May 5th, 2008
by Bill
in
Apple Valley, Restaurants, South Metro |
6 Comments → |
Last week we read about an open mic night be held at Luxury Sweets in Apple Valley and decided to head over to check it out. We arrived just before 7 to a completely packed house. There were plenty of staff members on hand to sell gelato and there were plenty of people there to eat and listen to some cover free live music.
Kim ordered a strange combination of blue raspberry and mascarpone while I picked up a mascarpone and creme brule. $7.00 later we had our over-sized scoops and found the last remaining open table in the place. The music started up soon after that with some fairly terrible artist repeating the same 10 words (give or take) throughout the entire song. I wasn’t interested. The next person up was quite a bit better but by then Kim was already ready to go and we were out the door in just under an hour. I was really looking forward to seeing some of the others perform but Kim had things to do *shrug*.
The gelato was tasty and I have recommended it before. It was nice to see so many people come out to see live music being played in the South Metro but I really think that this type of shindig needs to occur in a place where the acoustics are a little better and where children are not permitted — preferably somewhere that serves alcohol. The echoes of the music and the children’s shrill voices coupled with the idle chit-chat between guests made it almost unbearable to listen to in our little corner. I guess if we go again we’ll have to sit front and center to ensure that we can actually hear.
Anyway a fun time and a nice change of pace for Apple Valley.
See all the pictures from Open Mic Night at Luxury Sweets on Flickr here (camera).
May 5th, 2008
by Bill
in
Police Calls |
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From the Pioneer Press’ Police Calls on May 2nd:
Guess he was upset about having to eventually fix the flat…
Drunken driving: Police saw a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix parked on the exit ramp from Minnesota 110 East to Robert Trail South begin to drive away April 16. Police caught up to the car and saw it speed and drive through a stop sign. The car was stopped near Salem Church and Windy Hill roads. It had a completely flat rear tire, and the 21-year-old driver smelled of alcohol. A breath test showed his blood-alcohol level was 0.229 percent, and he was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. He screamed and yelled during the entire trip to jail.
May 4th, 2008
by Bill
in
Geocaching, Restaurants, Reviews, Vacations |
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Chuck and I headed up to Itasca County in Northern Minnesota for our annual “first weekend in May” caching trip (our 5th year running) and met up with Craig and Mike for a weekend of food, beer, and caching based out of Craig’s cabin in Nashwauk, MN.
I nearly lost my GPS at the second geocache we did, requiring another two mile round-trip hike to retrieve it and then we spent the day doing a ton of long hikes through many awesome parts of the Chippewa National Forest and other parks and waysides along the way. We got to the Laurentian Divide, saw plenty of lakes that had not iced out yet, and watched as four or five eagles took off together from a deer carcass that they had decimated next to the road right near the Cottonwood Lake Campground.
After blowing off Richie’s due to a gaggle of drunken baseball players, we ate at Marcell, MN’s Timberwolf Inn where I had the Tilapia Sandwich and both Chuck and Craig got their Aussie Burger. There was an on-site yellow lab that was quite possibly the best dog ever.
The end of the day included some more crazy long hikes through rolling terrain and several ticks, of which I was the only lucky recipient — none attached, dinner at the cabin and plenty of beer. We got up on Sunday morning, had an excellent breakfast cooked by Craig, and went and erased a DNF from Saturday before Chuck and I headed back down towards the city.
On our way back we stopped in Mora MN’s Sportmen’s Cafe and Drive In for a Hot, Open Faced, Turkey Sandwich and a Well Done Hot Ham and Cheese Sandwich which was topped off with a nice slice of rhubarb pie for me and strawberry ice cream for Chuck. The bill, before tip, was less than $17 and the food was pretty fucking good. The cafe was a hell-hole and a half but the regulars seemed to like it just fine. If you happen to be heading through Mora on MN-65 and you’re looking for some good pie and a surly waitress, the Sportmen’s Cafe might be the place for you.
Check out all the pictures from this weekend on Flickr here (camera).
May 2nd, 2008
by Bill
in
Metro, Minneapolis, Restaurants, Reviews, Skyways |
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I asked Kim to help me get everything I needed for lunch situated while I finished packing for my annual caching trip with Chuck and instead of my frozen stew cubes she gave me two frozen spaghetti sauce ones instead. After a quick call to ask if she would do lunch with me to make up for her horrible mistake (heh) we were off to The Burger Place.
The line was out the door to this “Best of” from both Citysearch and Minneapolis/St Paul Magazine. The menu is just inside the door and lists breakfast (between $3.59 and $4.32) and lunch items (between $3.95 and $7.58) which are burgers (duh) and hot or cold sandwiches. The burger list is fucking massive with 20 different burgers (one has no bun or fries and one has chicken instead of beef) and they allow you to substitute any burger with either chicken or turkey for less than 80 cents.
We ordered and I found a seat while Kim waited to pay. There is enough seating for about 80 people and there isn’t much room for anything else. Kim finally came and joined me and we chatted while we waited for our food to arrive. About 10 minutes after I sat down and 20 since I met up with Kim in her building we were eating.
My Southwestern Burger was an absolute mess. Nothing good looking about this meal. The “salad” was larger than I expected but was 99.8% lettuce. The salad dressing (Italian) was decent and I was glad to offset 1/8th of this unhealthy burger with a salad instead of fries. The jalapenjos were jarred or canned and while it wasn’t anything nearly as nice as what I had at Moe’s, it was fine for the price. The bun was soft and soaked up any grease the burger might have otherwise leaked onto the plate. First bite? Good but nothing that deservs the “Best of” anything.
They offer and prominently tout their Monday special: $5.95 for burger, salad or fries, and medium drink. Not a bad deal and much less than we ended up paying today ($15.76). If you’re looking for some place cheap to eat, except for Mondays, this is not it.
Address:
The Burger Place
501 Marquette Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Phone:
612-338-1213
Hours:
7:00 AM - 2:30 PM
Check out all the pictures from The Burger Place on Flickr here (camera).
May 1st, 2008
by Bill
in
Apple Valley, South Metro |
1 Comment → |
We got our print copy of Thisweek yesterday and Kim was leafing through their “Thisweekend” insert and noticed that Luxury Sweets in Apple Valley is hosting an open mic night on May 5th between 7pm and 9pm featuring five local folk/rock artists. Admission is free and their gelato is fucking awesome. This is right up our alley!
Scheduled to perform are (all except Chastity Brown are fucking MySpace pages, you have been warned):
1. Stook!
2. Carl Franzen
3. Chastity Brown
4. Katey Bellville
5. Erin Kate
For more information log on to bettermusicians.com. Apparently La Luz Cafe (who haven’t even opened yet AFAIK) is co-sponsoring the event.
I checked the listing at bettermusicians.com and they list Roger Flyer instead of Stook! You have been warned :)
Each artist will perform a three song set, the goal is to do this the first and third Monday of each month.
Kim and I are planning to go.
