Road Trips : Road Trip 98 : Minneapolis 2
Saturday 31 October 1998 (Minneapolis/Northfield MN)
Erik was planning to spend Halloween night seeing Xymox. Thus, it was decided that this would be a great night for me to hang out with Carroll in Northfield. I've never been much on Halloween or Xymox. All involved parties seemed relieved.
Actually, we spent the morning in the city, checking out some bookstores and thrift stores, and wishing we had time to visit Murray's (home of the butterknife steak). Minneapolis and Saint Paul were both victimized pretty badly by urban renewal in the 60's and 70's, but a few old sights, like Murray's, the incredible Foshay Tower, and Dayton's Department Store can still be seen downtown.
Then it was off to the 'burbs for some quality time at Target and at the most obscenely huge (and crowded) supermarket I've ever seen. I had a car. Carroll needed stuff. I have this strange obsession with grocery stores and have to visit a few everywhere I go. It worked. Trust me. For an afternoon of entertainment, there are few things better than a Minnesota supermarket. With a huge aisle full of cheese. And Count Chocula. And a cute produce clerk giving me the eye...
Back in Northfield, we had dinner at a cool resturant in the basement of an even cooler hotel (neither of whose names I can remember). What I do remember is pretty good food, French dressing (damned near impossible to find in California), and a waitron who wore jeans very well and who reassured us that yes, it was OK to smoke in the smoking section.
Afterwards, there was a quick tour of the stunningly safe (even on Halloween) streets and a stop by the local grocerteria in search for a very special product:
Frank's Kraut Juice. Contains 100% kraut juice. Ingredients: cabbage juice and salt. Serving suggestion: "chill well and serve icy cold, or blend with equal parts of tomato juice and a squeeze of lemon". It's "just naturally good". I wouldn't know. I was afraid to try it. But there's some in my kitchen right now. Maybe on New Year's Eve...
I also stocked up on Count Chocula and Grape Pop-tarts (also impossible to find in California). We skipped the economy size chocolate pudding. Figured it might keep us awake.
Sunday 1 November 1998 (Northfield/Minneapolis MN)
A good night's sleep is a wonderful thing. You might say I found paradise. Or you might say I was looking for a good way to tie in that picture above...
What to do on a Sunday afternoon in Northfield MN? We opted for a trip down the road to bustling Faribault, where one can find a good breakfast buffet as well as scope out locations used in the movie "Grumpy Old Men". Neither of us really knew about the "Grumpy Old Men" part until these bikers drove up next to us on the main street. Just as we were freaking out wondering what they wanted with us (urban paranoia, y'know...), they proceeded to put on their "Minnesota nice" and tell us about the historic ground on which we walked. Note to self: appearances can be deceiving.
We hit a cool thrift store/antique mall/flea market thing in an old Kresge store downtown, got shakes at the A&W (after admiring the "A&W Man" out front), and then headed back to Northfield to tour the Carleton campus. Carroll showed me the new computer labs where she works and we played with the T1 line for a while. What unrepentant nerds we have become...
Back in Minneapolis, Erik was still in Bob Vila mode, sanding cabinets, stripping hinges, and other harshly butch crap like that. I couldn't stand it anymore, so we had sex on the couch for a while, and were interrupted (why yes, just at that pivotal moment) by Bil, who showed up to take me on a sleazy bar tour. Erik, being a tad hungover after a trying Halloween, as well as a tad sticky, opted for sleep.
Unfortunately, all the sleazy bars we tried to hit were closed, and we ended up at this strangely endearing Chinese restaurant and bar called the Red Dragon. I had a beer. Bil had some disturbing-looking orange thing in a fishbowl.
Back home, Erik hadn't managed to get to sleep. We finished the "project" we'd started earlier. Then we both slept.