A Saturday in the Twin Cities

Saturday morning we awoke leisurely.  Breakfast was served at 9:00.  The professionally trained chef prepared us a culinary delight.  (Sorry, chef.  I don't remember your name.  But you are a wonderful person and your food is fabulous.)  For breakfast today, there was a plate of sliced fruit; scrambled eggs with mushroom, onion, and asparagus; sausage; salad greens with dressing; and crusty bread with blueberry butter.  The blueberry butter was the topper.  Who knew butter could be the highlight of your meal?

We ventured back towards the area we'd been in last night.  We walked the foot bridge.  We checked out the Mill City Farmers Market.  We looked around outdoors near the Mill City Museum, putting that on our to-see-next-time list.

on the foot bridge

the lock and dam

under the bridge

looking out through the farmer's market toward the Gutherie

some of the Mill City ruins

giant steel beams twisted by the explosion at the Mill City Museum

(On a side note, if you really want to see a farmer's market go to Des Moines, IA.  While Mill City can hold its own, it doesn't hold a candle to Des Moines's downtown farmers market.  They really know how to do it right.)

The day was getting hot and muggy, so it was time to find some water and a book store.  We went to Magers & Quinn Booksellers.

It's named by City Pages and others as one of the best book stores in the Twin Cities.  It did not disappoint.  And the thing this Dutch girl loved the most was the excellent prices!  God bless them.

Still hadn't gotten my water.  I was getting parched and famished.  It was about 2:30 when we got to Uncommon Grounds Coffee House.

I got an iced mocha.  Brad got a capuccino.  We shared a chicken caesar panini and one of the most decadent slices of chocolate cake I've ever eaten.  The decor was strangely 1980's victorian throw back.  But, I really enjoyed the food.

We drove to the Walker Art Center.  There were only two exhibitions--Christian Marclay: the clock; and works from 1958 to 1978.  We were a little disappointed that we were unable to see some of the works from their permanent collection that we'd become acquainted with in the past.

                                                  

                                                 Life is a bowl of cherries with my beloved

It was getting ready to storm and we were exhausted.  We went back to the New Victorian Mansion to nap while it stormed and poured.

We went to supper at the The Happy Gnome.  It was selected by my husband because of its impressive craft brew selection.  Here's the link to check it out.http://thehappygnome.com/

We started with pretzels with beer cheese.  It was so good!

I wasn't too hungy, so I looked for a sandwich.  I chose the walleye po'boy, because it's Minnesota, right?  The walleye's got to be good.  Here's what I got.  

Quite a bit of food!  The curious thing is that on both of the sandwiches I ordered at this pub and WA Frost & Co. which is just down the street from here, there were pickled red onions.  I've never had pickled red onions before.  Curious.  I did enjoy them.

Bradley chose the seared tuna.  It was delicious.  But, there was much less food on his plate.  He had room for dessert and chose the rhubarb crisp.  How can you not like a restaurant that has rhubarb crisp on the menu?  

I'm telling you this is a restaurant that's worth going to if beer is your thing.  But, the place was packed, so be prepared.

Afterwards, we went for a little walk.  This neighborhood is very walkable.  It has lots of cute shops and places to eat.  We were unable to enjoy it all.  We'll have to make another trip.

We relaxed again on the front porch. God gave us a beautiful rainbow over the cathedral to enjoy.  It was a blessed end to a blessed day.