Minnesooooota-Day 1 of Anniversary Trip

At the last minute we decided to go spend the day and night in Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) on the first day of our trip. Why in the world? Well, Brian lived there for 5 years and there were a couple places we really wanted to go eat visit. Also, it was about $250 cheaper not to stay in Las Vegas on a Saturday night. We wanted to go ahead and get out of town but needed to stay somewhere near a large airport so flights wouldn't be an issue. So, why not go somewhere familiar which also happens to be where the beginning of your love story took place?

We kissed the babes good-bye after I got home from work Friday night, packed, and headed to the airport early Saturday morning. The flight was full so we almost didn't make it. We had decided if we didn't get seats it would be fine. We could wait for the 11:00 flight to see if it looked better and if not we'd head to Atlanta for the night but luckily it worked out as planned. 

I ALWAYS snack on gummy worms when I fly. I had some good reading material too. Lindy's SEC football...yes, please!

As soon as we landed we rented a car. When I go to MSP I use the train to get where I need to go. It runs from the airport to the Mall of America and downtown. We wanted to go to other areas so a rental was a must. 

This was our hot rod. #chevycruze  Haha! It was really nice. If it had more room in the backseat I'd so buy one. Note how my sweet husband parked right next to the pole so I had to turn all sideways to get in and out of the car. We are used to our spacious SUV's. I can't tell you how many times Brian reached toward my seat to stretch his arm and smacked me in the head. Ugh.

Our first stop was...wait for it...lunch of course! It seemed like the majority of time on the trip we were planning our next meal. We ate lunch at the 5-8 Club on the outskirts of Minneapolis. It's not far from the airport. They make the Juicy Lucy there. Most people in the twin cities love the Juicy Lucy from 5-8 or Matt's. Man vs. Food has been to both locations. 

I was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning!

We had never tried either but I can't really imagine anything tasting much better than the burger I had. 

It's a half pound burger stuffed with cheese! Oh the deliciousness! The Juicy Lucy was on my bucket list so I can now mark that one off.

Next, we headed to Mall of America to hang out because it was way too early to check into our hotel room. I had to visit my favorite store, Lola. They have super cute clothes with great prices. We did a little walking around and when we got to the amusement park I immediately spotted the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. First, Carter loves the mall because of Legoland. He'd have flipped if he knew the TMNT were there. I felt guilty so we left. 

MOA

This was my first time to go to Minnesota in the summer. It was in the 70s. I was wearing short shorts and so were like 2 other people in the entire state that day. I felt half naked!

Is this unacceptable for the upper Midwest? I need to know!

Because almost errry'body was dressed like this...

Or this!

We may it may not have hit up a liquor store. Hmmm...anyways, we had a couple drinks back at the hotel room and both feel asleep. Party people! Of course the first thing we were thinking about when we woke up was our next meal.

Leave it to the two of us to locate the nearest Mexican joint with white cheese dip and marg's!

After dinner we drove over to Wisconsin near the town Brian's house was in. We decided we didn't want to go all the way back to his old crib just to look at it and whine about how we miss it there so we stopped and rode thru a small town called River Falls. It's such a neat little place. There's are lots of stores, a beer company in a cave, and even a Dairy Queen. 

This lady was giving me a strange look...just wanted a pic of DQ!

We drove across the river there over a lift bridge. This was my first time to see a lift bridge. This was also the first time for me to see the river when it wasn't a solid sheet of ice with people ice fishing in their  shanties. 

Pretty cool!

The river in liquid form! Haha!

We headed back to our room and had some dessert. 

Red wine with a red velvet and cream cheese frosting cupcake.

I slept 9 wonderful hours which happened to be the most I slept during this trip. 

Rainy morning! 

We headed to the airport not expecting to make the first flight. There weren't many empty seats. So, we took our sweet time which almost involved me inhaling another cupcake for breakfast but I walked away.

It wasn't easy though!

Luckily we were able to get on the first flight to Las Vegas. There were 2 empty seats left. Talk about luck! 

Bye, MSP! I always feel sad leaving the place. We have lots of memories there. 

Tomorrow's post will be about our first day in Vegas. We've been before but this trip was the best. 

Thanks for reading!