A couple of weekends ago, some besties from Milwaukee (aka cousins/collegefriends/soulfriends and their adorable snuggling pup) came to visit. You know. I love having people visit. I look forward to weekend visits with happy butterflies. So does Huckleberry. He barely slept a wink on Thursday night.
It gets us out and about, away from the humdrum of daily life. I’ve found we are more apt to explore this beautiful area and all it has to offer if we have someone here to show it to.
So, upon their arrival, we ate at the Nook. Highly recommended by Guy Fieri, St. Paulians since forever, and now all four of us. We ate next to the bowling alley (yes, the bowling alley). Summit on tap and some juicy nookie burgers (stuffed with cheese and topped with caramelized onions) were the order of the day. There was an hour wait when we arrived, but they got us to our table in half that time! Great company, excellent food – they got our weekend off to the best start!
On Saturday morning, we watched my cousin’s peewee football team take the city championship. SO EXCITING! They got medals and lifetime bragging rights and we got a chance to sit in the stands of Midway Stadium, home of the St. Paul Saints before the stadium is no longer used – they’re moving downtown!
We headed to Northeast Minneapolis next, and grabbed a bite at Spyhouse Coffee before dropping in at 612 Brew, the first of our brewery visits.
We loved the tasting room as they had old Trivial Pursuit cards in the middle of the tables {which happened to be constructed from repurposed bowling alleys, in all that’s coolness}. The ladies shared a flight of their craftiest craft brews. We were all rocking On Wisconsin red, which helped the Badgers win, by the way. We discussed notes of mint, agave and coffee {though Joe actually does home-brew, and knows his stuff – the rest of us were just hypothesizing} and declared our favorites from the flight.
A little ways up the road in Northeast, we found Dangerous Man Brewing Co. Both of the guys were on board when they discovered the logo was a man with a beard. Also, they encourage bringing in your own food, since they don’t serve any. Lots of cute local restaurants – I highly recommend Maeve’s Cafe!
Back to the brews. This was my favorite of the breweries we visited since it was sunny and decorated in a hip, exposed bricky way, with driftwooden accents. There is a mural of a bearded musky fish. I mean, what’s not to love? The stools were high school chemistry lab-ish. The pumpkin ale that I had was DELISH – a little sweet and just spicy enough to keep me pumping my autumn fist in a “yeah buddy!” Bring on the flannel.
Also! They have a cupboard FULL of old school games. We spent about a half hour losing to our friends in round after round of Guess Who. Then, we made a comeback when the McCanns used strategy beyond belief in a rousing, ship-sinking game of Battleship. Scores even, we headed home for an afternoon nap and some cheese and crackers. Because, as our guests are also Wisconsinites, they understand and appreciate cheese’s importance to a balanced diet.
The girls went shopping for a bit {danger, we hit up Madewell!!} and the guys rested up before taking the pups {YES!} to Flat Earth Brewing Co., right here in our West Seventh neighborhood. The dogs weren’t allowed on the tour, but they were totally the stars of the tasting room! We joined them {and some other family who met us there later} for a sip of an autumnal ale. Flat Earth is heading to a much bigger facility next year {the old Hamm’s brewery} and we’ll be sure to visit them again when they’re all set up.
We really did all of these things in one day. Energy flows out of me when loved ones are near. There’s more. Isn’t there always? The writer’s dilemma. I’ll try to be brief.
We got all gussied up and headed to Chino Latino in Uptown for the dinner to end all dinners. There was my kind of dance music playing when we walked in – read: latin/salsa/eclectic. There are guests who had ordered whole roasted pigs! The entire bar area glowed red-orange.
I don’t even remember most of what we ate. I know there was some banana boat chicken, some queso that blew my mind {chorizo added}, and bacon wrapped pork tenderloin served on a sword. Schwingg! {that is the sound of my fancy sword emerging from mmy fancy scabbard, in case you were wondering.} Then, for dessert we had some seriously amazing tres leche cake and fried ice cream, both with toasted coconut infused somehow, and the latter capped off with a sparkler. Most importantly to me, my heart was happy throughout dinner since the company was especially superb. This place has a big city vibe, with glitter and spicy foods. My kind of evening.
Saying goodbye is so hard to do. But Sunday morning pancakes from {Love and Cupcakes} made it a little easier.
Until next time, friends! xo
silver {city} lining 
While you taught my daughter to enjoy beer, your mother showed me how to enjoy wine. I detect a theme……
I’m not sure I’ve taught her all she knows! Some of the credit should go to Joe, Mr. Homebrew himself 🙂
loved reading this! you made me laugh out loud when you were describing the hottest wings 🙂
They were unbelievable. There were tears. Happy you liked the post!! xo