Thursday, September 08, 2005
I Love The Smell Of Commerce In The Morning
posted by Jonathan at 11:44 PM
Current Location: Tomah, WI, N 44 01.387', W 090 30.373', elev. 961 ft.
On Tuesday I woke up and drove east from Sioux Falls on I-90, into Minnesota. Along the way, I passed over 25,000 miles for the trip. I got to Minneapolis and checked into a motel, and a pal of mine, Odin, met me there after work. Odin went to college with me and also worked with me for a summer. I was pretty psyched to see Odin; going weeks at a time talking only to strangers can wear on you. He greeted me with the same greeting almost all the friends I have met up with have: a huge laugh and a constant grin the rest of the night. I think people aren't quite expecting to see me with a long, scraggly beard and even longer hair.
We hopped into Odin's car and began a great conversation about his future plans, my future plans, about how almost no one we know is willing to take risks, whether on a real good idea, or on an adventure. Some people can't because of their situations, they have children and or mortgages, but a lot of people are simply too afraid. If I can give anyone advice, it is to take the big risk when it comes. I no doubt talked Odin's ear off, because I am a little chatty kathy.
Odin took me to dinner at a local haunt in Minneapolis, a real shit hole in the wall called Matt's. I love these kind of places, you really feel at home. We got a pitcher of beer and ordered some burgers called Jucy Lucys. The Jucy Lucy is a large burger pattie with cheese on the inside. When it is served to you, the cheese has turned molten and can't wait to ooze out and burn your tongue. The waitress and Odin warned me not to eat them for a few minutes, to let them cool. They were greasy and cheesy and delicious. Perfect.
Next up, we traveled to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, to see the Twins game. There's not much to say about the HHH, except that is a very awful stadium. It is a multi-purpose stadium, hosting the Twins baseball, Vikings football and Minnesota Gophers football. It doesn't work as a baseball stadium because it is too big and irregular shaped and has artificial surface, and it doesn't work as a football stadium because it is too small. What a mess. I hate these multi-purpose domes with all of the hate I have to give. Most baseball stadiums do Take Me Out To the Ballgame at the seventh inning stretch, but some will also add a second song. Sometimes it is God Bless America, or even America the Beautiful. Well in the HHH dome, they played that awful Proud To Be An American song, the Toby Keith version. Damn, I hate that song. The game was pretty uneventful, Kenny Rogers started for the Rangers, and wasn't booed all that much. The Rangers hit a grand slam in the second to go ahead 5-0, and the crowd was pretty much shut up. The Twins made a comeback, eventually pulling ahead 7-6 by the 8th inning, but in the 9th, they gave up four runs, blowing the game, losing 10-7. Everyone filed out of the game with a resigned look on their face, because this has been happening all season. You can see the photos here.
Odin next drove me around Minneapolis a bit, showing me the neighborhoods and the sights. We stopped at Nye's Piano and Polka bar and had a drink. What a colorful place. This bar had a lot of character and charm, and is definitely a place to visit if you ever find yourself in Minneapolis. Afterwards, we drove to another bar, called William Peanut Bar, where we had a final drink and some peanuts. Odin drove me back to my motel and we parted ways. I had a really excellent time catching up with Odin and hanging out in Minneapolis. Minneapolis gets a check mark in the cool cities column.
The next day, I didn't do much, I drove around a bit. Driving in Minnesota, you get the feeling this is the capital of American retail. In addition to the Mall of America, the largest mall in the US, Minnesota is the corporate home of many of the big specialty retail chains such as Target, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble and the Federated Department chain, owners of Macy's, Filene's and others. After my drive, I just relaxed the rest of the day.
Thursday I went to the Mall of America. The place is huge, but extremely well organized. There are 4 stories of stores, and the mall is laid out in a large oval, with an amusement park in the center. All the stores are on the outside oval, which makes it very easy to figure out where you are and where you are headed. If you get lost, you can just keep walking and get back to where you entered. Because of this, the Mall of America is much easier to navigate than Crossgates in Albany, NY and Palisades in West Nyack, NY, the other two giant malls I have been to. I walked the entire length of all four floors of the Mall of America, and somehow I managed to keep from buying anything, save for a few postcards. I even had enough will power to skip out on buying an iPod Nano. I took a few photos in the Mall of America, mostly of the Lego store and the amusement park. You can view them here.
In the evening, I left the Mall of America and Minneapolis and headed east on I-94, into Wisconsin, stopping in the town of Tomah for the night.
On Tuesday I woke up and drove east from Sioux Falls on I-90, into Minnesota. Along the way, I passed over 25,000 miles for the trip. I got to Minneapolis and checked into a motel, and a pal of mine, Odin, met me there after work. Odin went to college with me and also worked with me for a summer. I was pretty psyched to see Odin; going weeks at a time talking only to strangers can wear on you. He greeted me with the same greeting almost all the friends I have met up with have: a huge laugh and a constant grin the rest of the night. I think people aren't quite expecting to see me with a long, scraggly beard and even longer hair.
We hopped into Odin's car and began a great conversation about his future plans, my future plans, about how almost no one we know is willing to take risks, whether on a real good idea, or on an adventure. Some people can't because of their situations, they have children and or mortgages, but a lot of people are simply too afraid. If I can give anyone advice, it is to take the big risk when it comes. I no doubt talked Odin's ear off, because I am a little chatty kathy.
Odin took me to dinner at a local haunt in Minneapolis, a real shit hole in the wall called Matt's. I love these kind of places, you really feel at home. We got a pitcher of beer and ordered some burgers called Jucy Lucys. The Jucy Lucy is a large burger pattie with cheese on the inside. When it is served to you, the cheese has turned molten and can't wait to ooze out and burn your tongue. The waitress and Odin warned me not to eat them for a few minutes, to let them cool. They were greasy and cheesy and delicious. Perfect.
Next up, we traveled to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, to see the Twins game. There's not much to say about the HHH, except that is a very awful stadium. It is a multi-purpose stadium, hosting the Twins baseball, Vikings football and Minnesota Gophers football. It doesn't work as a baseball stadium because it is too big and irregular shaped and has artificial surface, and it doesn't work as a football stadium because it is too small. What a mess. I hate these multi-purpose domes with all of the hate I have to give. Most baseball stadiums do Take Me Out To the Ballgame at the seventh inning stretch, but some will also add a second song. Sometimes it is God Bless America, or even America the Beautiful. Well in the HHH dome, they played that awful Proud To Be An American song, the Toby Keith version. Damn, I hate that song. The game was pretty uneventful, Kenny Rogers started for the Rangers, and wasn't booed all that much. The Rangers hit a grand slam in the second to go ahead 5-0, and the crowd was pretty much shut up. The Twins made a comeback, eventually pulling ahead 7-6 by the 8th inning, but in the 9th, they gave up four runs, blowing the game, losing 10-7. Everyone filed out of the game with a resigned look on their face, because this has been happening all season. You can see the photos here.
Odin next drove me around Minneapolis a bit, showing me the neighborhoods and the sights. We stopped at Nye's Piano and Polka bar and had a drink. What a colorful place. This bar had a lot of character and charm, and is definitely a place to visit if you ever find yourself in Minneapolis. Afterwards, we drove to another bar, called William Peanut Bar, where we had a final drink and some peanuts. Odin drove me back to my motel and we parted ways. I had a really excellent time catching up with Odin and hanging out in Minneapolis. Minneapolis gets a check mark in the cool cities column.
The next day, I didn't do much, I drove around a bit. Driving in Minnesota, you get the feeling this is the capital of American retail. In addition to the Mall of America, the largest mall in the US, Minnesota is the corporate home of many of the big specialty retail chains such as Target, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble and the Federated Department chain, owners of Macy's, Filene's and others. After my drive, I just relaxed the rest of the day.
Thursday I went to the Mall of America. The place is huge, but extremely well organized. There are 4 stories of stores, and the mall is laid out in a large oval, with an amusement park in the center. All the stores are on the outside oval, which makes it very easy to figure out where you are and where you are headed. If you get lost, you can just keep walking and get back to where you entered. Because of this, the Mall of America is much easier to navigate than Crossgates in Albany, NY and Palisades in West Nyack, NY, the other two giant malls I have been to. I walked the entire length of all four floors of the Mall of America, and somehow I managed to keep from buying anything, save for a few postcards. I even had enough will power to skip out on buying an iPod Nano. I took a few photos in the Mall of America, mostly of the Lego store and the amusement park. You can view them here.
In the evening, I left the Mall of America and Minneapolis and headed east on I-94, into Wisconsin, stopping in the town of Tomah for the night.