Food Trucks, Beer & BBQ...

I spend way to much time watching Travel Channel & Food Network shows. When I am just sitting around at home, I will usually gravitate towards the TV and watch Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Man vs. Food, Food Truck Paradise, Eat Street  or The Great Food Truck Race. In fact, one of the best movies I saw this year was Chef (Chef Movie Trailer), which was about a man and his Food Truck journey.  I always daydream about being able to eat at the places shown and wishing I could have those types of choices near where I lived. Well, living in Minneapolis has afforded me that opportunity...

Yesterday was a gorgeous fall day with plenty of blue skies. A perfect day for a food adventure. We started off by going to the Fall Feast Food Truck Rally (Fall Feast Food Truck Rally) at Harriet Brewery in Minneapolis. 18 food trucks and craft beer...A perfect Saturday afternoon.

We started off with Harriet Divine Oculust (Divine Oculust) and Westside IPA (Westside IPA). With beer in hand, we surveyed the food truck choices. First stop was Pepper-Jack Philly Express for a Philly Cheese Steak (Pepperjack Philly Express). Second best cheese steak I have ever had, and neither of them were in Philadelphia!

Next we moved on to Tot Boss. Now, I have eaten at this truck before when we went to the Canterbury Park Food Truck Event this summer. But, it bears repeating that the Poutine Tots are out of this world. (Tot Boss).

After a break for a beer refill, we moved on over to the the Midnord Empanada Truck (Midnord Empanadas). We enjoyed the Bacon Cheeseburger Empanadas and an order of Yuca Fries with Chimichurri sauce. Outstanding.

The event was held in the parking lot of Harriet Brewery with all the food trucks parked around the outside with a double row in the middle. Tables were set up in the open spaces to stop and eat your food. While looking for a table, we met two very nice couples who were nice enough to lets us join them for food, drink and conversation. This led to an attempt to walk a few blocks to visit the DuNord Distillery (DuNord Craft Spirits), but alas, it was not open to the public yet. This will bear a repeat visit when ready to go. At that point, we said goodbye to our new friends and tried to think of what we could do next.

We were near the Diamond Lake area, so, we dropped in for a visit with our "City Friends" Jeff & Gina. Despite being packed to the gills with beer and food truck fare, Jeff had a hankering for some barbeque, so down the street we went to Scott Ja-Mama's Barbeque (Scott Ja-Mama's).

We ordered two pulled pork dinners, two chicken dinners and one half slab of ribs. While waiting for our food, Scott treated us to absolutely the best BBQ Chicken Sandwich I have ever had! 

We managed to eat all the BBQ and after a little College Football, decided to call it a night and head back to Happy Prairie, stuffed and content. Thanks to our Food Truck Rally Friends and as always, Jeff & Gina for a great afternoon!

A Doctor takes his own advice...

I suppose one of the leading reasons we don't look forward to our 50th birthday is the dreaded screening colonoscopy. I have managed to put mine off until today, aged 52 years, 10 months, 11 days. I used several excuses for the delay. I'm too busy, I was looking for a new job, I was too busy preparing to move, I was too busy moving, I just moved, I was too busy unpacking the new house, my insurance does not start until June, I have to wait 6 weeks after having diverticulitis...It was that recent episode of diverticulitis that really set my mind to thinking. Was it diverticulitis, or something more sinister.

 One of my colleagues figured out that we will diagnose an average of 3.5 new cases of colon cancer, per year, per provider. In 2014, 136,830 people will be diagnosed with Colon Cancer...50,310 will die from it. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Your overall risk of having colon cancer is 5-6% and it is PREVENTABLE (Colon Cancer Alliance). So, after finally running out of excuses, I took my own advice and had a colonoscopy.

The easy part was scheduling it. I asked my partner Steve if he would be willing to come in on a Saturday morning and take care of it for me and he agreed. I would like to thank him for taking time out of his Saturday morning to do this for me. Time passes quickly leading up to C-Day and before you know it, reading the prep instructions is on your to do list for the day. As a gastroenterologist, I hear day in and day out that the colonoscopy preparation is some kind of torture device left over from the Spanish Inquisition (Spanish Inquisition). I am here to tell you otherwise. While it will not make my list of Top Ten things to do on a Friday Night (Friday Night Fun in Minneapolis), it was really not all that bad. Just make sure you pick a better Gatorade flavor. Riptide Frost is to be avoided at all costs.

2 Quarts of prep solution is not that bad...

The next biggest complaint I hear is how hard it is to "starve" the day before the procedure by sticking to a clear liquid diet. Heads up people...children in Africa are starving...clear liquids for 36 hours prior to a colonoscopy is a small inconvenience. I rather enjoyed my sojourn from the daily meal grind. You can drink all the Mt.Dew you want, you will learn how good simple chicken broth can taste, and you will rediscover a long, lost love for Jello! Plus, your lunch fits in your pocket.

After all the anticipatory prepping and repeated worst case scenario nightmares, colonoscopy day was finally here. Driving to the hospital was not a problem. No pit stops were needed for last minute potty breaks. After a brief registration, we were whisked off to the the pre-procedure room where my wife decided that a photograph was needed. After all, Facebook had been waiting for this moment for 2 years, 10 months and 12 days.

Crying on the inside...

I will admit, despite the fact that I have performed over 15,000 of these procedures, I was still a wee bit nervous. The nursing staff knows what kind of patients we can be and were quite accommodating. They put me at ease and I would like to thank them for that! For those of you who are curious, I received 100 mcg of Fentanyl and 4 mg of Versed. Given that everybody always asks how far the colonoscope is inserted & how long the scope is, I will divulge trade secrets. The average depth of insertion is about 75 cm.For those of you with an insatiable need to know how many feet that is, go the extra mile (Cm to Feet Conversion). The scope itself is 160 cm long. I can honestly say that I have no recollection of the procedure and the first thing I remember is sitting up in the post-procedure area asking if we were finished.

Normal exam...Good for 10 years!

The best part of a colonoscopy is that afterwords you can go wherever you want and have breakfast. We went to the Edina Grill and it did not disappoint...Best breakfast I have had in a long time. Highly recommended! (Edina Grill).  The warm doughnut holes with cinnamon sugar, chocolate sauce & vanilla icing were fantastic...

The moral of the story is...If you are 50 years old, have your colonoscopy, prevent colon cancer, and have a great breakfast afterwards. It really is that simple. And by the way, it was all within a 10 mile radius...

Breaking in the new house...

When we were looking for houses here in Minnesota, my wife wanted a house with a pool. We had a swimming pool a long time ago when we were living in Westchester, Illinois. I remember enjoying having a pool, so we looked around and found a home in Eden Prairie with a pool in the backyard. Happy wife...Happy life!

A swimming pool is a handy thing to have for many reasons. After work swims, weekend pool parties for your kids, lazy weekends lounging by the water and a place to do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. We have taken great advantage of the short amount of summertime left after arriving here in August.

My Son & friends enjoy a Wisconsin reunion

Getting to know the new college roommates

Old friends from Gillett, WI...

...Great weekend in September

As we wind down the summer and the time rapidly approaches, we find ourselves wishing for just 2 or 3 extra weekends of nice sunny weather. After all, we all know that Winter is Coming! As the winter months approach, I will attempt to update this blog more frequently. It is difficult to find the time to sit down and write. Life had returned to normal,..

Moving Day has arrived...

I have been a little neglectful recently and have not been updating the 2 or 3 people who read this blog...I apologize, but, things have been a bit hectic since the move in early August. I will attempt to catch up in the next several weeks.

The move was uneventful, at least from my perspective. If you ask my wife, you very well may get a different answer. After everything was packed up back in Franklin, my wife and son came up to Eden Prairie on a Thursday night and stayed in my apartment for the night.

Goodbye Wisconsin...

The next day, I went to work and they went off to meet the moving truck at the new house. The unloading was originally scheduled to take two days, however, the movers managed to unload everything by 4 pm on Friday. I came home from work to the new house and all our stuff  inside. See, uneventful. My oldest daughter drove up from Chicago on Friday morning, so there was 2/3 complement of help to start unpacking the house. There was really no food and the kitchen was in boxes, so, dinner consisted of Pizza, Pizza from Little Caesars...

First dinner in the new house...

The furniture and beds were all ready to go, however, where were all the sheets and towels? The packers did not do a very good job of labeling the contents of the boxes. By the end of the night on Friday, I still had not found our sheets, so the mattress and a large towel would have to suffice as bedding. It did not matter much to my wife, as she pulled an all niter and was still unpacking kitchen boxes when dawn came on Saturday! After a full day of unpacking on Saturday, we took the evening off and ventured to St. Paul to see Gaelic Storm at The Irish Fair of Minnesota (Irish Fair of Minnesota). Gaelic Storm did not disappoint and it was a great introduction to the available festivals and activities here in the Twin Cities.

Ready for the Irish Fair

Should have bought the caps..

Ready for Gaelic Storm!

Monday morning came sooner than expected, and with it my oldest daughter departed back to Chicago to begin her second year of Medical School. It will be a while before she gets up this way again, but, when she does, her bedroom will be ready and waiting. In the mean time, my other two children are planning a pool party for the following weekend. More on that later. Overall, a great beginning to our new life in Minnesota...

Farewell to an old friend...

Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket) wrote...

"One’s home is like a delicious piece of pie you order in a restaurant on a country road one cozy evening. The best piece of pie you have ever eaten in your life and can never find again. After you leave home, you may find yourself feeling homesick, even if you have a new home that has nicer wallpaper and a more efficient dishwasher than the home in which you grew up..."

As we prepare to leave our home in Franklin for the last time, I can relate. Home is not where the heart is or where we hang our hats. It is a state of mind, a 4th dimension, that exists within the structures we refer to as home. These things take many shapes... Houses, apartments, trailers etc. As we prepare to pack and move our belongings to our new house in Minnesota, I realize that our "home" is coming with us, part of it anyways. That being said, this house, this place, will always be a part of our home no matter where we live. I look around for the last time and see years of memories stuffed into this house. Memories of my children growing up, birthday parties, backyard swing sets, broken bones, laceration repairs, family dinners, Christmas presents, Thanksgiving dinners, graduation parties, good times spent with good friends and too many more to mention. All these things are trapped within the confines of these four walls in Franklin, Wisconsin. I have taken a great many, too many, photos over the years and these will help trigger my memories of these events, as they exist now only in my mind and the minds of my family and friends. 

We will come back and visit, but it will never be the same. Time has a way of smoothing out the rough edges of our memories. In due time, we will have to use GPS to get around our old  town, or get caught asking for directions. You can always go back to where you used to live, but, things will be different. Restaurants and businesses will have come and gone. We will ask ourselves "When did that place open?" We will wish   
the Chik-Fil-A was open when we used to live there. We will see old friends and tell old stories. But, at the end of the day, we will go back to our new house and new life. They say you can always go home, but that is not true...You see, we never really left.

Farewell Franklin, WI...You will be missed!

Goodbye Yale Drive...

Final Family Photo...

Winding down with the Arts...

Life has settled back down after the disruption of getting in an accident that ended up with my car being a total loss. My last weekend was spent emergency car shopping. As with most cities, the southwest suburbs of Minneapolis have an area where almost every automobile dealer can be found. After visiting nearly every one of them, I decided to go with a two year lease on a 2014 Ford Escape Titanium. I wanted full time all wheel drive for the Minnesota winters and it had all the modern bells and whistles. It even parallel parks itself.

This weekend was my final weekend before my self imposed 3 month exile ends. I went low key and spent Friday night with Netflix. Saturday morning I went to the nearby AMC Eden Prairie 18 and saw an early matinee showing of Chef (Rotten Tomatoes Review). I would recommend you go see this film. No trip to the mall for a movie would be complete without a trip to the food court and for $4 you can't beat a slice of Sbarro cheese pizza and a soda.

On Saturday afternoon I met a long-time friend for happy hour at Loring Park Kitchen (Loring Park Kitchen & Bar). I have known Robyne since the 6th grade and would like to thank her for coming out and introducing me to more of Minneapolis. Her twenty plus years of public life in Minneapolis are a great resource for a Twin Cities newbie.

Selfie on Nicollet Mall

Following some drinks and appetizers, we headed over to Instinct Art Gallery for the opening of "Self & Others", featuring the work of Frank Gaard, Pamela Gaard, Stu Mead and Nancy Robinson. I have never been to an art gallery before, let alone the opening reception of an art gallery show. It was more interesting that I would have anticipated. 

I had the opportunity to meet the artists and the work displayed was very interesting. The price of the artwork was a bit of an eye opener for this newcomer!

Nancy Robinson & her work

I liked this, but, too rich for my blood!

Afterwards, TNT was my friend with a showing of Inglorious Basterds (Inglorious Basterds movie trailer). Sunday morning arrived and with it another early matinee. This time my date was Scarlett Johansson. Forget the reviews, Lucy is a good summer action film and worth seeing (Lucy movie trailer). In honor of my children, I had another slice of Sbarro pizza for lunch!

Next weekend, my family will be here for my daughter to attend her St. Thomas Freshman orientation session. Following that, a quick 36 hours in Milwaukee to take care of a few last minute items. August 8th the moving truck delivers our belongings and the the real work begins, unpacking the house. I will let you know how it goes...

Exploring Minnesota...

As July 31st approaches and the date of our formal move to Minneapolis nears, I have found that it is really too expensive to go back to Milwaukee on the weekends. After spending the week of July 4th back in Milwaukee, the next three weekends will be spent here in Minneapolis, alone. So, I was happy to be invited to Duluth last weekend to visit one of my former colleagues, who also recently relocated from Milwaukee to a new city, Duluth, MN. His situation is very similar to mine and is as well living alone for the time being. As they say, misery loves company. So, off to northern Minnesota I went.

In 1995, I actually looked into relocating to Duluth after my fellowship. That idea was quite short lived after my wife found the brochure lying around the house. Little did she know that all these many years later, we would have occasion to visit there on the weekends from Minneapolis in the future!

Duluth has a great history that I really was not aware of. It is a major shipping port on Lake Superior, along with Superior, WI (Duluth, MN). You probably know the most famous ship that sailed from this area, The Edmund Fitzgerald (Edmund_Fitzgerald). Yes, the one from the Gordon Lightfoot song (The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald). Anchored in Canal Park is the S.S. William Irvin, once the flagship of US Steel, now a museum (S.S William Irvin). I plan on touring it on our next trip to Duluth.

S.S William Irvin

After arriving on Friday evening, we visited a local brewpub in Canal Park, The Canal Park Brewing Company (Canal Park Brewery). The beer was great and so were the burgers. We spent most of Saturday watching The 111th Duluth International Regatta. Congratulations to the Minneapolis Rowing Club for their overall 1st place finish.

MRC Men's Double

MRC Women's 8

Crew Regattas are similar to Pom Competitions, lots of time spent waiting around for your team to race / perform. So, in our abundant down time, I took the opportunity to consult my TV Food Maps App to check out the local Triple D / MVF dining spots. First stop was the Anchor Grill in Superior, WI. 

Tom wondering what all the bikers are doing here...

Overall not a bad place. The burger was good, but average. The beer was great however, Fat Tire on tap in cold frosted mugs! Probably worth the initial trip, but, probably not worth going back anytime soon. The burger at the Canal Park Brewing Company was much better.

Saturday evening was spent at Fitger's Brewhouse (Fitger's Brewhouse) for dinner and Grizzly's Grill in Canal Park (Grizzly' Grill) for a few after dinner beers. We had a lot of laughs and told a bunch of stories before calling it quits for the evening.

Sunday morning came faster than expected and with it the final stop of the TV Food Maps App Tour, The Duluth Grill. Highly recommended if you are in the Duluth area. Great breakfast and hands down the best banana cream pie on the planet!

It was a great weekend, dropping in on an old friend in similar circumstances and I would like to thank him for his hospitality! I look forward to many more visits to Duluth once all our families are officially Minnesotans. In the meantime, I will spend the next couple of weekends in Minneapolis exploring what else lies within my 10 mile radius...

Demolition Derby in Suburban Minneapolis...

I was wondering when my luck would run out, when the other shoe would fall and now it has. My first problem in my new Minneapolis life has arrived...My first, and knock wood last, automobile accident in the Twin Cities.

During a routine drive home from work last night, I was suddenly struck from the left by a large SUV. Much to my surprise, I did not see or hear the SUV before it hit me, just to the rear of the left rear door. Suddenly, I found myself in a slow motion series of 360 spins, deployed side curtain air bags  and resting the the middle of an intersection, aiming the opposite direction to which I was travelling. The white air bag dust and gunpowder smell filled the car as I looked around and wondered WTF just happened. After a few minutes I came to my senses and managed to take off the seat belt and get out of the car. Luckily, everybody involved was not injured, although my left shoulder is quite sore from the seat belt. It took a while for the hearing in my left ear to come back given the sound of the collision and the airbags deploying. Standing next to the car, it was obvious my vehicle took the brunt of the damage.

The large SUV had a cracked front bumper and not much else. The local police department finally showed up after 1 hour 10 minutes and three calls to 911. They get a failing grade for response time, although the responding Officer was very nice. It was a good thing nobody was really hurt! One the other hand, my roadside assistance was outstanding. The free tow truck was there within 20 minutes! After exchanging information with the other driver, I was free to go. Giant shout out and a great many thanks to my Minneapolis Guardian Angels, Jeff & Gina, for schlepping out to give me a ride home. After work the next day I visited Enterprise, rented a car and am back on the road. I look forward to hearing what the body shop has to say about my car.

My message to everyone? Drive very carefully on unfamiliar roads, remember the driving school lesson, look left, right, then left and wear your seat belt! And for those of you keeping track, I managed to get in an accident, find a great body shop and rent a car, all within a ten mile radius...

Off the grid...

My temporary living arrangement means that there are several weekends that I do not get a chance to get back to Milwaukee. This has allowed some exploring around Minneapolis and Northern Wisconsin. This past weekend, another opportunity presented itself, and I was able to travel to The Lake Chippewa Flowage in Couderay, WI. A good friend called me this past Thursday evening and invited me to come up to his cabin for the weekend for his son's bachelor party. At 157 miles away, it was a tad past my 10 mile radius, but, one needs to make exceptions every now and then.

Despite living in Wisconsin for the past 15 years, I have really never been "Up North" before. This location was as secluded as I can recall ever travelling to in recent memory. Minimal cell phone coverage, no internet, no real smartphone coverage and no cable television. Just a beautiful setting, great friends, outstanding weather and The Chippewa Lake Flowage (Lake Chippewa Flowage).

Home for the weekend

Besides beer pong and keg stands, we had a great day on the water on Saturday. We even took the opportunity to complete the Alaskan Pipeline...

The Chippewa Flowage is beautiful. The weather could not have been better for boating and cooking out. We saw quite a bit of wildlife that us city folks only see in magazines, nature shows or zoos. We were up close and personal with several Bald Eagles, Blue Herons, Loons and yes, a Black Bear. I am not sure who was more afraid of whom. But, this little guy was parked in a a tree not 40 feet from our campfire for quite a while. He eventually came down and went back into the woods, but, we saw him 3-4 times over the course of the weekend.

This Bald Eagle flew out from his nest and plucked a fish out of the water, then stopped on a nearby tree branch to enjoy his breakfast.

Finally, a great big thank you to my host for the weekend, Tom Malloy. He was the host with the most and open fire cooking master. I doubt I will have a brat or a hamburger as good anytime soon!

 It was a pleasure and an honor to be invited to the Malloy bachelor weekend! I look forward to returning and showing Noreen this beautiful area of northern Wisconsin.

By the time Sunday morning came around, I was exhausted and made an early exit for home. Plenty of laundry awaited me upon my return as well as the USA - Portugal World Cup match. I cannot believe the USA came within 15 seconds of advancing to the next round! Well, now we await what happens in the USA - Germany match later this week. Meanwhile, the count down continues, 6 weeks till we close on our new home in Eden Prairie...

Commencement...

As defined by Merriam-Webster:

com·mence·ment

 noun \kə-ˈmen(t)s-mənt\

: the time when something begins

: a ceremony during which degrees or diplomas are given to students who have graduated from a school or college

This is a summer of commencements. My youngest daughter, Carmen, has now graduated from Franklin High School. She meets both of the above definitions. A diploma was granted and in the fall she will start, or commence, a new chapter in her life at The University of St. Thomas. The rest of our family will begin, or commence, our new lives as residents of Minnesota. This will officially start somewhere in the second week of August when we finally move into our new house.

Congratulations Carmen
Final graduate of Franklin High School

Now that the house is taken care of, knock wood it passes all inspections and we have a successful closing, it's the little things that will remind us that a new chapter is upon us. One of the first things I did when I moved here in May was to travel to the Minnesota DMV to obtain my drivers license. It was a lot like most every other DMV I have ever been in, expect with more rules. They would not accept my Wisconsin drivers license as a form of identification. So, I had to go back with my passport and my Social Security card. Try remembering where yours is! You see, I needed 2 forms of ID with my middle spelled out. after taking the written test, I bought the cheat sheets online, I passed all requirements and was granted a Minnesota Drivers License. Only problem was, it comes in the mail 2-3 weeks later. I felt like a 16 year old driving around on a paper learners permit. But, finally it arrived and I am official...

Official Minnesotan

Later this week I need to get a haircut, so, the hunt for a new hair salon begins. I am pretty sure I don't want to go to Sport Clips, Fantastic Sam's, Great Clips etc... If I like my haircut, maybe I will post a photo. A quick scan of Google shows many choices, all within a ten mile radius...

Center of the Circle...

After searching far and wide, near and far and generally all over Eden Prairie, we found a home and have an accepted offer pending inspection! Hopefully that will go as planned and after July 31st, we will have a new permanent address in Eden Prairie.

It is a little bigger that I wanted, but, that means plenty of room for visitors from our previous homes in Chicago & Milwaukee. It feels like we are just living our lives along I-94. The location is very convenient to work and keeps Noreen close to all the action in Eden Prairie.

Much to the dismay of my oldest two children, my youngest daughter, Carmen, has dibs on what ever bedroom she wants. My money is on her taking the basement bedroom. I will probably have to install an alarm on the sliding glass door downstairs to make sure I can keep track of her comings and goings!

This will also now give me an opportunity to put my theory to the test. According the map below, most everything, including work, will be accessible within a 15 mile circle, with almost everything else within 10 miles (15 Mile Radius ).

So, now it begins in earnest. Planning the move, packing the Franklin house and unpacking the new one. It all seems a bit disorienting, but, when the moving truck leaves after dropping off all our stuff and the unpacking is finished. The dishes will be in a similar location. Our furniture will lend familiarity to our new surroundings, and the junk will still be in the junk drawer.

So, if you have a free weekend, or find yourself in the Minneapolis area, stop by for a beer or two. There are extra rooms if you drink too much and pretty much anything you need is less than 10 miles away.

We'll leave the light on for ya...

Maybe this time...

A productive and eventful weekend! My wife and oldest daughter drove up from Milwaukee on Friday for a visit and some house hunting. I have looked at over 50 homes and my wife has made three trips and has seen over 20. I can look at as many homes as I like, but, the reality is that if Noreen does not approve, NO SALE! Hopefully, this was the weekend we find the one.

My good friends, Clay & Lucy, from Northern Wisconsin, also came up for a visit. They recently went through this same process, so, they came along with us on our house hunting Saturday morning / afternoon. Saturday we saw 14 homes and took the evening to digest all that information. We decided to go back early Sunday morning and take a second look at our two top choices.

House hunting makes you tired and hungry. Tired can be fixed with a nap. Hungry means finding a great new restaurant to try. After a quick internet search and advice from our local Minneapolis experts, Jeff & Gina, we went to Broder's Pasta Bar in Minneapolis (Broder's Pasta Bar).

Dinner was GREAT, highly recommended! We will make a note of this restaurant and return again. We bought some Italian deserts and the Broder's Deli across the street (Broder's Italian Deli), and had dessert and coffee / after dinner drinks hosted by Jeff & Gina. Many thanks to them for opening up their home to us after dinner. It was a great evening with good friends and family!

Good friends and family!

We saw our two top homes from the Saturday home choices again on Sunday morning. Both were of similar size, price, neighborhood, and both had pools. This allowed a head to head comparison. After much discussion, we decided to place a bid on this home...

Could this be the one?

The bidding process will take a couple of days. When the outcome is known, I will let you know. Wish us luck! I, for one, am fairly tired of looking at homes, and would like a place to hang my hat. That way, I can start drawing my 10 mile radius...