Minneapolis!

(Above) My friend, Heather, and I at The Local, a most excellent Irish bar in downtown Minneapolis.

Minneapolis! Home of Prince. Tied with Seattle as the most literate city in the U.S. Home of the former American Wrestling Associaton (Verne Gagne, the High Flyers, The Crusher, Mad Dog Vachon, Nick Bockwinkel, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Jesse Ventura, Ray "The Crippler" Stevens, Baron Von Raschke - which I used to watch every week), the "Twin Cities" (along with St. Paul), Mall of America, Land of 10,000 Lakes (Wisconsin, by the way, has over 14,000), Charles M. Schulz, The Andrews Sisters, Bob Dylan, Tiny Tim; politicians Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, Eugene McCarthy; actors Eddie Albert, Richard Dean Anderson, Josh Hartnett and Jessica Lange, producers Michael Todd and the Coen Brothers, and burlesque dancer Lili St. Cyr; George Dayton's business grew into Target Corporation, John S. Pillsbury co-founded Pillsbury Company, Richard Sears co-founded Sears, Rose Totino created Totino's frozen pizza, candy makers Franklin and Forrest Mars founded Mars, Incorporated.

Am I rambling? Sorry. Oh...and part-time home of my friend from Cedar Rapids, Heather. Almost forgot. I wanted to experience a Minnesota Vikings' game IN Minnesota and WITH Vikings' fans. Heather was staying in town for a bit so I made the 6-hour trek from Milwaukee and cheered Brett Favre and the Vikes on to a 27-10 victory over the Detroit Lions. And, of course, Heather gave me a tour of the city. Click on READ MORE! for my shots of the weekend.

Mary Tyler Moore from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" . I shoulda thrown my hat in the air but Heather said no.

The Foshay Tower, now the W Minneapolis - The Foshay hotel, was modeled after the Washington Monument and was originally built in 1929. $10 for a gin and tonic. Pricey for a drink I never really appreciated. But the hotel was very nice - so Heather and I sat in front of the fireplace and sucked down on G&T's and admired our surroundings.

Hell's Kitchen in d.t. Minneapolis. "Damn good food!" (their tagline). Great ambiance. Helluva marketing scheme. Wonderful art and excellent food. I had the Ham and Pear Crisp (featured in Jane and Michael Stern’s Road Food Sandwiches cookbook as one of the best sandwiches in America). Shaved, slow-roasted smoked pit ham, poached pears, melted Swiss and Fontina cheese on spicy-sweet buttered grilled sourdough bread. $11.75. I woulda paid double. Check out their website.

All sorts of interesting artwork adorn the interior of Hell's Kitchen. I emailed the restaurant in the hopes they could tell me the name of the artist but I haven't heard back.

"When pigs fly" metal artwork.

Interior of The Local where Heather and I cheered the Vikings to a victory over Detroit. Awesome bar. All the interior wood work was made in Ireland. Dave, the manager, bought me a pint. Unheard of in Irish circles. SLAN!

A kissing booth/lounge area at The Local.

To my surprise, The Local had a picture of The Local Bar in Ardfinnan, Co. Tipperay, where I stayed for 7 days while in Ireland this past September. Many a Guinness I tipped back there. SLAN! to Thomas, Gavin and Amanda at The Local Bar! And SLAN! to Minneapolis!