Flying out of a nearby regional airport would certainly be more convenient...but definitely more expensive as well. I am all about getting a good value when I travel, or as most people would say...I am cheap. That means we book our flights out of the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport (MSP) even though it is a 3 1/2 hour drive for us. It also allows us to book flights on Southwest Airlines...our carrier of choice!
Two of our sons live in the Twin Cities area so sometimes we are able to stay with them the night before a flight. I figure we provided housing for them for the first two decades of their lives...certainly they can put us up for one night ever so often.
Our oldest lives the closest to the airport so that is where we ended up. We arrived around 5:00 pm and he and his girlfriend had plans for us all to go out to dinner together. Our destination for the evening was Betty Danger's Country Club...a rather interesting and eclectic place.
The weather was extremely warm (think upper 60's) for Minnesota in March and we were seated in the open air garden room...very, very rare for this time of year but also very enjoyable!
The walls of the restaurant are covered with tacky wallpaper and go along with the theme of a "country club for the non-elite". The menus are inserted into old etiquette books and range from Mexican entrees to basic comfort food. Everything that we ordered was delicious! The crazy attire of the staff and kitschy decor all added to the fun.
The best part of the evening came once we finished our meal. The restaurant has a full-sized ferris wheel and tickets are free with any purchase. Although the night was still relatively warm, we were given blankets to cover our laps as we made several rotations...about a 15 minute ride. The moon was shining bright and off in the distance was the skyline of Minneapolis.
Although our son owns his own home, he lacks a formal guest room. He was gracious enough to let us have his bed for the night and being an adventurous type guy, he slept in a hammock in the back yard. (Mind you it did drop down into the 40's!) For him this was really no hardship. I have seen him pitch a tent in the middle of our frozen lake on a night with sub-zero temps!
Next...traveling to San Francisco!
So glad you are blogging another trip! From one of your fans who follow your advice!
ReplyDeleteYay...so glad to know someone is reading! This blog is my way of preserving my travel memories, but it is much easier to stay motivated when I get responses like yours!
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