Minneapolis – Day 2

Several folks recommended we get breakfast at a place called Hell’s Kitchen which it turns out is right around the corner from our hotel so that was our first stop of the day and it did not disappoint – I had lemon ricotta hotcakes topped with berries that were light and delicious.

From there we walked through Loring Park over to the sculpture garden - sun was out so it was a great morning for a walk:

from the sculpture garden we walked back to downtown along Nicollet mall where we got sidetracked by a plethora a food truck options – we stopped by a cupcake truck for a key lime cupcake and split a grilled cheese at another truck called Dandelion Kitchen - they also made a great hibiscus ginger soda:

Replenished, we jumped on the light rail down to Minnehaha park to wander for awhile.  The main feature of course is Minnehaha falls, but there is also a nice stream to meander along and lots of trails and fields:

Heading back to downtown, we jumped off the lightrail  near the Mill District which I would like to head back to for more exploration, so stay tuned.  Then back to the hotel for a quick rest before Julie C came to pick us up.  We drove across the river to the NordEast neighborhood, a polish enclave.  we caught up over dinner at the Bulldog, then closed out the evening down the street at Nye’s Polonaise room - this place was awesome (reminded me of Misty’s in Lincoln) – old school bar caught in a time warp.  The highlight was “The world’s most dangerous Polka band” playing all sorts of classics on the accordion:

Fun night!

Minneapolis! Day 1

Continuing our big year of domestic travel, BK & I find ourselves in Minneapolis for Memorial Day.  I’ve been here a couple times to visit Julie, AK & LB, but it’s a first for BK.  We were up early to catch a 7:00am flight, but arrived into MSP just after noon.   Unfortunately, by the time our light rail train arrived downtown a thunderstorm moved in – it was only 4 blocks to our hotel, but we were DRENCHED upon arrival.

We got a nice corner room on the 16th floor but I quickly discovered our bathroom has a view.  Not a bad thing for us to look out at, but definitely thought provoking as you sit down to pee – can those folks in the office building across the way see what’s up?   Later in the evening as I took a seat though, I was delighted to see this nearby building that has a whole aquarium theme lit up on it’s upper floors at night:

The thunderstorm raged all afternoon, but since we had gotten up so early we too advantage for a nap.  Once awake, we headed up to the 27th floor for happy hour a Prohibition bar, then up to the 30th floor observation deck.  Did I mention that we are staying in the only skyscraper on the national register of historic places?   Foshay Tower

We didn’t take any pictures tonight because it was still pretty cloudy – we’ll see what the rest of the weekend holds.   For dinner we walked down the street to a local institution, Brit’s Pub.  I had been here once before with AK & LB to watch some soccer match – tonight, it was hoops inside.  I was excited to sample a local favorite though, Minnesota Walleye.  As BK noted, this fish is pretty flavor neutral so you can do almost anything to it.  It was good:

Then back home to rest up for the rest the weekend’s adventures!

Kansas City is big…

Seriously – much bigger than you would think.  About the same size as Seattle, but more spread out.  We all slept in then rallied for lunch at BK’s favorite BBQ joint, Gates.  I tried the smoked turkey sandwich and it was yummy.  I like the sweet & mild sauce the best.

It was a rainy morning in KC, so we drove around a bit, past all the big mansions, and through the Plaza district.  Eventually we landed a great parking spot next to a funky nail salon, and then wandered a couple blocks over to the brand new Kauffman Performing Arts Center.

Today was the grand opening Open House for the building and thousands of folks came out to visit – we stood in line for an hour to get in!  They had four stages set up outside though, so we got to enjoy music as we waddled along, and I loved watching all the people.  It’s a cool building – the outside kinda looks like my new office, and the inside looks like the Guggenheim in New York.

After touring the new space, we hopped back in the car to visit the Plaza district, a little shopping area downtown built to look like Spanish plazas.  Kinda of crazy, but nice.  We got BK’s favorite carmel corn at Topsy’s, and then Cheesy Corn to take to dinner from Jack Stack.  Sunday night dinner was at Steve’s dad’s house and was a real treat.  Robert cooked up steaks fo the boys that filled their plates!

Then it was home to hang out watching old video footage of the boys – very funny!  This was a great trip to the midwest – it was fun to explore some new areas and I enjoyed them all.  Don’t be afraid of the middle of the country! 

Game Day in Lincoln

Aside from visiting Steve & Diane, the real impetus for this trip was the Husky game.  On game days in Lincoln, the football stadium becomes the third largest city in Nebraska (85,000 people), so this was an event any sports fan wants to experience at some point.

The morning started out with a great breakfast at the Rogers House Inn where we were staying, chatting up with a Nebraska fan that comes in for every game from LA. We packed up our stuff, then drove into town, parked, and started wandering.  Many tailgates were already set-up and everyone was pretty friendly as we walked around in our purple & gold.  We stumbled upon the Farmer’s Market in the Historic district which was great, as well as the ice-cream store recommended by the Husker fan from breakfast.   At Ivanna Cone, they still churn the ice cream out in these super old machines.  We shared a scoop of mint(Empowermint) and a scoop of peanut (A Veritable Cornucopia of Nuts) that were both really good.

Kevin and his dad showed up, and then we ran into Cindy & D, so it was fun and surreal to catch up with everyone.  D’s friends were super nice and we followed them into a joint called Barry’s for a beer where BK befriended a couple other Husker fans.  D’s friends used to be in the band, so they told us to check out the Drumline practice before the game which sounded fun.  The weather was not holding out as well as we had hoped though, so we dashed over to the car first to grab jackets before walking over to campus.  It really was amazing how many Husker fans stopped to tell us good luck or thanks for coming as we walked around.  Super friendly folk.  I like Lincoln – it’s got a good vibe.

After watching the drumline, we made our way towards the stadium as we had also been told that everyone is in their seats 20 minutes before kick-off.  seriously?  Along the way we ran into Judy & Tom too – so many Seattle folks in town!  First mission inside the stadium was a potty break, quickly followed by a snack break.  I got a slice of the famous Vantinos pizza, while BK & Teh Kevin’s sampled the infamous Runza, which BK deemed the ultimate drunk food.

Our seats were in a far corner pretty high, but still a great view.  A sea of red enveloped us, the game was tense but overall a great experience.  After the first score of the game a coud of red balloons filled the sky.  The fans around us thanked us for coming and wished us luck.  The Huskies played hard and were competitive in one of the toughest stadiums of the country.  Even though they lost, it was a fun day.

After the game, we embarked on the long drive home.  Because of the flooding, we headed south towards Topeka on a one line highway, then cut east from there.  It was dark & boring, and we were all happy to arrive home late that night.

1 Day – 4 states!

Slept in and enjoyed a lazy morning before heading down the road for late breakfast at Waffle House.  Their buttermilk waffle really is delicious. Afterwards we packed up and hit the road for Lincoln, stopping first to explore the Nebraska Furniture Mart. This place is huge!  It’s like Ikea, Best Buy and Bed, Bath & Beyond all rolled into one.

Our next stop was supposed to be the town of Atchison to cruise the small town stores and enjoy friday night dinner, but we couldn’t get through due to flooding.  There was big flooding across the area in June and much of the water has yet to recede.  We attempted another possible route, but almost got stuck in the mud:

Since there was no other way to reach the town without a really long detour we set off for Lincoln. However, flooding continued to plague us as we needed to get across the Missouri river but all the roads were closed.  We ended up going north into Iowa before we could cross over at Bellevue, Nebraska.  The flooding was amazing – so much damage, and stranded homes.  And apparently the farmland is done for planting for at least 8-10 years because of all the mud.

We finally made it to Lincoln, checked into our B-n-B, then jumped back in the car to find food since were starving.  Our destination was Misty’s on Havelock, a steak house/bar recommended by our Husker friends as the spot to go on a friday night before a home game.  Teh Nebraska band was playing as we arrived and we were lucky to grab some seats at the old school circular bar.  It was a fun way to spend the evening, lots of Huskies mixing with Huskers.

At at the end of the day, we had been through 4 states – who would have thought!

I’m in Kansas!

I’m not sure when in my life I ever thought I would make it to Kansas, but here I am!  Went to be Wednesday night at midnight then got up at 3:30am for our 6:00am flight to SLC.  It always amazes me how busy the airport is 4:30am.  When we originally checked in online we were #1 & 2 to be upgraded but some Delta folks must have pushed us back in the priority numbers because we had dropped into the teens by the time we arrived at the gate.  At least we had exit row which is almost as good.  A short flight to Salt Lake, a short layover, and then a regional flight over to MCI, aka Kansas City.  While the regional jet wasn’t as small as it could have been, BK’s head did brush the top of the plane as we walked down the aisle to our seats.

Arriving in Kansas City we picked up our rental car and headed south to Olathe where Steve & Diane live (also the headquarters of Garmin, so if our GPS, Daniel, causes us any problems, we are close by to complain).  After a quick house tour and dumping our luggage we all hopped into Diane’s car to get a late lunch because we were starving.  As you probably know, KC is known for its BBQ, so BK has been very excited to start eating all week.  We got lunch at Oklahoma Joe’s which is best known for their pulled pork sandwiches – it was pretty delicious.  They also had great onion rings.

The rest of the afternoon & evening we just hung out, caught up, and of course, made an obligatory trip to the local Costco   Capped the evening off with a glass of wine and a slice of Tippin’s pie before crashing into bed.