in 2007$ 50 avg (16%) = 318,720 donors (holy shit!)
$ 150 avg (16%) = 106,240 donors$ 500 avg (15%) = 29,880 donors$1100 avg (21%) = 19,014 donors$2300 avg (33%) = 14,290 donors APPROX. TOTAL = 488,144 donors

* As an aside, it should be noted that Hilary's numbers alone are very impressive in their own right; enough to beat any other candidate in any previous year. *

If you were to back into numbers that are published by the CFI from Bush's record-setting year (only two brackets are available: over/under $1,000) depending on how generous you are to his average brackets, he probably had somewhere between 70,000 and 150,000 donors (and remember, that was a RECORD amount).

For Obama to have close to 500,000 in the year BEFORE the election when he's not even the candidate yet is completely unprecedented by any math, and by a huge margin. Two more points that should be taken into account: 1, Obama's 32-million dollar JANUARY suggests that his momentum and support are still growing and his overall public financing will likely shatter any previous election of all parties COMBINED, and 2, this astronomically historic show of support from "average" people is coming FROM A BROKEN ECONOMY. Somehow people who can't afford to are still giving anyway, and with a level of urgency that this country has probably never seen before (except maybe from hippies - but they didn't have any money).

Gigi's Cafe

2008-01-25T12:00:00.000-08:00

Gigi's Cafe
Address: 822 West 36th Street in Minneapolis, MN
Website: http://gigisuptown.com/

Pizza night! We stumbled in there from the cold to discover it was Pizza Night! That means you get a 12" pizza (meat or veggie) with a bottle of wine (pick from a selection of 4) for $20!! Excellent deal! I got a side salad to go with my pizza. The dressing tasted like pure olive oil to me, but luckily the greens were so fresh and tasty, I found I didn't even need dressing. There was a little confusion with the pizza also, we thought we picked the toppings from the long list of veggies on the specials menu, but it turns out you don't customize the veggie (or meat), you get everything that is listed. The pizza was piled with a bit too many mushrooms for me, but I managed. The crust was wonderful, had that homemade quality to it.

Once we finished the pizza we discovered we still had half a bottle of wine left. So we decided that to hang onto our table we had to get a dessert. Right? You just have to get a dessert in situations like that. It was agreed upon that the brownie would do. Yummy! Maybe a little dry, but I found it wasn't hard to eat.

I have also visited this joint for brunch and that was lovely. Just be prepared, this place can really fill up quick.

And take heed: After you finished off that bottle of wine and quickly left your table so the next person could sit down, did you discover you might have left something behind? Well check out the Lost and Found link online, you might be reunited there!

~posted by Ann

Recycling Fun Fact #3

2008-01-25T11:58:00.000-08:00

Running shoes reuse:
Wore out those running shoes? Or do you want to replace your old, out-of-style running shoes, because you are really going to try running this year? Check out these sites:

www.oneworldrunning.com They distribute gently used running shoes to athletes in Africa and Latin America
www.nikereuseashoe.com They convert shoes that are beyond salvage into athletic flooring

Indecision '08

2008-01-10T09:39:00.000-08:00

Who do you line up with??

You can take the test here, on Kucinich's website:
http://www.dennis4president.com/
Find the link on the front page

Or here is another one: www.electoralcompass.com

VIA Cafe and Bar

2008-01-04T08:31:00.000-08:00

VIA Cafe and Bar
Address: 6740 France Avenue South
Edina, MN 55435
Website: http://www.viacafebar.com/

Well UNO underwent a bit of a change... They now spell their name with different letters (VIA), they serve wonderful food and in fact it is a totally different establishment! The inside is wonderfully decorated, chandeliers with draping crystals, nice upholstered chairs and rich, dark woods. Even on a Minnesota night with a stiff wind and probably a negative wind chill they had their fire pits roaring outside; it created a cozy, fireplace atmosphere inside.

We were greeted by a hostess wearing a stylish black dress, like the kind I wear every 3 years when I go to a Broadway show or something and I also saw a guy wearing a 3 piece suit eating near by. Needless to say I felt a little frumpy in my jeans. So fair warning, you may not want to stop here for dinner after shopping at Southdale for hours and looking to crash at a casual place.

I had a big lunch this day (at Cap's Grille, another great Minneapolis locale: http://www.capsgrille.com/), so I wasn't looking for a big dinner. Which was a good thing, because my one complaint was that they didn't have a vegetarian entree option. I ordered the Fresh Mozzarella flat bread: yum, yum. It was loaded with melted cheese, on a nice crisp flat bread. I could have used more basil on it, but I don't want to complain about it, it was great. My mom's dish was the Pork Tenderloin. She hasn't had Pork Tenderloin like this before! It was elegantly served, with a side of spiced, stewed pear and a potato au gratin side. I sampled the pear and potatoes, delish.

All in all, I am looking forward to go back!

Trivia: Via is run by the same company that operates Mission and Atlas Bar and Grill.

~posted by Ann

Recycling Fun Fact #2

2008-01-02T07:59:00.000-08:00

“Wipe Out Wireless Waste” is campaign to recycle used wireless phones and generate proceeds for local community improvement and revitalization projects through Keep America Beautiful.

With more than 200 million wireless subscribers in the U.S. today, the need to keep used wireless phones out of the waste stream is more important than ever. The “Wipe Out Wireless Waste” campaign makes it easy for anyone to recycle their mobile phone equipment, and in turn provides funding to Keep America Beautiful that supports diverse hands-on stewardship activities such as cleanups of public lands and waterways, tree and flower plantings, and recycling activities.

Easy Instructions:
CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD and PRINT a free, postage-paid mailing label
AFFIX the label to an envelope or box
INSERT your wireless phone, battery, and any accessories
DROP it in the mail!

Please be sure to deactivate service and clear all personal information from your wireless phone before recycling it. If you are unsure how to clear your information from your device, consult your technical manual or phone manufacturer for more information.

Phones, batteries and accessories recycled through the "Wipe Out Wireless Waste" program are not tax deductible. However, these contributions provide two important benefits: 1) protecting the environment through recycling, and 2) raising money for clean-up, green-up efforts in your local community.

Information provided by: http://www.kab.org/

Here is another site to check out: www.collectivegood.com
They will recycle cell phones and PDAs; some are refurbished for use in the developing world.

Recycling Fun Fact #1

2008-01-02T07:56:00.000-08:00

Because we all use so many crayons...

The Recycling Association of Minnesota is partnering with CRAYON RECYCLE PROGRAM™ to help Minnesotans recycle crayons. The CRAYON RECYCLE PROGRAM™ recycles old, rejected, broken crayons into fresh, new CRAZY CRAYONS™! The new crayons are in all different shapes, colors, and styles.

You can ship old, rejected, or broken crayons to:
LAF Lines, Ltd.
17455 Kelly Lake Road
Carver, MN 55315

LAF Lines cannot reimburse for shipping. For every pound of crayons sent to LAF Lines Ltd. for recycling, you will receive one CRAZY CRAYON™. For example, if you send in 50 pounds of unwanted crayons, you will get 50 CRAZY CRAYONS™ in return, as an effort to "close the loop".

For more information on ordering CRAZY CRAYONS™, call 1-800-561-0922 or 952-448-9711 in the Twin Cities metro area. You can also be a collection point at your school or organization. Call for more information! You can also visit the CRAZY CRAYON™ website at http://www.crazycrayons.com/.

~posted by Ann

Pet buffalo

2008-01-02T07:54:00.000-08:00

I just hope when I am 75 I have a pet buffalo.

Man, 75, hurt while riding pet buffalo
Tue Jan 1, 10:29 PM ET

MESA, Ariz. - A man who took one of his pet buffaloes for a ride at a ranch north of Phoenix on New Year's Eve ended up being bucked off the animal and trampled, authorities said.

The unidentified 75-year-old man was flown to a Scottsdale hospital with non-life threatening injuries after the incident in rural Cave Creek, a chief with the Rural/Metro Fire Department said.

"He saddled up, got bucked off and was mauled," said John Kraetz, a district chief for the fire department. Kraetz said he's never been on a similar call.

"People do have buffalo on their property, but it's pretty darn uncommon," he said.

~posted by Ann

Found: New Neighborhood Restaurant

2007-12-29T09:50:00.000-08:00

Dominguez Restaurant

Address:	3313 E 50th St, Minneapolis, MN 55417
Phone:	(612) 729-2353

Website: http://twincities.citysearch.com/profile/43252297/?brand=smx_restaurant-nc

Great Mexican restaurant! I stopped by here with a few friends on Thursday night. After I nearly backed into the restaurant, I wedged my car into spot and jumped out ready for some beers and chips! I walked into a tiny restaurant, with only 3 high top tables to the right and about 12 tables to the left. One cobalt blue tiled table was left, just for us!

The chips: great, nice and thick. The salsa: nice and smooth, no chunks! (I don't like chunks) it was a little spicy for me though. The dinner prices were all about $10 for an entree. However, you can order from the lunch menu, if you add a dollar to the price. So instead of paying $9.75 for 1 chimichanga, I paid $7.75 for 1 chimichanga and 1 enchilada. And it was fantastic!! The queso poured over the entire thing was delish!

The restaurant was packed the entire time we were there. Full of locals and an enormous amount of kids. It was a fun night, full of good food and good conversation! I highly recommend this place, I will be going back.

~posted by Ann