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.