Mickey’s
Housed in a vintage train car, Mickey’s has been around since 1939. Opened by Mickey Crimmons and Bert Mattson, the 20th century all-night diner has been featured in films like A Prairie Home Companion, Jingle All the Way, The Mighty Ducks, and seen on shows with the likes Alton Brown, Rachel Ray, Al Roker, and […]
I’m From Minnesota
The Anchor Fish & Chips
Anchor Fish and Chips is a traditional pub grub in Northeast, Minneapolis. You may have seen the food truck at different festivals and events around the Twin Cities. Their brick-and-mortar establishment is a local favorite hole-in-the-wall. It is just down the street from Dangerous Man and Sleepy V’s donut shop. Anchor is a hidden gem […]
Mojo Coffee Gallery
Mojo Coffee Gallery is a quaint and quirky northeast Minneapolis staple. Located in The California Art Building, Mojo is cozy, warm and inviting, with locally-made ceramic mugs, bowls, and cups all over the walls. The unique, artistic atmosphere of the coffee shop, café and ceramics gallery marries well with its grassroots, arts district, Portland vibe. […]
““Our lakes“ had names long before we were here”
“The lake is where I bring my big questions. I’m reminded of my friends, my family, my childhood. In the solemnity of the moment, I am reminded of our short time on this planet and that these lakes we call “our lakes“ had names long before we were here.” ― Sky Blue Water: Great Stories […]
Minnesota State Fair 2018
Minnesota. State. Fair. In all it’s deep-fried, hyped, once-a-year but every year no-matter-what glory! The “Great Minnesota Get-Together” is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the region, attracting nearly two million people annually. What began in 1854 as a territorial fair to highlight agriculture and encourage farming has become the perfect, closing-out-the-summer tradition. […]
Hairy Mosquito Trading Co.
The Hairy Mosquito Trading Company is crazy, eclectic, dare-I-say cooky, ice cream shop and trading post in Milaca. It’s easy to spot, just look for the large home-made metal mosquito sculpture squatting outside. Inside, you’ll find old-fashioned ice cream, sundaes, banana splits, ice cold drinks, nostalgic candy favorites such as rock candy, wax lips, Necco […]
Four Years Later
The question I am most often asked is, “how long have you been doing this?” Without skipping a beat, it is always promptly followed with, “why?” Four years ago today, I lost my Dad. That was the end and the beginning of everything. Prior to his unplanned departure, I had never even thought about the […]
Lake Pepin
Lake Pepin, named for Jean Pepin who settled on its shores in the late 1600s, is the largest lake on the Mississippi River. On the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin, Lake Pepin is located approximately 60 miles downstream from Saint Paul. Although Frontenac State Park takes up a large part of the Minnesota side, the […]
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” ― The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) Jazz Age Fiction Writer, Romantizier of the American Dream, Minnesotan
Jax Cafe
Jax Cafe has been a Northeast Minneapolis neighborhood staple, a landmark if you will, since opening its doors in the early 1900s. Now in its third generation of ownership, Jax began when great-grandfather, Stanley Kozlak, built a local dance hall and a store to sell furniture, hardware, and funeral services (I know, right?!). When prohibition […]
Watt Munisotaram
In the middle of farmland, in a small town in southeastern Minnesota, sits one of the most unique, breathtaking and tender places you will find locally. The Watt Munisotaram, a Cambodian Buddhist Temple in Hampton, is by far the most elaborately decorated and exquisitely encapsulating houses of faith I’ve ever seen, here or anywhere else […]
Niagara Cave
The Niagara Cave in Harmony is rated one of the “Top Ten” rated caves in the United States and is only a mile from the Minnesota-Iowa border in southern Minnesota’s Bluff Country. It was discovered in 1924 by a pig farmer and has since become a family owned and operated tourist attraction. It features stalactites, […]
Tracy’s Saloon and Eatery
The hidden gem of the Seward neighborhood in Minneapolis, Tracy’s Saloon & Eatery is a favorite local bar off Franklin Ave. The bar originally opened as Dick Tracy’s Saloon in 1979. When the owner of the comic book rights threatened a lawsuit, Tracy’s was born. Even without the famous moniker, Tracy’s keeps with its friendly […]
Ideal Diner
It’s hard to pass up Ideal Diners vibrant marque off Central Avenue. This Northeast Minneapolis landmark was built in 1949, touting iconic slogans like, “where regular people feel special, and special people feel regular” and “14 Stools, 1 Counter, No Bathroom.” Both irrevocably true. For decades, Ideal has been THE quintessential city breakfast spot. Owned […]
Circus Juventas
If you are looking for something to do that includes watching death-defying acts, body-bending movement and brilliant colors, look no further than Circus Juventas! Formerly Circus of the Star, in reference to Minnesota as the North Star State, Circus Juventas is a youth performing arts circus school off Montreal Avenue in St Paul’s Highland Park […]
The Twin Cities 400 Tavern
The Twin Cities 400 Tavern in North Minneapolis is an expansive restaurant and bar inside the Marriot. Located in an industrial area off of Broadway, the restaurant was formerly Scalzo’s Italian Grille, and prior to that, the Itasca Room at the Ramada Plaza Minneapolis (now the Marriot). It is named for the Twin Cities 400 […]
The Abundant Kitchen
GIVEAWAY! Read on. What better way to start the weekend than to take a trip to the farmers market, chat up some local growers, bakers and artisans and return to the kitchen to make fresh, straight-from-the-garden favorites? The Abundant Kitchen allowed me to do just that and so much more! Located in downtown Buffalo, The […]
Benedict’s Morning Heroes
Benedict’s, in the Promenade of Wayzata, is the latest from Mike Rakun, chef-owner of Mercy Bar & Dining Room in Minneapolis. One of the newest on the Wayzata restaurant scene, and already a serious favorite of mine. Sure, they serve the traditional breakfast fare, BUT they throw in their own twist! They have all kinds […]