Friday Night – Chris and I flew into MSP from Providence, RI arriving at about 9:30pm. Called our hotel shuttle service (Country Inn and Suites, Bloomington - Mall of America) for pickup and were in our room by 10:15pm. Headed over to the TGI Fridays attached to the hotel and had a quick late dinner. Hotel room on the top floor was great for the price (used my Gold Points). We also had a fine view of the Mall of America!
Saturday - The weather looked great, although we were both surprised by the heat, humidity, and wind. Somehow we thought it would be cooler in MN than in our home state of CT! After having a few cups of coffee at the hotel’s free breakfast, we took the shuttle back to the airport to get our car rental at Thrifty (Saturday – Monday for a midsize cost $103 total). Being unfamiliar with the area, we thought it best to get the car in the light of day! We headed over to Trader Joe’s (St. Paul’s location) to get some wine and snacks for the room. Thank goodness for our TomTom GPS. What a great store! We then went to Walmart’s to get some necessities we didn’t pack. After dropping off our purchases at the hotel, we headed over to Lake Calhoun in search of The Tin Fish. TomTom found it quite easily. We found a parking spot on the street very close to The Tin Fish. We got over to the window to check out the menu. Everything sounded so good, but we decided that because of the high winds that day, eating outside would not be in our plans. We walked around the lake a bit and got some great pictures. A man waiting for his wife to get their food offered to take our picture together. I thought that was so very nice of him. It is difficult for us to get vacation pictures of us together.
The Tin Fish Restaurant
The happy couple at Lake Calhoun!
A view of Lake Calhoun
I had to at least stick my feet in the Lake!
Boat Launch on Lake Calhoun
We drove over to Tavern on Grand in St. Paul (thanks again to TomTom). What a great place. We tried the Walleye fish cakes and the Walleye basket with a side of coleslaw. We were in love. The food and service were excellent. The Walleye fish is a freshwater fish native to Canada and Northern U.S.
The Walleye Fish
Tavern on Grand Restaurant
Front Entrance to Tavern on Grand
Not that we were carrying!
Chris waiting patiently for his first Walleye lunch!
Walleye Basket and Walleye Fishcakes
After that great lunch, we decided to hit the Mall of America. Walked around to check out the stores and the rides. There are over 500 stores! What a nice place for families. Kids all seemed to really be enjoying themselves.
Shuttle Bus Entrance
Nickelodeon Universe
Lego Center
Headed back to hotel for nap time. Not feeling the need to drive anywhere, we decided to try TGI Fridays again for a light dinner.
Sunday – Weather not looking that promising and during breakfast at the hotel, the rain came. It rained for about 2 hours and then just overcast. Again, quite warm! We discussed going to the Taste of Minnesota, the Zoo or River Cruise, but decided that the weather looked just too iffy to chance any of them. We looked up the address for the Science Museum and TomTom had us there in a very short time. As we were there when the museum opened, we were able to park on the street. The wording on meters was a little difficult for us to interpret, but we decided that it meant parking was free on Sundays!! We chose the OMNI Theater and museum tickets ($17 each). We enjoyed our few hours there very much. There is quite a lot to see and is a great place for kids. We were able to check out the Taste of Minnesota through the telescopes at the museum. It looked pretty dead, and we were happy that we decided not to go it.
Deb spending a few quiet moments with her new Kindle!
Science Museum of Minnesota
Taste of Minnesota View from Science Museum
Chris making steam!
Deb with a buoy!
Deb with a robot!
View of the Mississippi River from the Science Museum
Lunch was becoming an issue again! I could tell by the look in Chris’ eyes, he was hoping for more Walleye. Off to Tavern on Grand AGAIN! We tried the Walleye sliders and another order of the fishcakes with coleslaw on the side. Just as good as the day before. We could not stop drinking the iced tea either. The staff at this restaurant are just so friendly.
Walleye Fish Sliders
We wanted to go to Penzey’s Spice Store, which is just a few doors down from Tavern on Grand, but it was closed. Back to the hotel for an afternoon nap and then the hotel shuttle to MOA for just a little more shopping.
Dinner that night was at Chevy’s, located next door to our hotel. Food was just ok, but the margaritas were very good. Feeling a bit worn out, we went back to the hotel planning on an early evening, but as soon as it got dark, the fireworks started. We had a great view of the fireworks over the river right from the window in our room. We were both amazed at how long they went on
Monday – We woke to a beautiful sunny morning. Our flight home was not until late afternoon, so we needed a plan for the morning. Going down to the hotel breakfast, we stopped at the front desk to ask for a late checkout…no problem. We checked out some of the literature we picked up at the hotel and decided to go to the antique shops in Hopkins and the General Store of Minnetonka. Again, TomTom came through for us. The General Store of Minnetonka was a surprise. There were so many interesting and fun items there, but I knew I had limited suitcase space, so just ended up buying a package of Walleye Eggs (49 flavor jelly belly mix)!! We then made our way to Hopkins. The only shop open was Antiques on Mainstreet. The owners told us that they just opened on July 1 and wanted to know how we heard about them. I told them that the area map had an advertisement of the antique shops. Very friendly people and some very nice items with great prices. We purchased two small items (again, packing space limits). I saw a very nice wooden table, but don’t think United would have been happy with me trying to get it on the plane!
Again,,,it is time for lunch…well…we could go back to Tavern on Grand and see if Penzey’s would be open. We parked and decided to walk up to Dixie’s to check out the menu. A guy walking behind us told us that Dixie’s was not open yet and asked what kind of food we wanted…of course,,,Walleye! He said that we had to try Tavern on Grand as Dixie’s was more southern cooking…we laughed and said that we had already tried it twice. We wished him a good day and headed over to Penzey’s. After a few small spice purchases, we were seated back at Tavern on Grand with a nice cool ice tea in hand. And yes…more Walleye and coleslaw!! Again,,,,wonderful.
We zoomed back to the hotel, finished packing, and were on our way to the airport. It had already clouded over and by the time we returned the rental car, it had started to rain. We got through Security very quickly and were seated at our gate with time to spare. I sent Chris over to the desk to see if any upgrades were in our future. As he is 6’4” and has very long legs, he often gets jammed in his seat by the dreaded “seat recliners”! He scored us Business Class seats for the MSP to Chicago leg and exit row seats for Chicago to Providence…all for just $76. He got a “high five” for that one! We find that plain politeness to the airline staff vs. a sense of entitlement gets us good results most of the time!
Now that we are home, some final thoughts!
Country Inn and Suites (Mall of America) - very nice hotel and great central location with free wireless and morning breakfast. They provide a free shuttle to/from the airport and the Mall of America. The bed was very comfortable and housekeeping did a great job cleaning the room. They have two swimming pools and two Jacuzzis. BUT…we would have enjoyed them more if one was outside or if there was at least an outdoor patio attached to the pool area, but that is probably a result of the winters experienced there.
Walleye fish! – Outstanding. Chris is trying to figure out how to recreate the dishes we had with the fish that is local to us! Not sure it will be the same though.
Taste of Minnesota – We were glad that we decided not to attend. I think we did a good job of tasting local food on our own!
River Cruise and BBQ - Wished we had been able to fit in one of the River Cruises and had some BBQ at Famous Dave’s in Minnetonka!
The locals – A recurrent theme to us over the weekend was the extreme friendliness of all the people we encountered. Everyone smiled and said hello. One man came over to us in Walmart and asked us about the Bahamas tee shirt Chris was wearing. How did we like the Bahamas? Where did we go? A woman pulling out a shopping cart, actually turned to me and said….”please,,,you take this one”! We were so touched by such friendliness.
We had a great time and look forward to returning!
There must be someone that would want Wylie Coyote!
You never know when you might need a buoy!
or a canoe
If you find yourself needing a traffic light, they got one here.
Two guys scored some nice chairs!
Gosh...what a decision to make!
Chris enjoyed looking at these lamps.
Someone must be looking for one of these...especially if gas prices go up.
Elvis decided to show up too!
As did Marilyn!
A nice mermaid!
Heavy metal??
A couple of outboard motors!
This vendor uses an old school bus instead of a tent to display merchandise!
I loved these colorful pieces!
Sounds good to us!
These seemed to be big sellers that day.
Even though it was 94 degrees, Santa showed up!
This would make an interesting lawn ornament.
Need a guitar or a basket of clarinets?
A nice shady spot!
I think this was supposed to be a pig!
More lawn ornaments!
Some nice toy trucks.
A cute little truck!
Here you can buy a train or a chafing dish!
I loved these wooden trays...but didn't end up getting one for some reason! 
Lots of wood here!
