Entering the GoT World Again

This last Sunday we took a trip down memory lane, thrusting ourselves right back into Westeros. I joined nearly 10 million (not including those who watched in the later couple days on HBOMax, or illegal streaming or what not) in this exercise. And seemingly the initial response was cautious optimism that this might be... good?

Go back six years, and this doesn't seem strange at all. Game of Thrones was the biggest show on television, finishing its sixth season with Dany crossing the Narrow Sea, Sansa and Arya back on top at Winterfell, Jon being named King of the North, and Cersei laying waste to the entire heads of state blowing up the Sept of Baelor. It was an incredible final episode capping a great season and setting us up for what was supposed to be an incredible end.

Go back three years, when Game of Thrones finally ended, with Bran ridiculously being named king because of the power of "good stories" or whatever, and the fact 10 million people would watch another minute of story in Westeros, and it seems bizarre.

Since that finale, the way we as a society perceive Game of Thrones the tv show changed completely, and deservedly so. The rush-job, patchwork, plot idiocracy that was the last two seasons, and particularly the last one, really did just damper the entire run of the show. It really left me, along with many, many others, wondering if we've thrown hours and hours of our lives away watching the show from its start. But a funny thing happens over the course of three years. 

No, my opinion of the show's end has not changed. The ending was still terrible. But time has allowed us to more easily separate the show's end, and more pointedly the show's creators, with the source material and the world of Westeros that intrigued us in the first place.

It's clear as day that the lasting legacy of Game of Thrones won't be so much the world of Westeros's terrible end, but the show's creators throwing their careers away for no real return. It is funny how much HBO has gone over and above to make it clear David Benioff and DB Weiss have zero involvement in this show. And who can blame them. The show went off the rails when Benioff and Weiss literally lost the plot - in the sense when the show caught up to the books and passed them, Benioff and Weiss had no real ability to craft a show without clear source material.

While I do give them some defense in that when the show started they probably did think Martin would release at least the penultimate book, if not the final one. Martin didn't, and they basically lost their minds trying to play storywriter for the first time. More worryingly though was their seeming lack of passion and desire to just wrap it up. Them shortening the last two seasons, when they had to cover basically 1.5 books, was just a maddeningly dumb decision. Maybe they wanted to move on, but as many interviews with actors, and other HBO people, have shown, no one else wanted to speed up the finish.

Anyway, it is easy to shift all the blame for the sour taste Game of Thrones left us with to those two guys. And man have we all done so - from Disney then pulling away a Star Wars trilogy from them, to their ill-fated week when the world figured out they were trying to do a show about a US where the Confederacy won the Civil War. Benioff and Weiss are done for. Which is good because then we can at least attempt to believe in the Westerosi world with those two far, far away.

Coming back to the actual House of the Dragon show, it is far too early to say if its good or not, but at least it seems to have a clear point of view. It isn't, at least for now, as sprawling a world as even Season 1 Game of Thrones was, and that may be for its benefit. I love the little touches and hints and names of families and people we came across in the mothership show. It all is nostalgic, but in a good way. 

This could break down over time, for sure. While it is easy to place all of the blame on how Game of Thrones ended with Benioff & Weiss, we have to at least admit that they were around for when the show was good as well. We have to see if the new show-runner can do a good job here. But there's an opportunity to take advantage of the fading memory of how terrible the Game of Thrones ending was, and take us back to the world of the show we used to love in the first place.

Pre-season NFL Season Predictions

Will probably update this right before the start of the season - only changes based on QB or major All-Pro level injuries.

My Top-10: Beer Bars, Cocktail Bars, Clubs

On a combination of my travels for pleasure and some for work, I've set-up a spread sheet with the same general outlay each time. Some of it is arranging what I want to do each AM and PM and Lunch and Dinner. But there's a spot for night. There's a second tab then that breaks "adult/drinking" activities into various categories: Craft Breweries, Beer Bars (i.e. a place known for beer on tap, but not specifically a brewery of its own), Cocktail Bars and EDM Clubs. So, let's put aside craft breweries since honestly while some stick out I've just been to way too many by now, let's go with the other three to build a Top-10 of each.

Best Beer Bars

12.) Magerks  (Horsham, USA - 2018)

It's weird ranking this one but I'd gone there enough during my project in suburban Pennsylvania that it easily makes the list. It was a giant upscale BrickHouse Tavern type place, but with a far more extensive and interesting tap list of about 30-40 beers, all servied in a giant bar in the middle. The kept the wall of windows open which gave a great atmosphere. They showed every type of sport on their TVs that were above the giant rectangular bar. All of this was great. The place it was in? take it or leave it. If this same place was in a major city, it might be Top-5.

11.) The Raleigh Times  (Raleigh, USA - 2019, 2020)

A couple of these are places I went to during various consulting gigs, including The Raleigh Times, built in the ground floor of the old newspaper building. Technically this is a full service bar more than just a beer bar, and often I went there for food when arriving into town on a late flight. But from a drinks perspective they had about 20 local (Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia) beers on tap, with a great variety of styles, ABV levels, etc. The place also had a really relaxed vibe, with music on a rooftop - though this was more reading it than seeing it as generally that was on weekends.

10.) Loyal Legion  (Portland, USA - 2017)

No surprise that a place like Portland that had itself a crazy collection of craft breweries, has a place where they had about 60 beers on tap, at least half being local craft beer. The bar is large, and in theory is a full service bar, but the imposing row of taps make it clear where they make their money. The beer list featured a ton of stouts as well. In the end, the over-abundance of options is somewhat of a drawback. You would think a bit more discretion could be used. 

9.) NYKS  (Montreal, Canada - many times)

So this one is largely on the vibes side but they do have a solid beer selection, including 2-3 beers of 2-3 local Montreal staples, including generally dark/stout beers. The atmosphere, spitting distance of the Place des Festivals where the Jazz Fest is held. I did go a few times unconnected to the Jazz Fest - including in the dead of winter arriving late into Montreal, it was just a great little refuge in the heart of the city.

8.) 

7.) The Wandering Tortouse  (Phoenix, USA - 2021)

This is the first of two Phoenix places, and I have to say Phoenix has got the beer bar concept locked down perfectly. Giant bar in the middle, tons of seating everywhere else. A giant tap list, of mostly local brews, with a brillaitn color coded system on how they write it, with all IPAs in Green, all Stouts/Porters in purple, all ales in white, all lagers in yellow. So simple, so smart, so effective. Why the Wandering Tortoise is a bit lower than its Phoenix companion is its location being a bit outside the city. It was perfectly fine and safe, and the place was great, but not super easy to get to.

6.) Falling Rock Tap House  (Denver, USA - 2019, 2020)

Falling Rock closed down during the pandemic, more due to some odd rental dispute. It is hard to imagine it is gone. The place was an institution in Denver, and had a giant tap list of nearly all Colorado based craft breweries. I went there maybe four or five times and the place was a joy each time. The only thing keeping it from being higher up is the fact that the decor was a bit blah. There was a lot of normal bar trappings (novelty signs, sports jerseys, etc.), but ti was too bright, too much like a Buffalo Willd Wings type layout. Get past that, and the place was about perfect.

5.) Draught 55 (New York City, USA - many times)

I could put a few New York City options up here, but limited it to one. Picking Draught 55 over my other two favorites of Blind Tiger and Valhalla because being a just barely Upper East Side lcoation, it is far less noisy, crowded and more pleasant to just sit in and have some beers. I had a friend who lived close to Draught 55 and we had some great times there. Also doing so with work happy hours with our office being in earshot. The beer options are plentiful, the set-up is quite nice with ample seating. The place is as close as you can get to leaving the hustle and bustle of New York.

4.) Hop Scholar Ale House  (Spring, USA - 2018, 2019, 2020)

Most of my picks are in cities. Hop Scholar is very much not. It was in the Houston suburb that I both had a project in, and where I have a cousin that lives in. If anything there's a back road from my cousin's neighborhood that leaves directly to Hop Scholar. Anyway, as a place, it is everything. They have about 20 beers on tap. A very healthy amount of interesting stouts. It doesn't limit itself to Texas, but features enough local options to make it interesting. They also had a good food selection, with elevated pub fries and hot dogs. It was a refuge of a place on a project where I was alone for a long stretch. I don't think anyone should go out of their way to visit here, but if you ever find yourself in The Woodlands, hop on down to Hop Scholar.

3.) Toronado  (San Diego & San Francisco, USA - 2014, 2017)

I believe these two are if not owned by the same people, at least linked. The San Diego location has closed, which is a shame as to me it was slightly better than the San Francisco location. In both cases the place had a weird collection of people (headbangers, goths, everything else) along with about 25 beers on tap. Much like Wandering Tortoise I believe there's some color coding done in the way they show their beer, but I couldn't discern it. Toronado takes full advantage of the wealth of craft beer options in both cities, and were easily my favorite night options in either city.

2.) BarHop Brewco  (Toronto, Canada - 2017, 2019, 2020)

Situated in a dark, dive type bar, with a wall with a projector showing either sports or some old weird movies, and a tap list of about 30 beers, high majority being Canadian, BarHop Brewco was a fascinating place to visit. Half of the brews were sold at $5 CAD on Monday's, which is often the place I went. They had a good mix of bar and table seating. And they had great food - especially a PBJ burger that I had way too much. Everything about BarHop was great, including the crowds whether weekday or weekend. Best part was it was right in the heart of the city, but a block or so off the main drag. BarHop was close to perfect.

1.) The Theodore  (Phoenix, USA - 2021)

As perfect as BarHop was - it wasn't The Theodore perfect. I went there my first night traveling post covid, and it was great. I went there three times that trip and then went months later when I went to Phoenix for my friends wedding. I dragged our mutual friend that was also there to it late on a Friday, him being skeptical, and even he agreed it was fantastic. Giant bar, huge tap list, with that everpresent color coding that I love so much. No food, but food trucks aplently all around. Truly right in the heart of the city, serving as excellent place to either end the night or start one. The Theodore is about as perfect a place as I can picture when someone says to me what a great Beer Bar is.

10 Best Cocktail Bars I've Been To:

10.) Drink Kong  (Rome, Italy - 2019)

I only have this on the list because it is an oddly well reputed cocktail bar, ranking high on the World's Top-50 list. That said, we did not appreciate it for that aspect at ALL. We went there fully drunk past midnight on what became April 7th, 2019 (my brithday), and just had nameless drinks. But at the end, it is world reknown as a cocktail bar, so sure I guess it deserves inclusion here.

9.) Rabbit Hole  (Bangkok, Thailand - 2019)

They didn't have the greatest drinks, but had super creative, generally fruity ones. The decor was nice, a good mix of fanciness without any pretension. The place was well crowded with a good vibe even on what was a Sunday night. Overall The Rabbit Hole was a perfectly great place in a city with probably more reputed, but not as calm options.

8.) The Gin House  (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - 2019)

This place may have closed down, it is hard to tell, but The Gin House was a great place in Ho Chi Minh City. My only real complaint is they get a bit too crowded, largely because they had live music Wednesday through Sunday - granted the music was generally good. The cocktails were great. Yes, most were gin based, and I was lucky enough to come when they had a resident mixologist from New Zealand of all places visiting, but they were smooth, refreshing and a great starter for a night out in Ho Chi Minh City - the place I would go to after is coming up in the next category.

7.) Little Red Door  (Paris, France - 2018)

This place is on the Worlds Top 50 list, and it certainly hits all the right marks. No sign and behind a red door (obviously). The drinks were good, the presentation was good (I remember one drink was served in four parts in four different boxes). The decor was nice. It was all very proper, all very grand, all very Parisian. Honestly, it probably should be higher, but I just didn't go and/or try their selection enough.

6.) Meteor  (Minneapolis, USA - 2022)

It is hard to judge a place like Meteor, which has zero of the acceptable levels of pretension that come with all five above it. If anything it is set-up like a dive bar, with low lights, mostly bar seating and gourmet hot dogs rolling, but has an inventive, playful cocktail list of about 15 regulars. Their use of strange ingredients, like Sesame in a bourbon-based cocktail, or coconut milk in a gin-based one, was excellent. It isn't too expensive coming in at $12 a pop. They even have a decent draft beer list if you want to mix it up - granted that has no real impact on the ranking here.

5.) Milk Tiger  (Calgary, Canada - 2019)

Milk Tiger had the chillest vibe. It wasn't too big, but I guess also wasn't overly popular. Generally you always had a table or a spot at the bar, and the bartenders wouild regale you with stories - as were the collection of crazies that went to the place - while they whipped up excellent $10 (US) cocktails. Milk Tiger specialized in gin based cocktails, which really opened my eyes to what you can do with that liquor. It was a nightly spot to hit before going to an EDM club that will show up in that ranking.

4.) Carnaval  (Lima, Peru - 2022)

Carnaval shows up the Worlds Best 50 Bars list, and after going there I have to say it earns that spot. It gets crowded, but is in a posh area of Lima, doesn't let in more people than they have seats for, and had a great energy aroudn it. The drinks were wild, in both preparation and design - things like alcoholic cotton candy as part of a play on an old fashioned, to a frozen watermelon cocktail that is melted when you tip your glass to combine it with a mint cocktail. It was all a scene, and it was just great.

3.) Wa-Shu  (Taipei, Taiwan - 2019)

Wa-Shu was a Japanese Cocktail Bar in the heart of Taipei that I went to twice. The bartenders were quick to tell me that they were Taiwanese, but the cocktails featured Japanese-based alcohol mostly. I had multiple Japanese Whiskey based cocktails, including my favorite being a weird one that used peanut butter seeped through a coffee filter to create a peanut butter old fashioned. It was one of the places with no supposed menu, where we tell them a certain flavor, or fruit or type of food, and they'll whip up something that makes sense based on that. It worked every time. The Wa-Shu guys knew very much what they were doing.

2.) Cause Effect  (Cape Town, South Africa - 2020, 2022)

Cause Effect shouldn't be this good. It is placed right in the heart of the most touristy place in Cape Town. Basically this is like if a bar in Times Square was an amazing place. But somehow it is. They are easily the most inventive cocktail makers. Nearly all of their 20+ standard cocktail offerigns are a production, with props and set-ups and incredible staging. My favorite was one where you are given a plate with a depressed area in the middle, which is covered by an image of a bird and you're told you need to puncture the image which then combines with the cocktail below it to create something magical. The place has to be visited to truly understand it, but it is just incredible, and I can't overstate enough how brilliantly weird it is that this place exists in the V&A Waterfront.

1.) Licorecia Limantour  (Mexico City, Mexico - 2018)

I went to Licorecia Limantour without even knowing it was seen as a world renowned cocktail bar. It is high up the Worlds Top 50 bars. Granted, they have multiple locations - I went to both the main one and one in Polanco. Both have the same menu. Unsurprisingly a lot of cocktails were tequila or mezcal based but they were all crafted brilliantly. None were to too strong, all were super smooth to put down. The place had a great vibe in the heart of the city's more trendier areas, with an open layout letting you basically step inside from teh street. Licorecia Limantour was a marvelous part of my trip to Mexico City, and has only increased its reputation since 2018.

8 Best EDM Clubs I've Been To

8.) The Loft @ Skyway Theater  (Minneapolis, USA - 2022)

On the downside, they had maybe the worst drinks of any of them on the list, which is why its 8th. Admittedly they were strong, but their "soda" component of my whiskey soda order was basically water. But at least they were cheap. Anyway, let's get to the upside of the place. It had maybe the best ventilation system of any large space club i've been to. It was so airy, despite being crowded (not overcrowded) and them going heavy on the fog machine. Also the acts the day I went were spectacular. They seem to curate well as the place isn't open every day on the weekend. Great place, just don't expect drinks.

7.) Culture Club Revelin  (Dubrovnik, Croatia - 2017)

I debated whether or not to put this on the list, mainly because it is more of just all-around club than a EDM/House club. Granted they played a lot of that music, but they also played hip-hop, and had girls dancing in cages, and was more of a pure play party spot, than anything else. Not that it's bad. It migth be the best pure club I've been to, certainly the coolest atmosphere, but to me it fits on the list. Just go there knowing what it is.

6.) Savage (Hanoi, Vietnam - 2019)

I have another Vietnam spot higher up the list. They are very similar in structure, but the main knock, the only knock, I have on Savage is that it was underground so it was a bit hot. They have one area that you enter that has more poppy house playing and a full bar, with another full bar in a shadowy back room that was hardcore EDM. Perfect mix of options, with full ability to move from one to the next. Savage also had full supply of balloons, more to come on that in a second here. Vietnam also has maybe the best bar service of any of these - in these cases the drink aspect is as much as the music, at least for the entry bar / area.

5.) Modular  (Cape Town, South Africa - 2018, 2022)

I have to say, Modular gets way more crowded than my places at ahead of it, but they did a great job of not really making it feel that way, with three full service bars in the same area. They also had a pretty great ventilation and air conditioning. It was packed though. They had no real regard for crowd control. Modular had some of the better DJ sets I've heard in terms of quality top to bottom. If even you're in Cape Town, would fully recommend going there on Thursday. It's slightly less crowded, but every bit as good.

4.) Habitat Living Sound  (Calgary, Canada - 2019)

I'm not sure if they're open or not. They definitely closed for good soon after the pandemic, but then re-opened in 2021, but seem to have closed again. Anyway, it was an experience. The only real downside is that it wasn't that big of a space, but on the plus side, they had excellent crowd control, shockingly cheap and decent drinks (i.e. if you ordered a whiskey soda you got a decent amount of whiskey), and the DJs were all pretty good. The good crowd control actually made this one of the more pleasant clubs to be in. I mourn for Canada's loss here.

3.) Reset  (Cape Town, South Africa - 2020)

RIP, as this was another one that was a Covid casualty. Luckily Modular still exists, but Reset was just a better venue. With two levels and two performance spaces, a bit more light on the second floor, more heavy in the underground one. Bars had a lot of bartenders. They had great ventilation. The crowd control was decent, but just having it across two floors just made it all seem bigger and better. On the whole Reset was a fantastic place and a real loss in terms of nighttime entertainment for Cape Town.

2.) The Black Box  (Denver, USA - 2021)

There's one major question mark in ranking The Black Box this highly, and that is the fact that when I went in August 2021, they were still doing a reasonable amount of crowd limiting due to covid. There was no mask restriction, but they were operating at half capacity. That said, even if you double the crowd I don't think it would have been so much worse. The space was great - with lounge area with another DJ space when you enter, and a much larger space in the interior. Other than my place at number one this place had the best bar set-up, with at least five bartenders working, and the ability to go to the bar in the outside area at any time. The music was uniformly excellent, with generally three acts that all were great each day.

1.) The Observatory  (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - 2019)

From the truly loungey lounge that is its main area, to a full service bar with tons of bartenders that make things quick, to the plentiful balloons, to the light, airy indoor more heavy EDM club that had great ventilation, to it also being on the fifth floor with great sightlines of Ho Chi Minh City around you, The Observatory was close to perfect. That Friday and Saturday night spent at it was about as good as it has ever been in a club experience. You truly feel like you are at a rooftop bar one second, and a hardcore EDM club the next. Just an incredible set-up, great msuic, great balloons, cheap but good drinks, and a great crowd with a good mix of locals and expats. It all added up to a perfect experience.

The Twin Cities, Pt. 2: Day 3-4

Day 3

The started a bit aimlessly. I had already checked off most of my main items on my list of things to do in the first couple days. I had a dinner reservation at 8:15, but for a Sunday that left a lot of time. I decided to be a little adventurous and head over to the intricately linked lakes, canals and creeks that make up the famous Lake Minnetonka. The one surprising thing that Lake Minnetonka did not have is a lot of walkable coastline, but it is a great place to just drive around aimlessly.

The map of Lake Minnetonka, and the various towns and inlets that surround it, is a fascinating tapestry. The lake itself a giant rohrsach ink blot, allowing for truly miles and miles of jagged coastline surrounding the vast lake. Some of the views of the lake itself are stunning, and with this being a slightly windy day even giving us some nice waves. There are boats everywhere, with me coming early enough to seeing a lot of people just go on their boats for a nice day asea (alake?..).

Also what this entire area has is a lot of really nice homes. I plan to do a proper Zillow session of these areas to figure out what prices are like, but there are many large, modern, beautiful looking single-family (i.e. 3-5 bedrooms, not too big) homes with the lake in their backyards. There are a handful of small parks or lookouts scattered throughout the random walk of roads I drove on, but really it was more just an atmosphere of lake houses, architecture, greenery, with a giant lake peeking out on one side of the road always, that made it quite a good experience.

I had two real stops in my time in Lake Minnetonka, first being the town of Excelsior, which is an upmarket kind of New England Coast type town that comes right in the middle of the lake. Think posh local arts shops, probably overpriced restaurants, a few kitschy souvenir spots, but at the end of the day a nice view and large open marina. I did stop at one of the shops and bought what I saw to be the cheapest thing in there, a wooden block coaster with an etch of Lake Minnetonka on it.

The other stop was Back Channel Brewing, which I was a little worried would be more of a touristy spot than having actually great beer, but I was surprisingly wrong. It was definitely a bunch of lake people visiting but their tap list was lengthy, and the two beers I got, an IPA and a Irish Stout were both excellent. They had a visiting food truck where I went for my lunch. They had an open side of the space which had a direct view of Lake Minnetonka behind it, and an incdible breeze blowing in off of the lake as well.

From there I drove back to Minneapolis, heading to a potential souvenir spot in Homespun, which was far more affordable than the place out in Excelsior. It was small but had a few nice Minnesota-shaped or Minnesota-themed handicrafts. 

The last bits of tourism for the day were two museums, one truly local-focused - the Mill City Museum, and then the other being the Walker Art Institute (the indoor companion to the sculpture garden from my first day). The Mill City Museum was perfect in a way. Not too big, being one interactive exhibit and one large open area exhibit, but so pointed in its focus. Minneapolis apparently was the most productive flour milling city in the world at the turn of the 20th century through about 1940. This museum was a testament to that industry, and the company that grew out of it - the one we know today as General Mills.

The interactive piece was a audio-visual trip through the mill in a grain elevator, with little exhibits on each floor that you went to sitting in the massive elevator. The open area had small exhibits touching on the prodcution process, labor strife, advertising, the slow-burning war between the Washburn-Crosby Company (the predecessor to General Mills) and Pillsbury, their biggest competitor that General Mills then bought. It is such a unique aspect to this city that was jsut really well displayed. The only annoyance is the lack of pillsbury or just advertising based merch in the museum store. I'm guessing maybe they don't have the rights potentially. I mean they could be selling plush Pillsbury Doughboys hand over fist!

The Walker Art Museum was a quick traipse through one large modern art sculpture exhibit, three exhibits of their rotating collection, and a side exhibit featuring the art of some British guy. Again it is impressive if only you wouldn't expect this place in Minnesota to be so full of art. When I say "you shouldn't", I largely mean that as a put-down on myself. Maybe many would have known.

Following was my last "new" brewery as from here on out the 1-2 I go to will liekyl be repeats. This one was Falling Knife Brewing Company, which seems to be both the most successful (I've seen their beer at multiple bars in the city) and most industrial. Their taproom was a small area of a much larger facility. What they lack in decor (and I should note, it isn't bad or anything, just a bit simple) they more than make up for in the quality of their beer. Both their Hazy IPA and Stout were excellent. At some point I'll probably have to do a brewery rankings of Minneapolis. Again it is always hard to say these things when every year more and more open, but Minneapolis is probably right there with Denver as the best beer city I've been to.

I lied - I was summarily told to leave Falling Knife - granted this was because they were starting an event at 6pm that I didn't have a ticket for. So instead I headed on over to Dangerous Man Brewing, the last one on my list that I had resigned myself to not visiting. I'm glad I did. It wasn't the biggest space, but maybe had the best variety of beers. Their hazy IPA was fine, but their cream stout was incredible. The decor was nice, if more "traditional" than many of the other open layout places I went to otherwise.

Dinner was at Sooki & Mimi, one in a group of popular Minneapolis restaurants. This wasn';t some fancy tasting menu, just a traditional dinner in a trendy spot. Most dishes had a hint of asian flavors to hit, including my two: a korean chicken wing starter (great, dusted gochujang instead of what I was expecting which would've been messy) and a pepper-crusted butchers cut with a korean sauce. 

After dinner was a quick stop to Meteor which was far more relaxed than the prior two times, and then a hop over to Dusty's a classic dive bar in the Northeast Minneapolis district (where Meteor is as well). Dustys had an outdoor alley where most of people were, but I sat inside at the bar with about 10 other people (some left, some more came - I left around 1:15am and it was still about 10 people). They had a decent tap list but I followed a few patrons ideas and had a white russian to cap it off, all the while a latin jazz DJ was playing. It was a pretty unexpectedly chill late-night Sunday crowd.

Day 4

My last day would see me try to do things without feeling too depressed of this vacation ending. I had planned this trip for a while, but in my early iterations I was spending Sunday, Sunday Nigth and most of the day Monday in Duluth. I went away from that partially because Duluth didn't seem as interesting as I initially expected, and Minneapolis seemed to have a few too many things to do to give up that time. In the end, not sure I made the right decision but the last day did see me get closer to nature.

The first part was a walk around the Minnehaha Falls park, which was a nicely manicured little park above either side of the Minnehaha Falls that flow into the Minnehaha Creek which flows into the Mississippi River. The falls themselves weren;t at full power - a local said usually it is a bit drier in the summer months, but the area itself was nice with some statues, manicured gardens, etc. I then went for a drive down the Mississippi, stopping at a few lookouts. It is amazing how peaceful this giant river seems in this part of the country. 

Following a quick lunch at Sammy's Avenue Eatery - a notable sandwhich shop that sells basically a perfectly elevated, delicious version of a subway sandwhich but with just way better of everything - I checked off two remaining parks, the Nicollet Island and Boom Island park, connected to each other within minutes walking by a nice rickety wooden bridge. 

Both parks are on the river bank across from main Minneapolis, so you get nice view of the city on the other side of the Mississippi. The views on Boom Island were better because whether intentionally or by accident there were nice little outcrops without greenery and direct sightlines to the Minneapolis skyline. Nicollet island had some nice art and the famous Grain Belt Beer sign (their version of Baltimore's Domino Sugar, or the Coca-Cola sign in Brooklyn). Both islands were really pleasant to walk around. The greenery thrown aroudn the city around its river reminds me a lot of Calgary actually.

After a final stop at Inbound where I bought a shirt in lieu of beer to go (Minneapolis craft breweries almost exclusively sell oversized cans that they just call growlers that are quite unwieldly), I took in my last bit of tourism - checking out the Mall of America. Yes, it is a bit commercial (I mean it is a mall after all) but the sheer size of it, the giant amusement park in the middle, the large Lego exhibit, the mini golf course, the time it takes you to circumnavigate it. All of it was overwhelming and interesting. They had decent food options, with a "Food Street" row of restaurants and bars at the back on the 3rd Floor, and the "Culinary on North" upscale food court on the front side - upscale meaning thai food, birria tacos, shake shack and no pando express in sight.

It might be weird effectively ending my trip at the mall, but the Mall of America is the thing that Minneapolis is maybe most known for. Certainly it is one of the first things I learned about the city apart from the fact that there are people from Scandinavia. It was a reasonable way to end the trip, especially since it is a stone's throw from the airport.

This basically concluded my trip to Minneapolis, which as a city is about as nice, and I'll say this - maybe the most livable city I've visited. Granted, I only went in the summer and not the winter, but right now it was a perfect 80 degrees / 60 at night. There was never really much traffic, and this is after driving basically all over the city proper. The different neighborhoods are a good time. Even beyond the endless supply of breweries, they have a food culture that is beyond "burgeoning" at this point. I got to go to Travail, but there were a half dozen similarly well reputed fancy places, and many well reputed not as fancy (one of them beeing Sooki & Mimi). 

As a place to visit, it has some sites but while it wasn/t the outdoor paradise that my last three Summer Mountain/Midwest trips were (Salt Lake City, Calgary, Denver), it surprisingly could make up for it with better indoor sites than maybe those cities. From the Minneapolis Art Institute which was just endless and quality, to the Mill City Museum, to Paisley Park. Next time maybe I'll rent a small boat for Lake Minnetonka to complete the routine.