Minnesota Top Ten

1. We ate some really good food. Our first meal of the trip was at a Norwegian restaurant, Norske Nook. John got a big Lefse wrap (kinda like their version of a tortilla) and I had potato pancakes. All was good but we had to save some room for their award winning pies. We got two: peach raspberry and pineapple coconut. We couldn't finish them, but did enjoy every single bite! I want to go back.

2. The Mall of America. 4 floors of endless stores. We found some really unique items and in general had a really good time. We were definitely worn out though by the time our shopping day ended. 7 hours of shopping will do that to you.

3. Our hotel. I love priceline! We nabbed a beautiful hotel, Park Plaza,  a few miles from the mall which had a free shuttle to the mall and airport (both of which have light rail stops). This became very helpful the day we went downtown. It was a classy place and we enjoyed our King size bed and the pool and hottub. And this was all for about $53/night. Seriously, priceline is amazing! Thank you Camfel for teaching me the wonders of this website!

4.  Sebastian Joes Ice Cream: John and I tried combo cups. He got apple crisp/pumpkin. I got salted caramel/swiss almond. It was a little hike to get there from downtown, but well worth the walk. Plus it was a gorgeous day, highs in the upper 70's, so ice cream actually was enjoyable, outside.

5. Walker Arts Center Sculpture Garden. We enjoyed this free outdoor sculpture garden and the small atrium nearby as well. They had a beautiful flowered walkway and lots of interesting pieces of art. It was a gorgeous and day and we took our time as we perused through the park.

6. Target Field, the Twins stadium. First of all they have an amazing ball park. We were able to purchase tickets from the box office right before the game and got upper deck tickets behind home plate. Great view overall. When we got to the park the box office appeared closed but they had all these self-serve ticket machines around. So we started to do that, and were approached by a man trying to sell us discounted tickets. We shooed him away and kept working on figuring out what tickets we wanted. As we were doing that a lady who by her outfit obviously worked at the ball park asked if were wanting to buy tickets and told us where we could go to get them without a service fee that the machines charge. She was a God-send. So we found the open box office, with her help. She even went out of her way to make sure we got there and was looking for us near the gate as well. Wow. That would not happen in Chicago!

7. The Spam Museum (more to come in another post)

8. Sara's wedding. It's always a great reminder at weddings of the commitment I made to my husband. Not that I forget, but I love being reminded about the importance and significance of that commitment. It also reminds me to be thankful for the blessing that he is.

9. We stopped at a state park on the way home at the Minnesota/ Wisconsin border right on the Mississippi. Witnessed some gorgeous views and a spectrum of fall colors.

10. Discussing with my husband whether we need to pull over on the side of the road so he could relieve himself. Got stuck in traffic with no exit in sight. This also led to us taking US Hwy 12 (Rand Rd) all the way home from the Madison area. It was a long trip home, but we did get to listen to much of the Ted Dekker audiobook we liked.