Jetting to MN for the Weekend!

Jetting to MN for the Weekend! We went to Mall of America, the Minnesota State Fair, and Como Zoo and Conservatory.

My mom step-dad flew us to Minnesota for the weekend. I’m sure they would have preferred it be longer than that, but between the hubs’ job and mine, we just couldn’t. Heck, at this point any time I get to spend with my mother is cherished. So, a weekend? Hell yeah!

“Why Minnesota,” you ask? Well, her mother, my grandmother, was from that area. And, to go to the Minnesota State Fair! Duh!

For those that have been there, you’re shaking your head in agreement. For those that haven’t, I see that confused look on your face. “She flew you from DC to MN for a state fair? For a weekend?” First, I haven’t seen my mother since she moved off the main land. It’s been about two years. That’s rough. It makes it even more rough that it’s a 6 hour time difference between us.

When I think of calling she’s not up yet. When I can call, I’m either eyeball deep in working or she’s already off to one of the many volunteering gigs she’s got on Maui. If you’re ever there and are on the Pacific Whale Foundation tour, she’s probably on it. She sings and does acting for the local chorus and community theater. She’s never not doing something.

Second, it’s the Minnesota State Fair! Hello? It’s like the second largest only to, of course, TEXAS!! And let me tell you, it was HUGE and it was PACKED with people. More people than I care to deal with, but here’s the kicker, they weren’t rude. They were courteous and nice. Even the kids. There’s an estimated 150K people that were there that day. At least I think that’s what I heard.

Third. Mall of America. Nuff said.

Yes. Any one of those warranted more than a weekend. Even if we weren’t going to two or three, I would have still gone because of reason one; MOM! Spending time with her is cherished. We had a rough patch for too long and I missed out of some good times with her. We’re trying to catch up but it’s like sleep; ya just can’t really get it back.

We land and it’s like 8 MN time. We’ve already been up for like 6 hours at this point and we’re ready for some serious breakfast. The plane offered a tablespoons of peanuts to snack one. Yes. One tablespoon. Of peanuts. So, we went to the hotel, dropped off our bags, chatted a minute, then headed to Wise Acre for breakfast.

Wise Acre is a local farm to table restaurant. It was a unique experience. The restaurant is in an old service station complete with double bay doors. There were farmhouse tables at every table which was packed in like sardines! And the place was pretty packed, too.

They had small menu for what we were used to, but in a way that’s good. That means that the food we’re ordering is going to be prepared with care and not mass produced quickly. Having a large menu is not really a good thing for the chef or for the food. With a smaller menu, they can pay attention to the details.

And details there were! My step-dad and I ordered the French toast. It was almost like bread pudding. The bread had set in the custard for so long and was cooked perfectly. It was topped with maple syrup, granola, and what I thought was whipped cream, but wound up being crème fraiche. Interesting twist to a sweet dish like French toast.

My mother and husband ordered the scramble type meal. She had bacon on hers and he asked for sausage. But it wasn’t just breakfast sausage. It was a kielbasa type sausage. And it wasn’t regular bacon, it was home cured bacon that was thick cut and not too salty. Their eggs were organic from the farm owned and operated by the people who run the restaurant, so they had that perfect golden color when scrambled.

From there, it was check in time. We headed back to the hotel to see if our room was ready. Thankfully, it was! I think we napped a bit before heading to a cousin’s house for a bit of a chat and to catch up. I hadn’t seen this person in decades, but I did learn something interesting about my granddad and granny that I didn’t know about. Sort of makes some sense now how they ended up together.

From there it was Mall of America time! We stopped at Cadillac Ranch for a nosh before wandering the mall a bit. S ordered the boneless wings. OH MY WORD they were so good! We have boneless wings all the time, but these had delicious Buffalo flavor and were perfectly crunchy and juicy. Mom had the loaded fries. Can’t go wrong with some taters covered in cheese and bacon. Duh.

For me, it was the pretzel sticks. I love love LOVE soft pretzels so every time I see them on the menu I try to order them. These.were.amazing. Like, didn’t want to share amazing. They had delicious flavor, just enough salt, and they were served with fantastic honey mustard and whole grain mustard. Just fantabulous. So good, in fact, that we ordered a second order when the step-dad got there. Of course, I had to nibble on one with mom. SO GOOD!

Then we wandered the mall; amazed at all the rides and entertainment in the mall. There’s so many rise in the center. I just couldn’t believe it. We only wandered half of one floor. It would take a week for me to get through that mall. Since I’m not really a mall type person, I just wanted to hit a gift shop type store before heading to dinner; Tony Roma’s. No pic of this meal. I got the ribs with the Maker’s Mark bourbon barbecue sauce. Mom had original. S had a steak, and the DSD had some chicken. My potato had issues, but the meal was finger licking good.