Aku Aku Tiki Bar – Orland, Florida

When I’m out of town, I generally do some research on food places and if I can find one, I try to get to whatever tiki bar is in the area. Orlando (surprisingly) doesn’t have a lot of tiki bars, but apparently, we picked the best one. It’s set off the main street, so it’s easy to miss, but we tracked it down on a slow night. There were only a couple of people inside, so the bartender (Joe)(the most amazing man on the planet and a hell of a bartender) made sure we were well taken care of.

Joe recommended drinks for us and told us about all these fabulous off-the-menu drinks that they bring to cocktail contests and win with, but haven’t gotten around to putting them on the menu. If you go here, ask them about some of their incredible drinks they have back behind the bar that they don’t really have a lot of names for.

I can’t tell you a lot of the names of these drinks, mainly because Joe kept them flowing. He would tell us about a drink and it sounded really…uh…unusual (I’m being tactful). But then he’d offer to make us a sample (shot sized) to convince us. And EVERY one he made was better than the last. He had one he made with soy sauce and maybe brown sugar that was amazing, but the best one of the night was something involving a banana-infused rum and some sort of chocolate/coffee-hinted drink. I know I was expecting something sickeningly sweet like 99 Bananas, and it wasn’t that at all. It was made with like dehydrated bananas dropped in rum and took a lot of effort. Joe really knows his craft and I’m glad he was our bartender that night.

The place filled up with upstairs residents (Aku Aku is on the bottom floor of an apartment building, so the residents use it like their living room and Joe knows all of them by name), and became a lot more hopping, but Joe took time to come hang out with us and sit around and talk music with me. I’m sure I have a photo of the 13 or 14 rum drinks we had, but I can’t find it. Thankfully, D.Rough was driving home and making sure I celebrated my birthday properly. I assure you I will go back to Aku Aku every time I’m in Orlando. It’s in the top 5 tiki bars I’ve been to in my entire life. Thanks for KILLING IT, Joe.

www.akuakutiki.com

Tiny Diner – Minneapolis, MN

My friend A-Wow got back from a trip to Scotland, so we decided to go have some dinner and check out some of the photos he took. We waffled about a place to eat, but he suggested we hit up Tiny Diner in the Powderhorn area. I had heard of it, but knew very little about it. This place is getting quite a name for itself, due to its farm-to-table/sustainable menu ingredients. They source a lot of their ingredients from local farms and animal farms to keep things very close to home. Obviously, not all items can be grown in a Minnesota garden year round, but they have a pretty substantial garden on-site and you actually eat in the garden if you are lucky enough to sit on the covered (with solar panels) patio. This also makes the Tiny Diner a little less tiny.

Each month (or at least every few weeks), the focus of the menu changes, so you won’t always be able to get the amazing dish you had last time you were there – just a warning. This month, the menu had a New Mexico theme. Throw in some chilies and some southwestern seasoning and you would be surprised the menu items you can come up with. We decided to get some chips and three salsas to split. Then we both ended up ordering the same thing, since they sounded so good – the NM rock shrimp tacos. Tiny Diner also has a pretty good craft beer selection, so be sure to check that out, as well.

The chips are hand cut thick and hand fried, which I love. Some blue corn chips and some yellow corn chips. Each salsa was completely different and delicious. Our favorite was the avocado crema, but the roasted salsa verde and the salsa chipotle were also fantastic.

The tacos were much better than I even imagined. They were doubled-up corn tortillas (some white and some blue) and filled with New Mexico dry-spice-rubbed rock shrimp, cabbage and radish slaw, avocado crema, salsa chipotle, and cilantro. Each of these flavors could be identified in each bite, which doesn’t always happen. There was plenty of shrimp in each taco, so you had some in every bite, and the avocado crema won the show, just like with the chips we had earlier. There are three tacos on your plate, so it’s a safe bet you aren’t going to go home hungry. The tacos are served with a small mixed green salad on the side, but once I had a bite of the tacos, I lost interest in the salad.

This place does take reservations, but if there’ a spot on the patio when you get there, they will make some adjustments and sit you outside – which I’d recommend. The staff are all super friendly and know the menu inside and out. They’ve also got a nice happy hour, so be sure to get there in time for that. Overall, one of the better garden-to-table meals I’ve had in a really long time.

Top 5 things about Tiny Diner

1. NM Rock Shrimp Tacos

2. Hand-made chips and salsas (especially the avocado crema)

3. Really unique slightly-themed menu items

4. Great craft beer list

5. Really fun space to dine in (great for a first date, pretending you care about the environment)

Bottom 5 things

1. It’s pretty small; some might say… tiny

2. The place fills up fast around dinner time, so either get a reservation or get comfortable

3. I’m guessing there may be a more limited menu in the winter months (not confirmed)

4. Some people have complained about the prices, but I honestly thought it was pretty affordable for the quality of food you get – people just like to complain

5. I personally wish there were more of the city-themed menu items, but a handful in each section of the menu is still alright. Especially since they ALL sounded fantastic.

www.tinydiner.com

The Prairie Tap House – Eden Prairie, MN

A-Wow and I were catching a movie at the Eden Prairie Mall and thought we needed a little happy hour after work. We were seeing a movie that we needed to pre-game for and I thought we should go someplace where we wouldn’t have to drive afterwards to the theater. I hadn’t been to the Prairie Tap House since they opened last year, so this was the best reason I could think of to check it out.

It happened to be snowing (no surprise there, right?) so traffic held up A-Wow a little bit. By the time he got there, I had already received my “Ready For Summer” beer flight – Wasatch Belgian White Ale, Lucette Shining Dawn, Magic Hat #9, and Lift Bridge Farm Girl. A pretty solid showing and with happy hour prices, was $6 total. A-Wow was pleased with the prospect of multiple choice beer imbibing, so he also did a Ready For Summer beer flight.

We thought we should order some happy hour-cheap-ified appetizers and then maybe split the sandwich. After some deliberation, we got the Maple Glazed Pork Belly, and the Thai Dragon Lobster Egg Rolls. Then, when a place is known for its Baltimore Pit-style beef, you get the pit beef – this time, in sandwich form.

And then, since you’re finished with your beer flight too fast, you get a Johnny Jump-up. Cider beer (in this case, Cider Boys’ First Press) with a generous helping of Jameson whiskey in it.

The food came out quickly, which was fantastic – even though we had plenty of time before the movie started. The appetizers were solid.

The Thai Dragon Lobster Egg Rolls were perfectly crispy and you could taste each of the ingredients. Nothing was over powering. The lobster tasted like lobster should – not fishy, and both the peanut dipping sauce and the dragon sauce were quite good. I didn’t even prefer one over the other – they were just different from each other and delicious.

The Maple Glazed Pork Belly was really good. It’s hard to mess up pork belly, to be honest with you. It was covered in a spicy peach marmalade which was fantastic. Though it was a bit heavy handed, so you had to scrape some of it off to have the correct ratio. But that was ok, since the pork belly slices were on a bed of pulled pork, which you could then continue eating with the spicy peach marmalade. It also came with a couple of toasted baguette slices. We tried to make little sandwiches out of them, but then decided the ratios were better if you just ate the bread on its own. Overall, still very good, however.

The Pit Beef Sandwich was probably better than the online reviews give it. The thin-sliced beef has obviously been sitting in its own juices for hours and is seasoned pretty amazingly. The creamy horseradish sauce was a thin layer, so it enhanced, rather than overpowered the sandwich. Incredibly tender meat and they had cut it into two equal pieces so we could both have our own sets of fries. A-Wow thought the fries may have been a tad over-seasoned/salted, but I’m a salt fiend, so I found them about perfect.

And then, of course, I needed another Johnny Jump-up. Hahaha. I probably could have used a few more for the movie we saw that night…

I really liked the Prairie Tap House. The happy hour deals are pretty considerable, and it’s really close to my work. I’d suggest anything you can get with that pit beef and be adventurous with the sides. The folks here are really nice and there’s usually 4 or 5 specials, so ask about those before you decide, or you’ll be in a world of confusion.

Top 5 things about Prairie Tap House
1. Pit Beef Sandwich

2. Happy hour deals

3. Maple Glazed Pork Belly

4. Thai Dragon Lobster Egg Rolls
5. Decent beer list and beer flights (though, I honestly expected more from a Tap House)

Bottom 5 things
1. Spicy Peach Marmalade was too generous
2. Not a ton of “healthy” options on the menu, but that’s not why you’re here, is it?
3. Portion sizes are pretty large here, just as a warning. If that’s your thing, then this shouldn’t be in the bottom 5
4. It isn’t a cheap date night, but if you hit up happy hour (until 7pm – which is generous), it’s quite affordable
5. The website raised an eyebrow from my cubemate at work – it’s standard issue pin-up style, but some work places are a little more conservative

www.theprairietaphouse.com

St. Petersburg Restaurant & Vodka Bar – Robbinsdale, MN

I had heard about this top secret Russian restaurant a few years back from a co-worker. She said the place has a weird and powerful vibe to it and when you eat there, you keep your eyes down and it’s all business. I didn’t even know what that meant.

The librarians and I like to have the occasional happy hour after our various work hours and some of them chose this place. I had forgotten all about hearing about this place until I saw the stair case. My co-worker told me you had to go up a hotel-like staircase to get to the restaurant and it had a weird flow. When I walked into what looked like the basement of the VFW (same building, but next door over), I immediately thought I was in the lobby of an old-school hotel. Here’s what I mean.

Hello? Anyone?

That’s all there is. Nothing around. No signage (except for the elevator sign). No people. No nothing. Anywhere. Is this the right place? Like any good video gamer, if you don’t see people, but you DO see a staircase, you cautiously proceed up the staircase, wary of any gun shots that may come from above. I’m not joking.

I got to the top of the stairs. Looked to the right, and there’s a huge dining room with blue linens and blue heavy curtains. Swanky. With no one in it. Apparently, that room gets closed off on non-busy nights. Looked to the left and there’s a small bar area filled with people. A surprising number of people, based on what I expected when I walked into the empty and unmarked lobby. I strolled in like I belonged there and found the librarians. Already drinking, as I suspected.

People laugh when I tell them librarians are formidable drinkers. It’s true. Think about it. People who work construction don’t want to come home and work on their house. They want to relax. It works both ways. If you’re quiet and holed up all day in the office, you don’t want to come home and be quiet, you want to drink. Hahahaha. These are my people.

The bar is almost movie-like in its décor. Lots of curtains.

Lots of mirrors.

REALLY dark, but energetic and loud. It hints at being swanky, but it’s more like that old-school like 40’s swanky that old people love. Like Mancini’s Char House in St. Paul. This is the Russian version of that. Even the wallpaper is awesome.

I like this place. A LOT.

Let’s get to happy hour. Two-for-ones until 6:30pm. BAM! That’s like a bonus round in Mario Brothers for librarians. We want ALL of the martinis, thank you. We started with Lemon drops, which the high-energy (as in red-bull-since-noon-high-energy) bartender made “extra sexy” for us. The sexy part must mean alcohol.

They’ve got some appetizer-y things on special, so we all ordered a few things and split them all.

Country-style Pelemini – homemade ravioli with beef covered in mushroom sauce. Actually quite good and we may have fought over it.

Chicken wings – decent, but nothing ground breaking.

St. Petersburg Chips – sliced potatoes deep fried and served with dipping sauce (aka ketchup). These were pretty unexciting, but we didn’t seem to have a problem polishing these off for some reason.

Chebureck – this thing was fantastic. It is a puffed pastry filled with smoked chicken. Really flakey and delicious. I’d order a bunch of these. Not the best size/shape/format for sharing, but we managed to get things done. I didn’t get a photo of this, but it’s worth ordering.

By then, we were out of drinks and needed more. I got a something-or-other martini with mango puree in it (I can’t remember what it was called). It was awesome. I should have been drinking these all night. Wow. Super tasty.

I had to use the restroom and sometimes I take photos when there are funny things inside. This one had three urinals that were almost on top of each other. There is no way to use all three at the same time without leaning against another man. No way. Now imaging large burly Russian men packed into this space and you’ll chuckle like I did.

Which brings me to some of the stories the librarians were telling me about this place. This part is all hearsay, so I can’t vouch for it. But they’re generally honest people. I guess they’ve come here before and were not dressed appropriately and didn’t eat. Whether they were told they couldn’t eat or they just didn’t feel comfortable is up for debate. But suffice it to say you had better dress NICE if you come here for dinner on a weekend. They also don’t allow jackets in the dining room. Not for men or ladies. Apparently, there are weapons issues from the past. Seriously. I understand the food is quite good, but also pretty pricey. It’s where the fancy Russian community comes to eat in the Twin Cities, so they make it count. Remember that when you want to come here for a date. Dress up with a removable jacket and no gun. Keep your eyes down and do as you’re told. I can’t wait to bring D.Rough here for a surprise dinner date sometime. She will absolutely love it! She loves old-school swank like this.

The moral of this story is, go to St. Petersburg for happy hour and have a blast. Get cheap food and 2-4-1’s and live it up. It’s a really fun place with a very unique atmosphere, like few other restaurants. And maybe try some vodka flights, since that’s what they’re known for. Hahaha Whoops.

Then, on the drive home, you can pass the Amazing Oriental Supermarket, Restaurant, and Bait Shop! Apparently, the city ordinances are looser in Robbinsdale. I’ll take these noodles, some kung pao chicken and some night crawlers. Thank you.

Top 5 things about St. Petersburg Restaurant & Vodka Bar

1. TWO-For-ONEs

2. Chebureck

3. Country-style Pelemini

4. Super fun staff

5. Really swanky but kitschy and energetic/tense atmosphere

Bottom 5 things

1. Unmarked and unmanned lobby

2. If you want a fancy sit-down dinner, you may have to wait for the weekend

3. The bar gets packed

4. The restroom is better used alone

5. A cab ride home to West St. Paul could be very expensive if you have too many 2-4-1s

www.myvodkabar.com

Twisted Fork - St. Paul, MN

I had dropped D.Rough at roller derby Saturday morning and knew I wanted something fun for breakfast. I remembered driving by this place that we had commented about a number of times – Twisted Fork. One of the things we always commented about the Twisted Fork was that you can’t really see it. It is in a building that houses The Green Mill. In fact, as you can see from the outside of the building, the green mill has doors on both sides of the Twisted Fork as well as a huge sign on the outside of the building directly above the Twisted Fork. It just looks like the Green Mill – and who really wants to eat there?


I pulled up a stool at the bar. The inside of this place is much bigger and nicer than I expected having driven past. It’s border-line classy in there. There’s about 20 or so tables in side, so there’s plenty of room. The bartender (they’re a wine and beer place, not a hard liquor place) got me a menu and gave me some time to peruse it. There are a lot of things on the menu that sounded really good. I decided on the Strawberries and Cream French Toast, but I wanted to give them a shot at showcasing what they’re really good at. When I asked Rocky (the bartender) what the place was known for or what he would recommend, he said the Strawberries and Cream French Toast was really good. Well, that decided it. And of course, a side of applewood bacon!

I didn’t wait long for my food. It arrived looked really delicious. The photos don’t do this thing justice as the light wasn’t helping, having sat at the bar next to the wall. Just too dark.


Ah, screw it, I'll turn the flash on so you can see the inside of the french toast.

Before I started eating, Rocky came over and offered a suggestion. He said to leave off the syrup on the first few bites. I would find that I probably wouldn’t need it at all. I get the impression Rocky knows his food – he’s very helpful. The French toast was REALLY good. It was thick slices of Challah bread with homemade sweet cream slather between the slices of bread. Also between the slices were very thinly sliced pieces of strawberries – just the skin, actually. The Challah bread was dipped in some serious egg batter and fried all together and served with two giant dollops of homemade whipped cream and strawberries on top.

Rocky is 100% right, it didn’t need the syrup at all. There was plenty of sweetness in all of the ingredients and it was so rich, you didn’t need anything additional weighing it down. The flavor of the strawberries permeated everything without being overpowering and the homemade whipped cream was light fluffy, and delicious. The bread really was the star of this show – dense and sweet and the egg batter only enhanced the flavor. I did try a couple of bites dipped in the syrup, just to make sure, but Rocky knows what he’s talking about – it’s better without it.

The bacon was some of the best I’ve had. It was thick cut and cooked just to crisp. The flavor of the applewood was the most vibrant I’ve had. It didn’t taste smoky or anything like that, but the flavor was perfect. I will get a side of their bacon everytime I come back here, I think. They have a lot of happy hour specials, including a date night. I think I’ll be briging D.Rough back here for some half priced bottles of wine.



[Note - my credit card bill came from Green Mill, so I'm assuming there is some sort of tie in with that place. Maybe it's top secret and we're not supposed to know. ANyway, it's WWAAAAYYY better than anything I've had at Green Mill.]

Top 5 things about Twisted Fork
1. Strawberries and Cream French Toast
2. Applewood Bacon
3. Menu is comprehensive and delicious-looking
4. Rocky and his fellow staff people were very friendly and helpful
5. Actual slightly twisted fork
Bottom 5 things
1. They need some serious signage so people don’t mistake it for Green Mill
2. Parking isn’t the best, since it’s street parking, but you’ll have to make due
3. I wasn’t in a beer or wine mood, but a screwdriver would have hit the spot
4. D.Rough’s going to be mad she finds out I went here without her…
5. Just a little on the pricy side, but you get what you pay for here – it’s worth it.

www.twistedforkgrille.com

American Burger Bar – St. Paul, MN

Last week, I got talked out of having a burger for lunch, but I was still craving one when I got home. D.Rough had been talking about going to this American Burger Bar in downtown St. Paul, so we decided we needed to go there to cure my craving. I’m super glad we did.

The inside of this place is old school. Like mobster/gangster old school. Dark wood, dark carpet, red leather booths, and small alcoves with velvet curtains where you can have some privacy to whack people who haven’t paid up. Super awesome, even with the lighting super bright. Apparently, this place hasn’t changed much since the prohibition days, and I’m glad for it. It also used to be Matty B’s which was kind of a guys hangout for steaks and cigars and such but I’m glad it got a new lease on life with this new concept.

The concept is burgers. They have other things, but there’ not any point in getting anything else, when they have perfected burgers. Everything on the menu is amazing-sounding and it’s very difficult to decide what you want here. We asked a lot of questions of our waitress, but she stayed with us and made sure we got what we needed.

I needed a DRINK was what I needed. I ordered a Reno Rottweiler – Kahlua, vanilla vodka, cream, and root beer. D.Rough also needed a drink, so she went with the Ab Pear – Absolut Pear, pineapple, and a splash of sour. The drinks came out in plenty of time while we struggled with narrowing it down. Rottweiler was top notch. I will get this again and probably make a pitcher of these at home.


We also talked ourselves out of an appetizer, since we knew we’d be eating plenty. They all sounded awesome though. Next time, maybe.

The restaurant puts flags next to their house specialty burgers, which made me laugh considering the burger I had my eye on was called “South of the Border”. It just made me laugh. Sorry. D.Rough built her own burger with Angus Beef (not the awesome men’s roller derby skater we love), caramelized onions, blue cheese, and jalapeno bacon. Well played, D.Rough! We also had trouble deciding on the fry situation. I’m not usually a fry guy unless there’s something special about them. We asked the waitress about them, since the menu has sweet potato fries, truffle-parmesan fries, and onions rings for an upcharge. She talked us into truffle fries and I wanted onions rings with mine.

The food didn’t take long to arrive. I snapped a couple of photos of these awesome things and jumped right in. I wish it wasn’t so dark in there, so you could really saw how large and awesome constructed these burgers were. Since I didn’t explain what the South of the Border burger was, I’ll do it now. Black Angus topped with a Chorizo patty, jalapeno bacon, pepperjack cheese, onions, button mushrooms, spicy salsa, and guacamole on a ciabatta bun. This burger ruled on 13 levels and 5 continents. Holy crap was it good. It had a little bit of spice to it, nice guac flavor and was perfectly cooked to medium This thing was awesome. Aside from the burger, the onion rings were ginormous and tasty! Beer battered to perfection and easy for a 5-year old to pull the onions out to eat just the fried part – yup, I do that.

D.Rough’s burger was also fantastic. Plenty of blue cheese flavor and a little bit of zing from the jalapeno bacon. But the best part of hers was the incredible truffle-parmesan fries. They were very addicting and it was a struggle to share them – on both sides. Really, if you get these, don’t plan to share them.

Overall, this was a fantastic meal and completely satisfied my burger craving. Next time, I'll get a milkshake though! We know we’ll be back here to try a bunch of their other burgers. They have two happy hours here, including a late night happy hour after 10:30pm. The burgers are pretty pricey here (but worth it), so if you’re on a budget due to Christmas shopping sprees, show up after 10:30. You won’t be sorry.

Top 5 things about The American Burger Bar
1. South of the Border Burger
2. Truffle-Parmesan Fries
3. Build Your Own Burger
4. Reno Rottweiler
5. Super old-school swank (and amazing menu)

Bottom 5 things
1. It’s pricey for a burger place
2. We saw a guy with a girl he had clearly rented for the night go into the restroom together…
3. The place was deserted when we left – I hope it’s doing well so I can keep going back!
4. Ab Pear wasn’t all that awesome, frankly.
5. D.Rough’s martini glass had a vagina

www.americanburgerbar.com

Los Arcos – Saint Paul, MN

D.Rough and I were in the mood for some delicious Mexican food. OurManFlip had just told us about this amazing restaurant that was his favorite Mexican place in the Twin Cities, bar none – Los Arcos. Now that we live blocks away from it, we decided to check it out. We are glad we did.

It’s a pretty small unassuming place at the end of a strip mall (which, as we know, means good things in Minnesota). A couple of posters with food advertisements on them hang in the windows so you can see them from the parking lot.

The menu seems pretty standard in that we recognized just about everything on the menu, and of course it looked good. The waitress brought over chips and two salsas – a red and a green. D.Rough and I kept swapping the salsas trying to figure out which one we liked the best.


D.Rough ordered the Barbacoa and I got the Pozole, since it was the weekend (the only time they serve Pozole). Things were fine until the waitress came back and told me they were out of Pozole. Sigh… I went with my second choice which was Carnitas.

We hung out for a while waiting for our food, but since it was the weekend, there was a Karaoke DJ spinning the best Mexican hits and singing along, since no one else was doing it. I really think I’m going to work up some Mexican karaoke songs and bust some out the next time I go to Los Arcos. I think it would be a blast.

The food came out and looked great! The barbacoa was quite good and flavorful. It was a little smoky for my tastes, personally. I liked it just fine, but it just had a hint of too much smokiness for me.

The carnitas, on the other hand, were outstanding. I definitely won this contest with D.Rough in the ordering choice category. The pork was perfectly tender with just a bit of deep fried flavor and there was plenty to go on the tortillas they brought out. With all the fixings on the plate, I got really full and happily sat and enjoyed the guy spinning karaoke in the corner. He was having fun, and so were we.

Los Arcos does some pretty sweet happy hour deals and I think we’ll be back quite a bit now that we’re so close. We’re looking forward to it. Thanks again, OurManFlip. Excellent recommendation!

Top 5 things about Los Arcos
1. Carnitas
2. Barbacoa
3. Red salsa
4. It’s basically in our back yard
5. Super awesome waitress

Bottom 5 things
1. Still bummed about not getting Pozole
2. No one was singing karaoke besides the DJ
3. It’s pretty small inside
4. No margaritas, just beer and wine
5. OurManFlip didn’t get to eat lunch with us

www.losarcos-mn.com

Date DAY Road Trip – Duluth, MN and Beyond

I’ve got some vacation time saved up and what better reason to use it than to take my lady out of town with a specific intent to relax and take it easy. It started by sleeping amazingly late, which then called into question even hitting the road. We didn’t even have a destination, so we waffled a bit about driving somewhere. We had no plans the next day, so we said, “Screw it!”, and threw some clothes in the car just in case we ended up driving too far and had to stay in a hotel or something along the way.

We thought we’d head north up towards Duluth, where I’ve heard seeing the leaves change colors is absolutely beautiful. We left in the early afternoon, after a quick stop a Nina’s coffee shop – one of D.Rough’s favorites. We headed north and took our time driving. In fact, we stopped by the Black Bear Casino on the way so we could play some slot machines. Literally, like a 20 minute stop and then we left again.

We hit Duluth, knowing full well we were going to go further north than that. It was just a stop-over for a quick bite to eat and then back in the car. We wanted to go to Hell’s Kitchen, but it was strangely closed and may have had a change of ownership or a name change (I will have to investigate further). So we walked down the street to Grandma’s Saloon (touristy, but the food is decent and not terribly expensive). We thought it might be happy hour, and we were right – we have a knack for predicting things like that. We grabbed some wings and onion rings and a couple of girly drinks to tide us over until dinner. Then on the way back to the car, we just HAPPENED to stop by the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for a turtle caramel apple… and some chocolate dipped graham crackers…

We stopped along the way and walked down next to the water of Lake Superior. It is absolutely beautiful up this far north this time of year. We took some photos of the lakeshore and had the perfect lighting for some awesome shots. [Side note: D.Rough’s roller derby team won the “Golden Skate” at the 2010 season championships this past year and all of the skaters have been taking it on various road trips and fun events with them. We had the Golden Skate with us on this road trip, so we took some photos with it on the shore.]


We got back in the car and headed north a bit further. There were a couple of really awesome tunnels that we drove through, so I thought that was pretty awesome. We drove past a pretty cool looking stream dumping water right out into Lake Superior, so we decided to stop and check it out. We weren’t in a rush or anything, so we hiked down to the water and checked out how cold it was. Oddly enough, it was very cold (yes, that was sarcasm).
How often do you get to walk in a beautiful stream in the woods – not often enough, I say.
So we took off a couple layers of clothes we didn’t want to get dirty and hopped in the frigid water. D.Rough even saw a giant fish swim by.




And we did freak out another couple that hiked down the hillside to the stream and saw a pile of clothes… They just kept walking further downstream – hahahaha.



We got back in the car and kept going north. We drove past Betty’s Pies, which is a famous pie place in Minnesota and probably worth a stop. We thought we’d hit it on the way back, either tonight or tomorrow, depending on what happened. We had decided we were going to hit up Canada and spend the night… right before we realized we would need passports to complete this plan and neither of us had brought our passports. Sigh… Oh well. We would drive until it got dark and then head back home maybe.

We drove through the awesome town of Castle Danger at one point. We both determined it would be an awesome place to own a summer home. It’s a very quaint little town without a lot going on. Plus, when your friends asked you what you were doing that weekend, you could reply with, “I’m headed to CASTLE DANGER!” in a super creepy ominous voice of doom!!!!.... DOOOM!!!! DOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!

We saw a sign for Gooseberrry Falls, which apparently is some sort of state park on the North Shore. (Also, not at all related to Cap’n Crunch.) It was starting to get dark now, but D.Rough was convinced we could make it… We DID, in fact, make it. But seriously, it was dark at this point. We walked through the woods down to the falls and there were people heading back up the trails with flash lights. We didn’t care – we were still going to see the falls. Once we got down to the falls, we took what photos we could with the point and click camera she brought. D.Rough tried a couple settings and ended up with a shutter speed slow enough to almost make out the falls in the picture. Here is what it looks like without a flash - I TOLD you it was dark. I have NO idea how D.Rough's photo turned out as good as it did in the darkness.
We then took a couple photos with the flash that ended us blinding us on the super slippery rocks. Once we actually saw how slimy and slippery the rocks were in the pitch black, we started getting a little more reserved about leaping over what we first thought were small puddles or streams. They weren’t small at all.


At one point while we were walking around in the dark, there was a pair of people (husband and wife maybe?) walking around with a flashlight. One of them went down hard into one of the streams and we sort of stuck around to make sure they didn’t need help back to the top. Thankfully they didn’t. We stuck around for another 15 or 20 minutes after they left to see if a ranger would eventually come down and check out the falls for stragglers. It never happened. On the way back, we got a little bit turned around in the dark (whoops!), but we eventually made it back to our car. Really, it was quite a fun trip to the falls. We both now wonder what the falls look like in the daylight.

Since there wasn’t much point in heading further north, due to our lack of passports, we headed back south for home. We pulled into Betty’s Pies for a fantastic dinner RIGHT as they were kicking people out and closing down for the night. It was awful – you get your hopes up for world famous pies (well, SOME of the people in the car had their hopes up higher than others), and then those hopes are dashed on the rocks. We decided we’d eat at Fitger’s in Duluth. Fitger’s is a brew-pub in an old hotel-type building with some shops and restaurants in it. We meant to eat there earlier this year when we were in town for roller derby with ManJar, but we couldn’t get a table without waiting for 2 hours. So we thought we’d check it out since we had time to kill. I’ll post that review separately from this, but dinner was decent here.

We ended up getting home about midnight from our little adventure. It was really nice to get away and not be on a schedule and not have to answer to anybody, especially work. I have a feeling we’ll be doing this again sometime soon. Hopefully, it will involve an actual trip – with passports – to Canada so we can witness their crazy metric system first-hand!

Top 5 things about Date Day Road Trip
1. No work. No schedule. No pressure.
2. It’s beautiful countryside
3. Gooseberry Falls (even in the pitch black)
4. Super cold stream on the side of the road
5. Beautiful photos of the lake shore

Bottom 5 things
1. Betty’s Pies shot us down
2. We all know what cold water does…
3. It gets dark earlier, so we couldn’t see as many leaves as we’d have liked
4. Forgot our passports
5. Black Bear Casino would NOT let us take photos of the Golden Skate in the casino. Sadface.