Conner's Blog

I intended to write individual posts regarding my week off when my parents were in town.  Sadly this turned into a massive failure.  I’m just going to put up this post running down what we did and my thoughts on each adventure.

After a slow Thursday morning, we headed out the door to Como Zoo.  I had thought going to the zoo on the first day of the State Fair would help with the parking, but I was completely wrong.  We found a spot eventually, but for a while, I was wishing we had taken the bus.  Como zoo was great as always.  If you haven’t been, you should go while it’s still summer.  Winter is a great time as well, but it’s nice to see the animals outside, instead of in a crowded barn.

Later that evening we visited the Walker for Target Free Thursday nights, we walked through the Quick and the Dead, and then walked out to the lawn to watch Solid Gold perform as part of the MN artist day.

I won’t spend much time on Friday, we headed out to the state fair early and had a great day.  You can check out my recap post here and my photo set here.

We got up Saturday and headed off to Minneapolis to shop at the Mill City Farmers Market.  This is my favorite market in the cities, and I was able to pick up some hot peppers and some apple chipotle bread.

After our shopping, we wandered into the Mill City Museum.  I was a bit skeptical at first that the museum would be worth it, but I walked away really happy to have gone.  It’s full of a lot of history and the Flour Tower tour is really neat.  This is a tour that takes place on an elevator showing scenes and narration from mill workers that tell the history of the mill.  The tour ends at the top of the tower where you get to see some of the original equipment and also take in a gorgeous view of the river.  I recommend the museum, and be sure to check out the 19 minute movie that plays every half-hour.

After the museum, we walked across the Stone Arch Bridge, head a late lunch at the Bulldog N.E. and then we wandered into the Guthrie and enjoyed the Endless Bridge before heading home for the evening.

Sunday, we woke up and drove to St. Paul.  We attended mass at the St. Paul Cathedral and then headed downtown to the Science Museum.  The Science Museum was a lot of fun, we went through the Titanic Exhibit which was really interesting.  It was incredible seeing artifacts which had been retrieved from the wreckage.  The rest of the museum was interesting as well, but the highlight was the Titanic Exhibit.  After the museum we had lunch at Great Waters Brewing, a brewery I hadn’t managed to visit before this.  I had their session beer and my dad had the Stout which he really enjoyed.  We wandered through the St. Paul Central Library, which wasn’t as interesting as I thought it would be.  We were planning on visiting the Capitol, but got there too late.

I had no additional plans, so I took my parents on a tour of St. Paul’s Cathedral Hill, then drove through a portion of the Ground Rounds.  We stopped at the Lyndale Rose Garden and walked down the band shell.  It was a gorgeous and and it was a lot of fun seeing the roses in the garden and the crowds around the lake.  We ended the evening by visiting Moto-I where I introduced my parents to fresh sake, something I try to do with anyone who visits me.

My plan on Monday was to check out the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and then walk downtown for a late lunch before seeing the Twins.  Unfortunately, the MIA is closed on Mondays.  We decided to walk downtown looking for things to do.  We ended up at the observation deck of the Foshay.  This was really neat, the view itself is worth the eight dollars, and the small museum is an added bonus.  After getting our fill of the view, I took my parents over to see Target Field, followed by lunch at Brits Pub before going to watch the Twins beat the White Sox.

Tuesday was my parents last day, and it was spent checking out the MIA, viewing the Walker Sculpture Garden, and then lunch at the Blue Door Pub.  We also went to the State Capitol and we were impressed by the building.  If you haven’t been to see the Capitol building you should really go, it’s a really impressive structure and they have a lot of interesting history inside.  This was the end of my parent’s week here, and I had a great time doing many things I’ve been meaning to do this year.

Along with my New Years Goals and my MN todo List, one of my goals this year was to try more local dining options.  The last few weeks I’ve hit up a bunch of new (to me) places.  Here are a few quick thoughts about them.

Common Roots Cafe – I checked out this spot after my visit to the Walker.  We were going to go to The Bulldog, but changed our minds as the atmosphere wasn’t exactly conducive to a conversation.  My date told me that the bagels were phenomenal, so we ordered one to share.  I also had a beer at that time, I believe it was a Surley but can’t really remember.  Unfortunately, the bagels were stale so I didn’t really get the full experience.  I returned last Saturday as I was meeting a friend for some web design work and this time I ordered coffee and a egg and cheese bagel.  This time the bagel was phenomel.  I told one of my co-workers from Conneticut that if she wanted a good bagel this is a great place.  It has a wonderful atmosphere, plenty of tables, and the food, when it’s fresh, is tasty.

Longfellow Grill – I went here last Saturday after visiting the winter carnival.  My plan had been to check out the Blue Door Pub but it was packed, and since I was by myself I didn’t  feel like waiting for a table to open. I had been intrigued by the sweet potato fries ever since I read about Ed’s fry day, so I decided to check it out.  The first thing I have to say is that the employees here are wonderful.  I sat there for about 2 hours and chatted with the bartender, the manager on duty, and a couple of the servers about everything from cell phones to the inauguration.   They had an excellent selection of beer, and the food was fabulous.  I ordered the Turkey Burger and the sweet fries and it was one of the best meals I’d tasted in a while.  I would definitely recommend checking them out if you haven’t already.

Wilde Roast Cafe – I took a date here last Sunday.  After driving by it and circling for what seemed like forever(I really don’t know NE Minneapolis at all), I finally figured out where to park and headed in.  I will admit it wasn’t what I excepted, it’s like Common Roots in that you order at the counter and then they bring you your food.  We had the artichoke dip and rosemary chicken pizza, both of which were wonderful.  Apparently if you order two entrees you can get a bottle of wine for 1/2 price, we didn’t take advantage of this, but it definitely an option if you are looking for an inexpensive night out.  I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite place I tried recently, but definitely worth a trip sometime.

Herkimer - I met @artallen for a drink after my incredibly ridiculous experience at work Tuesday.  I didn’t try any of the food, but did try a couple of their beers.  I enjoyed the Alt beer, though it wasn’t as hoppy as I would have liked.  I also tried the Sky Pilot Cellar Beer, which was good.  I wouldn’t say I found my favorite beer here, but will definitely return.  I’ve been told the food there is great, so I plan on going there earlier some night so I can test this for myself.

I’ve been keeping busy the last few weeks, and loving all the new things I’ve been doing.  Have you tried anything new recently?

I grew up in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere.  It is one of those places that no matter how hard I try to explain it, no one ever really understands just how small and remote it was.  To put it in perspective, you should know that the closest fast food place was a Dairy Queen 20 miles away.  The closest McDonalds or Wal-Mart was 80 miles away, and the nearest mall was three hours away.  If you needed something from a grocery store after 5pm, you were out of luck.  It was a completely different world than most people grow up in.  Was it terrible?  Not at all, it gave me an appreciation for convenience, and taught me the value of maximizing trips and time.  Unfortunately, one lesson I didn’t learn is the value of going out and experiencing the place you live.

In the 15 years that I lived in Westby, I barely experienced anything.  Granted I was a dumb high school kid, but there was a museum in a town 20 miles away, which though small and not overly impressive, was something that I should have checked out.  There was a site called Writing Rock, which was a rock with pre-Columbus drawings on it.  I vaguely remember going to see when I was very young, but never visited when the memory would have stuck.  Sitting Bull was captured somewhere near my hometown yet I never bothered to try to visit that site.

I left for college in Grand Forks in 2001 failing to take advantage of my environment.  Once again, I failed to experience 90% of what the city had to offer.  I never attended the catfish tournament.  I didn’t go see some of the best high school hockey in the country, and I only went ice fishing once.  Why?  I couldn’t tell you, but things are going to change.

This coming February I will have lived in the Minneapolis metro for 2 years.  Yet I have hardly experienced anything that the cities have to offer.  I’ve been to a Twins game and went to the Frozen Four. But haven’t seen the Timberwolves, the Lynx, the Wild, or the Saints.  Let alone experienced the ridiculous amount of culture that is available.  This is something that I’ve decided I have to remedy.  I will no longer spend my weekends wondering what I could be doing.  I’m going to get out and experience the city I live in.  Even heading into Minneapolis or St. Paul to try out a new restaurant would be an improvement.

To kick-start my initiative, I plan to post a list of 50+ things that I want to accomplish in 2009 on New Years Day.  Along with my post of things I should experience, I’m declaring my New Years resolution to be “Experience my city”.  It may not be about improving my health or another generic resolution, but I will not be bored in the city I live in.

I would love your input, what do you think I should try and experience in 2009?

I’ve currently been on a photo kick.  I’ve gone out one or two days a week and taken a ton of photos.  Of course 90% don’t turn out, but I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you.

from birth to death.  – I love the saying on the right side of the concrete.  I took a closeup of it, but felt this shot captured things in a better way.

Church and State – I like the angle in this one.  It makes the Cathedral look very small.

St. Paul Cathedral at Night – a night shot of the Cathedral.  I don’t have steady hands so it’s a bit blurry if you get in close.  But otherwise I really like how this shot turned out.

Follow me on Flickr, I would love to follow you back.

As I continue my adventures with Twitter, I have focused a fair amount of my following on fellow Minnesotans.  Due to this, I have slowly amassed a collection of blogs either written by a Minnesotan or are written about Minnesota.  Here is a rundown of these blogs and a few thoughts.

• Lazy Lightning – This blog is written by a South Metro Resident Bill Roehl.  It focuses on a variety of subjects regarding the Southern Metro.  Some of Bill’s best posts in my opinion are his restaurant reviews which are a great source for those looking to try some new eats.
• Erik Michael Photography – This is a photo blog published by one of my college friends.  He is a great outdoor and motor sports photographer and though he publishes infrequently, it is always worth the wait.
• Girl Friday – The tag line is “Confessions of a Minneapolis Concierge.”  Posts about restaurants, style, and events.  Sometimes off topic and always entertaining.
• Growing Communities of Scientists – Blog written by a teacher at a Minneapolis High School who is working on creating a Linux Thin Client computer lab for his science class room.  I’m currently working with him to get the project up and running.
• Just a Cool Cat – A blog by a St. Paul resident, I have not been subscribed to it for very long, but this post alone made me add it to my feed list.
• Meg’s Single Step - MegCanada is one of my favorite twitter users.
• Minneapolis Met Blog - Locally focused news by local bloggers.  Good source for local events and opinion.
• Mmmmm, Dinner – Kassie’s recipes have been starred numerous times in Google Reader, unfortunately I have yet to try them.  They do look wonderful though.
• MN Headhunter – Local jobs and job tips.
• MOA Blog – Discovered this blog recently. Interesting tidbits about the Mall of America.  Even if I avoid the MOA as much as possible it is fun to read an obsessive visitors take.
• Overheard In Minneapolis – A site cataloging odd things overheard in Minneapolis.  Subscribe and increase your laugher quota for the day.
• Swirlspice - Another wonderful Twitter user who I find intelligent, informative, and sometimes hysterically funny.  @swirlspice
• The Deets – Another Minneapolis blog I just subscribed to.  Interesting so far and I expect it to continue.
• The Waiting Line – Generally a photo blog.  Wr3n is another of my favorite twitterers.
• This is Why I love Minneapolis – It’s all in the name, interesting tidbits and news from Minneapolis and sometimes St. Paul.
• Twin City Sidewalks – A blog talking about and photographing sidewalks.  More interesting than you think.

I should also mention the Star Tribune’s Timberwolves blog and also Twins Fix.  They are currently the only sports blogs I follow, but as the NBA and MLB seasons get into full swing I will be searching out additional sites.

So now you have my current Minnesota reading list.  Feel free to share any other Minnesota blogs that you read in the comments.