Re-rax, Raggy!

It was so nice to get away this past weekend!  We really needed some R&R and exploration time.

We were on the road Saturday morning by 10:30 heading north.  We were keeping a close eye on the Facebook page for the Hudson Hot Air Affair to see if they would be launching the balloons at 3 p.m. as scheduled.

In the meantime, though, we thought we’d cross another state park off our bucket list, so we found Ft. Snelling state park right underneath the Mendota Bridge!  I’ve been over that bridge hundreds of times in my life and never knew there was a state park down there.

We poked around the visitor center for awhile reading about the Dakota (Sioux) Indians that were held there after the 1862 U.S.-Dakota conflict.  We learned some interesting, if disturbing, tidbits of Minnesota history.  

We wanted to walk on the trails for a bit since the sun was out and it wasn’t horrible cold, but they were all closed due to compacted snow on top of ice making dangerous walking conditions.  

Instead, we wound our way around and over to Minnehaha Falls.  Apparently we weren’t the only ones who thought this would be a grand way to spend a Saturday afternoon as parking was at a premium and there were people everywhere!  I had to kick myself for forgetting to bring my camera, but I got some decent shots with my phone.  

From Minnehaha Falls, we headed east toward Stillwater and our hotel.  It was too

early to check in yet, so we meandered down into Stillwater and had lunch at a little cafe on the southern edge of town called The Oasis.  The billboard outside announced they had “the best burgers in Stillwater,” and I have to say I’d agree with that!  

While we were there, we checked the Facebook page for the latest scoop on the balloon launch and were disappointed, but not surprised, that they were not launching due to high surface wind speeds.  

With full and happy tummies, we continued on into Stillwater to pick up some flavored olive oil for a friend at the Stillwater Oil & Vinegar store.  By that time, it was time to check into the hotel.  

We got checked in and headed to room and realized that a traveling girls’ hockey team was also staying there, so it was a bit noisy, but kids will be kids.  We opted to stay in the room and fat-ass it watching HGTV.  I know, nerds through and through, aren’t we?

We got ready and went to meet Big Brother and his wife at Nacho Mamas in Stillwater.  We’d eaten there a few years ago and had great food.  I guess word got around because the wait for a table was over an hour.  We opted to go to a bar/grill across the street called Rafters--due to being on the second floor of an old brick building.  

We found a table in a back room where nobody else was seated and proceeded to visit over dinner and drinks for over three hours!  When the waiter came to tell us they were closing that section of the restaurant, we simply moved to a different table out in the bar area and visited for another hour and a half.  I think we solved most of the world’s problems that night!

By the time we got back to the hotel, I was more than ready for my jammies and my bed.  I don’t sleep well in hotels because Captain likes to go to sleep with the TV on, which not only makes it hard for me to go to sleep, it wakes me up later in the night.  In fact, I got up twice to turn the stupid TV off as Captain snored away in bed.  Still, I did manage to get some sleep.

When I rolled out of bed Sunday morning, I looked at Captain and told him I must have slept funny because I had a monster headache.  He informed me I was hungover.  Bite your tongue, buddy!  I haven’t had a hangover in more than ten years, how dare you say such a thing.  Turns out he was right, but Advil, coffee, and a blistering hot shower did the trick.

We got packed up and checked out and then headed into Stillwater again just to drive through the town and by the river.  We always like to take little detours off the beaten path like that.  There were so many beautiful old homes on the side streets of Stillwater.  Some had big wraparound porches, some had towers, and one had a widow’s walk.  Cool!

From there we headed south toward Hastings and made a stop at Afton state park, so we got two checked off the list this trip.  We did some more “hiking” on the trails which was really more slipping and sliding, but it was so darn nice to be outside in the fresh air and sunshine.  I’d been starting to feel like a mole person after the gloomy weather in January.  

We stopped for lunch in Hasting and then kept heading east to Ellsworth for cheese curds before heading home.  We stopped in at Young Man and Mama Bears to share a bag of cheese curds and get our Cubby fix for the week.  

All in all we weren’t gone 36 hours, but we packed a lot of fun into that time.  We’ve never been ones for one- or two-week vacations; we’d get bored.  But short bursts of R&R close to home does the trick for us!

Images used:
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