It was pretty rough crawling out of bed at 2:30 am when the alarm went off, but we did it!
We got ready and were on the road heading to the city by 3:30 am.
I'm glad Jason drove, I tried to be his co-pilot and watch for deer and moose but my eyes were rolling around in my head I'm telling you, it was hard to keep them open.
We stopped in Devon and got bagel BELT's and coffee's at Tim Horton's, just to give ourselves time to eat before we dropped off the car.
We used Park2Go as always, we really like them.
We made it to the airport even earlier than usual, security and customs were a breeze.
I pulled out my computer and worked on my blog and Jason had a little nap.
Our flight left at 9:17 am.
It was a smooth, uneventful flight which coincidentally is just the way I like my flights!
I listened to my latest audiobook, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue.
It's different but I'm liking it!
We landed in Minneapolis at 11:45, the flight was just under 2.5 hours which is awesome!
I had a rental car booked with Budget but when we went to get it, the agent said that they had no cars on site and it might be 2-3 hours before they could get one there.
She suggested we check with some of the other rental agencies to see if they could match the price we had.
Jason checked at Alamo and the quoted 450 which was 50 more than Budget's quote.
We were goung to go there but the the Budget Agent suggested we try with Ace - she said some other folks had good luck with them.
So we did and they quoted us 250 which was awesome.
Their cars were off site but they shuttle you right over there, they were quick and the shuttle driver was great, very friendly.
I was thinking that he reminded me of Jack Black, then Jason said the same thing.
It looked kind of grey out but it was nice, warmer than what it looked.
We headed straight over to one of our favorite restaurants in Minneapolis, Hell's Kitchen.
It's a funky spot we happened upon on our first trip here nack in 2015.
We were staying downtown and it was late at night ands we were walking around looking for a spot to eat.
Nothing was open until we found this spot so we went in.
Turned out that Jason had heard of the Chef that owned the place.
And we ended up loving it!
They have some funky art.
They had several pieces by this famous artist.
Creepy looking dog.
We had these Lemon Ricotta Pancakes the first time we came and fell in love.
They are AMAZING!!!
So light and fluffy and delicious.
We have them every time we come (this is our third time).
We tried this the last time we were here and loved it as well.
It's porridge with wild rice and nuts - so good.
we love it as well and will keep getting it every +time we come back.
I tried the birria tacos this time.
Jason
Me and my cast.
We got talking with our waiter and were telling him how much we love the restaurant and that we make sure we go there every time we are in the city and he really appreciated that, said it was nice to hear.
He gave us a coin to get our picture done in their photo booth.
You get two sets so we kept one and put the other up on the wall with all the others.
We went and found our hotel and checked in. We are staying at the Hyatt Centric downtown.
It was a little tricky finding a parking spot but we did it and the hassle was worth it because the room was awesome.
It was huge.
It was a corner room with lots of windows.
This was the entrance area.
The bathroom was also huge with a big soaker tub.
Then a shower as well and a little cubby area for the toilet.
There were several kinds of wallpaper around the room and I liked it.
This was looking out into the entrance area.
Moi.
The view from one of the windows in our room.
We went out for a walk and came across this sculpture.
It had all kinds of things going on all over it.
This little guy was at the bottom.
This was on the back side.
Then there were other sculptures around it, looking at it, like this Humpty Dumpty guy.
This little turtle guy was looking at the sculpture.
This guy was taking a picture of it.
This little guy was carrying a boulder over the hill.
These two only had eyes for each other.
This little froggy guy was looking at the statue too.
There was a snake on one of the hills.
These guys were carrying a little Humpty Dumpty looking guy.
We noticed this matching bird up on the building.
Another sculpture we happened upon.
There were already some flowers in bloom.
I love these old buildings.
This one looked like it had a rooftop garden.
There were a bunch of signs like this on the buildings.
These old buildings are all so great, they have so much character.
Made it to the river.
Mill Ruins Park.
Just before Jason headed off for a run and I went for a walk.
There were tons of people out walking and it just had such a great vibe/energy.
I loved it.
It was a really pretty evening.
The sky looked really nice.
There were trails on both sides of the river then several bridges - this was a pretty one.
The river looked nice and calm.
Another cool sign.
A closer shot of it.
Jason loved the trail too and went much further than I did.
Said he wanted to just keep going to see what else would be around the bend.
The city skyline.
It was dark when Jason made it back to the sign.
It looks even better all lit up.
We met back up and decided to get something to eat.
This place looked promising but the kitchen was closed.
So we went to the Red Cow instead.
My Honey.
We had these ahi tuna appetizers - they were delicious.
Jason had a Patty Melt.
I had the Cubano - also very good.
It was a great meal.
We walked back to our room then and called it a night.
Got all my steps in then some.
It was a good first day of vacation.
That's all for today, until next time, be happy.
