The Mall of America

I know it’s been awhile since I wrote last.  Summer came to an end and it was time for fantasy football season.  I become a little obsessed during football season.  It’s not without reward however.  Over the past four years, I’ve played in two money leagues each year and finished in first place twice, second place four times and third place once.   That means I’ve finished in the top 3 seven times in eight opportunities.   I'm not bragging, just justifying my obsession...

Anyways, I started this blog with the intention of keeping up with it; at least on a weekly basis.  So please forgive my absence.  I did do some traveling during football season.  I made two trips up to Minnesota to visit family; one in September and one over the Christmas holiday.  For the purposes of this blog, I’ll focus on the Christmas trip since I pretty much stayed in the same place, did the same things and saw the same people on both trips.

I grew up in Minnesota.  I had a good childhood with good schools and year round sports.  Minnesota is a scenic state with good people.  I’ve travelled through over 30 of our 50 states and I can honestly say that Minneapolis is one of the cleaner cities I’ve visited. 

Minnesota's motto is the "land of 10,000 lakes" and believe me there are a bunch of them.  Some of the inner city lakes are extremely nice; Lake Nokomis, Lake Harriet and the largest of the three, Lake Calhoun.  What's really nice is each of these three lakes has a sidewalk that goes all around the entire lake and it’s nice to take an evening or weekend stroll around any one of them and watch all the people. 

These days, when I travel to Minneapolis, I try to stay near the Mall of America.  It's just convenient and it's a nice area.  The past few times, I’ve stayed at Country Inn and Suites, located directly across the street from the mall.  This is great if you only came to see the mall and didn’t rent a car.  You can literally walk across the street to get to the mall and adjacent to the hotel is a TGI Friday’s.  There are more and less expensive options, but they really don’t get any more convenient than this. 

I’ll let you in on a secret when it comes to renting a car in Minneapolis.  There are rental agencies located right at the airport (MSP), but unlike places such as Orlando or Los Angeles, your car selection is limited.  After years of frustration and one time getting stuck in a Subaru Outback of all things, I searched and found a local car dealer that rents to visitors in addition to their service customers. 

If you’re planning to visit Minneapolis, search for Walser Car Rental on the Internet and you’ll find a website that allows you to rent the exact car you want.  You no longer have to put up with the term “or similar” when renting a car.  You will pick the exact car you want to drive.  Walser has BMW, Mercedes, Buick, Cadillac and a number of more affordable options as well.  They are off the airport property, but they'll pick you up and drop you off.  I’ve used them twice now to rent a BMW 535xi and it’s really the way to go. 

When I'm in Minnesota, I always take a trip over to the Mall of America and this trip was no different.  It was two days before Christmas so the mall was especially crowded, but I got there right when they opened and it was great until the afternoon.  Other times of the year, it’s not bad at all, but at Christmas it can be amazingly busy, just like any mall near your home might be.

If you’ve never been to the Mall of America and you enjoy shopping, you’re missing out on one of those things you should do before you die.   Breezing through, it’s a full day experience.  For a heavy shopper, it could take two full days.  I’m not a heavy shopper, but there’s enough variety to keep my interest and there are things you just don’t find elsewhere. 

Being from Minnesota, I always stop into the Vikings Locker Room store and see what’s new.   In other parts of the mall, you’re likely to see Green Bay Packers items and foam cheese heads.   As a former season ticket holder, I always viewed the rivalry with the Packers a friendly one. 

If you have your kids with you, they’re going to want to go through Nickelodeon Universe, which is the indoor theme park complete with a roller coaster, a log flume and other rides and games.  As a good example of the kind of things you’ll find at the mall and likely nowhere else, I came across a Peep’s store while I was there.

Up on the fourth level, there’s a large movie theater complex.  Down on first level in what they call the rotunda, there’s almost always something going on.  There have been exhibitions, fashion shows, kids events, sports figures and celebrity appearances to name a few of the things you might find happening.

Probably my favorite aspect of the mall is the number of bars and restaurants located throughout.  In addition to numerous food courts, there’s Twin Cities Diner, Rain Forest Café, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Ruby Tuesday, Buffalo Wild Wings, Hooters, Famous Dave’s BBQ, Tony Roma’s and many, many others.  One of my personal favorites; Tucci Bennuch.  Tucci Bennuch is an Italian restaurant located on first floor and my favorite dish there is the baked spaghetti.

No matter how you spend your time, there’s a lot to see and do. 

I didn’t make it into downtown Minneapolis or St Paul on this trip, nor did I get a chance to visit any of the more scenic places such as lakes, Minnehaha Falls, Taylor’s Falls, the Redwing area or the north shore of Lake Superior. I’ve traveled throughout Minnesota and believe me, there are some nice areas where you can get away from people and enjoy the quiet of the outdoors.  Hopefully I’ll make it back there in the future and be able to share some of those things with you.  It's on my bucket list.

One more place that I’d like to tell you about is Joe Senser’s Sports Bar in Bloomington.   It’s a few miles down the freeway from the Mall of America and funny enough, it’s actually right next door to the Walser car dealer where I pick up my rental car.  If you are someone who enjoys a good sports bar, I’d recommend a stop at Senser’s.  I don’t come across too many sports bars that I think are done well, but this is one of them.  The interior is laid out nicely with two large bars, tables and very large projection screens which line the walls around the entire interior.  The food is good and the portions are large. 

I always enjoy visiting Minnesota, especially in the summer time.  The weather during this trip wasn’t bad at all for being the last part of December.  Daytime temps were abnormally high, between the upper 30’s to mid 40’s and there was no snow on the ground.  If you’re reading this and thinking you might want to visit at Christmas time, plan on snow, daytime highs in the teens and night time lows around zero.  It's cold.  Then again, you’re going to go from your heated hotel, to your heated car, then into the heated mall, so maybe it’s not such a big deal...

That being said.... for me, there's nothing like the beach...

Another weekend in St Pete...

I received a call from my daughter who said she and her friend were going to fly down from their home up north to visit me. As part of the trip, they said they wanted to spend some time on the beach, so I booked us a couple of nights in St Pete. I picked the Sirata Resort again this time. What can I say, I like the place…

Being unemployed, or temporarily “retired” for the past few months, I sometimes wonder if I should be at home watching television instead of traveling, but the world could end tomorrow and look at all the life and laughs I would have missed out on had I been sitting there on the sofa all that time. 2012 is just next year you know… What if the world really does end? I can’t sit still that long anyways, I get antsy. I have to be out and about. I have to be around people. The way I view it; I prefer to live for today and have faith in tomorrow.

The four of us rolled into town on Friday morning.  It was my daughter Wendy, her friend Jen and a buddy of mine Bill and myself. We did the usual stop at the grocery store for drinks and snacks, then it was on to the hotel for check in. Sometimes rooms are available earlier in the day and this was one of those times, so we were able to get settled early on. Afterwards, we wandered over to Crabby Bill’s for an early lunch. Crabby‘s is only a few doors down from the Sirata.

The opportunity to have a nice view of the beach overtook any sense of wisdom we each had and it led us to sit outside in the heat and sun. After telling each other “it’s hot out here” a number of times over and over, we finally got over it and shut up. There were umbrellas to help block out some of the sun shining on us, but it’s was still warm. We had a nice lunch and I enjoyed my blackened Mahi sandwich while gazing over at the beach.

After lunch, we went back to the hotel and stopped at Harry’s Beach bar to get a drink. The bartender named Paris was there once again and she was her usual efficient and funny self.  Bill enjoyed giving her a hard time.

That evening, we made the short jaunt up the road to Sea Hags. I think I’ve mentioned this place in previous posts. They have great food and that’s the main reason I like going there. They are also right on the water overlooking a small marina and if you get the right table, you have a nice little view of the boats, the water and the setting sun while you enjoy dinner.

That evening, we went for a walk up the beach to Jimmy B’s beach bar, which was not too far. It’s a popular place. They had a live band playing and the four of us hung out, chatted and enjoyed the music. I have yet to stop there during the day to see what it‘s like, but at night it’s usually a hopping place.

It was funny that no matter where we went over the weekend, people couldn’t help but look at us. The four of us were just looking to have a nice relaxing weekend at the beach with some sun, some drinks and some laughs, but by the look on some of their faces, I don’t think that’s what our voyeurs had going on inside their minds. What they saw was these two older guys dressed like beach bums walking around with these two good looking girls who were half our age and dressed like they were ready to go out. It got old after awhile, but it would have been interesting to hear some of the conversations.

After walking into a few places and seeing  reactions by some individuals, we decided to have some fun with it. As we interacted with people, we told stories of meeting the girls at 7-11, or on Internet dating sites or even Craig‘s list. The girls joined right in to help elaborate on our stories. After we got the reaction we were looking for, we would give in and tell the truth. It was good for some laughs, but as soon as the younger guys heard I was her dad and there was nothing funny going on here, they were like flies on a cow pie.  We left at least one time because the flies were getting bad.  There‘s a lesson here; “don’t judge a book by it’s cover“.

The next morning it was out to the beach for some sun. We signed up for a couple of beach cabanas and enjoyed laying around in the sun. The Gulf water is warm this time of year, so it’s very easy to walk out into it and stand shoulder deep and just gaze back toward the beach and people watch. It’s like bath water.

After a few hours in the water and the sun, it was back down the beach to Crabby Bill’s for lunch. Three of us had burgers. I’ve since come to the conclusion that Crabby Bill’s specialty is not burgers, so in the future, I’ll be going back to the Mahi sandwich and fries. Not knocking, just saying…

Jen was the only one who didn’t order a burger. She went with the crawfish. It was a plateful of orange, creepy looking little things with legs and they had these dark, beady little eyes that seemed to be staring up at us. My daughter was a little grossed out and I tried not to watch, but Jen relentlessly tore the little guys apart and ate their insides. I guess some people like that sort of thing and she said it was good. We were completely happy to take her word for it.

All in all, we all had a nice weekend together and as always, it was way too short for our liking. Unfortunately it was time to check out and make the journey back home and the next morning the girls boarded their flight and made their way back north. It’s sad that life goes by so quick and that our time with some of the people in our lives is so fleeting. It’s so easy to take both time and the people around us for granted. Unfortunately, as much as we wish, we can never get those moments back…

The quiet island of St Maarten/St Martin…

I have to say, one of my favorite islands in the Caribbean is the island of St Maarten/St Martin. Most people know it as the island that is half Dutch and half French. The two countries seem to coexist better than most neighbors.  There is no border crossing, just a simple sign on the side of the road.  After arriving in the morning, I'm always antsy to get on land and start enjoying our visit.

I have visited this island three times now, each as part of a cruise experience. Once via Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas with my brother and his wife, once via the Caribbean Princess with our friends Kim and John and once via the Carnival Glory with our friends Chad, Cindy, Jimmie, Angela, Mark, Susan, Shannon and Jason.  The water here is amazing... 

Your ship docks adjacent to downtown Philipsburg. There is taxi service at the dock and plenty of drivers willing to take you anywhere you’d like to go.

One of my favorite places in St Maarten is the Holland House Hotel, or specifically the bar at the Holland House hotel. It’s an open air bar with beautiful flowers growing on the trees in the back. Each time we have visited the island, we make it a point to stop there for a Miami Vice. It is one of the best I’ve had.

On the one side of the hotel is the beach.  It's nice to stroll along the boardwalk and stop into the little bars and shops that dot the shortline.  From this point you can see your ship docked across Great Bay.

On the inland side of the hotel, you can walk directly onto the streets where all the shops are. If you’re expecting Rodeo Drive you’re going to be disappointed, but if you enjoy exploring local island culture and enjoy the atmosphere that these places bring, you’ll enjoy this place.

There are a couple of places in St Martin (the French side of the island) that I really enjoy. World famous Orient beach is one of them. The water is great and there are little beach bars dotted along the shoreline.

The beach is famous for it’s nude portion. Walk out onto the beach and turn right and you’ll run into it eventually. No need to be self conscious here, there are all shapes and sizes and everyone is just acting themselves, sleeping or relaxing in the sun and playing in the water. On one visit, we walked all the way down to the far end of the beach to a brick building where there was a little bar. We stood there having a drink at the bar alongside our naked counterparts as if it was completely normal.

Another part of St Martin I enjoy is Marigot. It’s a nice little town along the waterside with a number of shops and restaurants. It’s a very nice area and if nothing else, a nice place to just wander and window shop. Beyond Marigot, there is the Turtle farm and the Rum Cake factory, typical tourist stops if you’re so inclined. There are even little cigar stands where you can pick up a Cuban cigar if you like. I tried one and couldn’t tell the difference between that and any other cigar so I guess I’ll stick with my old standard; La Gloria Cubana Cedros from the Dominican Republic…

On one of our trips to St Martin there were ten of us traveling as a group and we chose to do an island tour together. We all piled into this large window van and set off to do a run around the island before being dropped at Orient Beach. The most memorable part of that tour for me was when the van got a flat tire and we had to stop until the driver’s son could make it there to help fix it.

Lucky for us, the tire went flat right in front of Maho Beach, which is also adjacent to the airport runway. If you look it up on YouTube you can watch the planes landing and taking off from the Princess Juliana International Airport. Pretty amazing…

We not only got to walk on the beach and watch the planes come in for landings right above our heads, but we also got to have a drink at the Sunset Beach bar which was right on the water. One of the best things about the Sunset Beach bar is that they have an ongoing special: