Cafeteria Food

One of the love/hate things at work is the cafe. I hate it because it's one of the main reason I have put on weight since moving to MN. The love side comes from the amazing freshly made food. This month is hispanic heritage month and the Mexican chef is loving it. Chilaquiles are my absolute favorite breakfast and his are top notch! 

Every day there is something new. This week one day was home-made corned beef hash and pork schnitzels. It just doesn't get any better than this.

 

Spotted Cow

We left on a Friday to go to IL. There was a big wreck on our usual route, so we took the scenic drive through WI. For the 1st time in 30 years, the timing worked out and we were able to hit the New Glarus brewery. They are closed on weekends, holidays, days around holidays, and usually any days that we are in the area. We arrived ten minutes before they closed. Just enough time to get some t-shirts and a pint of the best beer in Wisconsin: Spotted Cow. JP was very impressed with it all and gave a thumbs up for a return visit sometime.

Not many people know that the four-wheel-drive was invented in Lanark, IL.

We took the scenic route home, too. NW IL, SW WI, NE IA, and SE MN are beautiful and the drive is a full 50 miles shorter than the usual freeway route. We did not have to refuel along the way.

 

Painting the Porch

We were blessed with perfect weather for our fall trip to see Nana. We replaced a few board on the front porch and trimmed up some brush. 

Like mother like daughter. They like to paint.

 

Walk Home

On the days that I take the bus, my walk home takes me along the south shore of the lake. The bus ride and mile walk home take 45 minutes. By the time I get home I have read the day's news, gotten a few steps in, and enjoyed one of the city's best parks. 

Twins Win

We took in an evening Twins game with the Ks from next door. The Twins are doing excellent this season, and the good seats are getting sold out quickly. 

 

Dark Dog Walks

One of the indicators that summer is coming to a close is that the morning dog walks are in the dark again. I was hoping to catch the comet, but I think I was too early; it was still beneath the horizon and further to the south. 

 

New Toaster

Our beloved toaster oven finally died. It was our second one, and we replaced it with an exact copy. It is used every day at almost every meal. It's one of those appliances that we cannot do without. There are fancier models out there, but we are still in love with this one.

 

Tomato Season

Everyone is trying their hardest to grow tomatoes in the short Minnesota summer. The trouble is that everyone, including our fuzzy backyard friends, loves fresh tomatoes. As soon as they start to look ripe, they are immediately eaten.

Regardless, the grocery stores all have enough tasty ripe tomatoes for us to enjoy. JP tried a new pizza recipe: tomatoes & basil with no sauce. It's pretty tasty!

 

Duran Duran and Chic

Our afternoon at the fair was capped off by a great concert at the fair's Grandstand. Chic opened up with a ton of songs from the 70s that everyone knew. Then Duran Duran played an amazing set. JP has been waiting 40 years to see them, and they did not disappoint.

Our seats were up in the nosebleed section, but the music sounded great. We went with the usual suspects from next door.

 

MN State Fair

I took off an afternoon and we hit the MN State Fair in St. Paul. We've been to other state fairs, and none can compete with this one. It's #2 in the country in terms of overall total attendance, but that's only because it runs two days less than #1 (Texas). In terms of people per day, it's #1. 

We were impressed with all the permanent structures. It doesn't feel like a temporary thing.

JP tried some MN wine for the first time, and she actually liked it. Along with Honeycrisp apples, the university has been breeding varieties of grapes that do well in our soils and short growing season.

 

Moonrise

We wandered over to the bandshell to catch some live music. The band was OK, but the main attraction was the Super Blue Moon rising above the water. There were more people on the lake side of the bandshell. 100 or so were doing moonrise yoga, another 200 were taking pictures of the moonrise.

We enjoyed the view all the way back home.

 

Walking Home from Work

We're back down to a single car, which means I get to walk home from the bus stop. If I get off at stop A, I can stop off at George and the Dragon for a cold pint. The route from Stop B passes by Tinto Kitchen, and walking from Stop C takes me along the lake. Poor me.

 

1917 Cottage House

This 1917 house has been sitting vacant for the last two years. It's on a quarter acre lot overloking Minnehaha Creek down by the tennis courts. The vacant lot next to it sold last month and it's looking like the house might get torn down so someone can replace it with a modern mansion.We can't believe that there are no historical preservation rules here. 

 

MNUFC: The Loons

Our neighbors gave us a pair of tickets for a Sunday afternoon Minnesota United Football Club (The Loons) game. It was our first experience of major league soccer, and it was a blast. We had really good seats until the sun dipped low enough at halftime. We spent the second half exporting the complex and came to the conclusion that there are no bad seats there.

 

Scythe

The day after we saw Alien, CP broke out his Scythe game and we played for a couple of hours. It's like monopoly, but with 200 more rules and pieces. He replaced the cardboard coins with some really cool metal ones. Over the past year we have caught on and learned how to play. There's a lot of setup to it, but it's a fun game to play.

 

1979 Alien on the Big Screen

Our local theatre shows all of our favorite movies! CP came over and we went with our neighbors and their daughter. Everyone had fun and ate too much popcorn. The corner (48th & Chicago) is vibrant and buzzing with activity. On one side of the theatre is an amazing clasic Wisconsin-style supper club. On the other side is a tiny bar that serves up fancy drinks and next to them is a neighborhood bar & grille. The theatre also hosts live music, comidians, and fun events, like the one below:

 

Hot Summer

We had an unbearable week of heat. The north shore did not. It's amazing that just two hours away the temps can be so much more reasonable.

We hit 100° with a dew point of 80°. It felt like Mississippi.

 

Go Big Red!

We did the drive down to Lincoln to drop GP off for his final year @ UNL. 

GO BIG RED!!!

 

Summer Music

One of the fun things about our part of town is that we can walk over to the bandshell for live music five nights a week. Despite being in the city, we have our share of pretty views and wildlife.

The next door neighbors did the same thing.

 

Mousehole for the Cat

We gave the kitty her own mouse hole in the basement stairs door. The cat can go thru, but the dog cannot.

New Government Housing

A block south of us, the city tore down an old house and put up a new six-unit apartment. It's made of nine pre-fab boxes that were stacked up in a day with the biggest crane I've ever seen (outside of the ConExpo show).

This is a part of the city's plan for putting affordable housing everywhere. 

 

Raging Rabbits

The entire neighborhood has been absolutely plagued with rabbits this year. Our front yard is normally full of big lush hostas and flowers. This year everything has been gnawed to the ground.

 

Family Reunion

CP Came over for the afternoon and we had a nice family reunion. 

 

CP & MB passed memes back & forth for an hour. Grampa wanted to know what all the laughing was about, so MB showed him. Not sure that it came across the same for him.

Minneapolis Sightseeing

No trip to the Cities would be complete without hitting the falls. It was a perfect day and we grabbed a tasty lunch at one of my favorite places: Sea Salt.

US Bank Stadium is a ghost town now that Taylor Swift is gone.

The falls downtown and Stone Arch Bridge are fun, too.

 

MOA

MB & MB & Grampa Stopped off for a laundry break on their way home from Oshkosh. 1st stop: The MOA!

There is is still some excitement lingering from the Taylor Swift show. 

We hung out with Grampa while the girls shopped and shopped.

 

A Dog's Life

S is really good at just laying around the house. It's one of his favorite things to do.