Home again!
And a post about our travel ordeals is on Metroblogging Nashville.
Since what I wrote there was mostly trip complaints, here are some of the trip highlights:
- Getting to see our friend D, who was a colleague on the infamous Indy gig.
- Getting to see J & H, who were colleagues at the (infamous?) healthcare gig but have since moved to the Minneapolis area.
- Getting to see brandismarie91, whom I haven’t seen in something like 10 years.
- Eating at Chatterbox pub for Friday dinner and drinks.
- Eating at French Meadow for Saturday dinner.
- Eating at The Egg & I for Sunday breakfast/brunch.
- Eating at Chiang Mai Thai for Sunday dinner.
- Exploring and eating at several places in the Global Market.
- While D was playing a league game of soccer, Karsten and I took the light rail to IKEA, which meant passing through the Mall of America. I’d seen the mall before and knew its enormity, but Karsten, I think, was unprepared. He was stunned.
- Going to the Minnesota Zoo.
- Seeing a white-cheeked gibbon show off how well he was able to swing from one end of his habitat to the other. He made it look as effortless as a marathon runner crossing the street.
- Checking out the Loft, a cool writers’ center with a nice little cafe and the most wickedly cool staircase I have ever seen — it’s designed to be reminiscent of a book, with frosted plexiglass sheets that look like pages winding around the railing all the way up. I took pictures, but I don’t have them up yet and I don’t really think they do it justice. Here’s a small one on the Loft web site.
- Checking out Wedge, a grocery co-op.
- Checking out various other local coffee shops and bars.
- Petting D’s two cats, Bea & Greta.
But at this point, I’m just happy to be back home. I’m even happy to be back at work!