21 July 2012

One more off the bucket list



Was a good an excellent trip to Minnesota.  Audit went well, we got to spent a little time in the Mankato area, Ate way too much, explored the local campus/nightlife, and even toured a local brewery (Mankato Brewery).  Very nice small college town.  

We got up early to head back into Minneapolis to drop off my buddy off at the airport for an early flight.  I pushed back my return flight until the evening so that I could have the opportunity to drive across town to visit with a good friend.  The return flights were slightly delayed and I didn’t touch down in Houston until almost midnight at the end of a long, long day. 

But enough drivel about me.  What about my visit?   Whom did I go see?  Got any pictures?  Well, if my earlier subtle clues didn’t give it away, you ain’t been paying attention. 

I finally got the opportunity to meet Terri, Terri in the flesh.  I was just hoping to be able to meet up with her for a short lunch while I was in town, but she invited me over to her house to meet the entire Terri tribe.  I got to meet Brad, Heather, Jake, Mark, and, of course Lucy and Dakotah.  We spend time talking about dogs, family, school, home renovations, more dogs, hunting, wedding stuff.  A lot of the stories felt familiar because Terri has blogged about them.  We then hopped in the car and headed over into St Paul for a burger at the Nook (“a small place with big burgers”.  Great little hole in the wall place that has been featured on Dinners, Drive-Ins & Dives for one of the best burgers in Minnesota.  After sampling the food, I think it should be in the national top 10.  Terri, Brad and Heather and I had a great lunch downstairs in the basement (20 minute wait upstairs) that has a unique bar/diner/bowling alley motif.  We were trying to figure out what was the story behind the dollar bills stuck to the ceiling (according to the waitress it was supposedly to leave your mark/signature or they were going to use the money to pay for a new ceiling).  Great burgers, lot more chatting, a few pictures. 

Dining with the famous Terri, Terri

Heather & Brad

The Juicy Nook

Ceiling decorations

Some old lanes

The original Nook

Dakotah

Lucy & Mark
After lunch, we headed back home to meet with Mark and Jake and play with Lucy and Dakotah.  Both dogs were great, but Lucy is definitely the star of the show.  Even though Terri warned us about her penchant for stuffed toys with noisemakers, I brought Lucy a small toy duck with a squeaker inside.  Just like Terri said, Lucy took it as her mission to search out and destroy that squeaker and in only took about 15 minutes to decimate that duck.  I hope the rope toy lasts a wee bit longer.          

Well, kids, if you ever have the chance to visit with one of your blogging friends, I highly recommend it.  This was the second chance I have had to meet up with someone in person that I have been chatting/blogging with for years and it was great.  Thank you, Terri for inviting me over to meet the entire crew.     

6 comments:

terri said...

It was my pleasure! So glad you could carve out some time to spend with us. We have YOU to thank for making our first visit to the Nook happen and we thoroughly enjoyed spending the day with you!

ShadowRun300 said...

I am so excited for you two! Thanks for being so quick to publish a post about it! I was on pins and needles waiting to see if I was right, and to hear how things went! I can't imagine how fun it must be to meet up with someone you seemingly know so well, without ever having 'met' them!
And you got to meet Lucy Pie? How lucky for you! :)
Anyway, I'm very happy everything worked out for you! Good luck with your next trip. One more before the wedding, right??

Rock Chef said...

2 of my favourite bloggers in the same picture!

Just looking at the pictures at the moment - back to read the full story later - about to make pasta...

Abby said...

How great! Two of my favorite bloggers meeting in real life!

I had a feeling it was the famous Terri you were going to visit from your "hints"!

Rock Chef said...

Great stuff - for a moment I thought that you also got to go bowling together!

Hoping to complete the blog-meet triangle next year! Must get to work on my plans and nail down exactly who is coming with me (if anyone!)

meleah rebeccah said...

I am so jealous! I am DYING to meet BOTH of you!

And also, I am SUPER thrilled the two of you met in Real Life!! Awesome visit!