I was up at 5 am so I could have a shower and get ready then we were heading over to the airport by 6 am.
We dropped the car off at Park2Go - It's the parking service we always use when we travel.
We use the valet parking and they drive us right over to the airport - we rarely ever have to wait which is great.
Since we were so early, there were no line ups and we made it through security and customs in no time at all.
We had some breakfast at Chili's - then we just found a spot by our gate to wait for our flight.
We left at 9:40am and it's only about a 2.5 hour flight over to Minneapolis so with the time change, it was 1:55 when we landed.
Welcome to Minnesota!
It's a nice airport, easy to get around, lots of moving sidewalks.
We picked up our vehicle at Ace then headed into the city to get something to eat.
We parked in a random parking garage so I took a picture of the buildings outside of it so we would be able to find our way back.
Jason saw a nice old car that he liked.
I like the old buildings.
I like how they have added all these details to the buildings.
We made our way over to Hell's Kitchen which is a go to for us every time we come here.
We first found it when we were here back in 2014 to go to the Minnesota State Fair.
We stayed downtown and it was really late one night, we were hungry and walking around looking for a spot to eat but mostly everything we went by was closed then we just happened across Hell's Kitchen.
We loved it the food so now we always come back.
This is now our 4th time eating here.
It's down in the basement, this chandelier is hanging in the stairway and it has a bunch of knives dangling from it.
I never noticed it before.
Some of the artwork.
They have these creepy pictures in the bathroom.
We got the Mahnomin Wild Rice Porridge.
This seems like a strange thing to order but it is just fantastic.
I think I could eat a bucket of this stuff.
We also got the Lemon Ricotta Hotcakes.
I got these the first time, they are melt in our mouth delicious.
We get them every single time and they never disappoint.
We popped over to Target and Jason found some neat things.
He considered getting this for Freya.
They had just the regular version too.
Then there were lots of these cool collectibles.
It's easy to want to get all of them and I did think of buying a couple but in the end, didn't.
I really don't need them.
It was a gorgeous sunny day.
We didn't spend too much more time there, we had decided to book a room in another town, Eau Claire, which is about a 1.5 hour drive from Minneapolis.
They have a Farmer's Market there on Saturday mornings and I wanted to be there in the morning to check it out.
We made it to Wisconsin.
Alexa welcomed us.
We had a room booked at the Staybridge Inn & Suites - the grounds were really nice.
It looks like a really nice area.
We got checked into our room and it was great.
This lobster sculpture was outside of the hotel.
Kind of weird but whatever.
Then Jason ran down to the river walk area and I was going to meet him there so I went to the grocery store across the street to waste some time since it was going to take Jason about an hour.
He saw some interesting sights along the way - this was just around the corner from the hotel.
He saw some pretty flowers along the way.
There were lots of nice art pieces down by the river walk.
Eagle.
Weird stick head guy.
The river.
The sun was starting to set.
Pretty sky.
It was looking so nice.
The river walk was so nice.
Some murals.
Hula hooping.
Pondering.
True!
Giant swan on top of a building.
I took a long time getting down there to meet Jason so he walked around and took pictures of all the art installations.
The creeping plant all up the tree trunk looks so nice.
There must have been a run here today, Jason was seeing messages like this all over.
Another shot of the river.
The river had a bunch of bridges all along it.
Circle of Friends.
Great doorway.
Eau Claire.
Another one of the bridges.
So many great sculptures all over the place here.
Wild cat.
I love this dog, he's awesome.
The bridges were all lit up.
It was so pretty.
I met Jason down there right by the lit up bridge.
There were colored lights all over the place.
We walked across one of the bridges.
The bank along the other side was all lit up too - it looked so pretty.
There were neat art pieces over there too.
I had to take a picture of the same horse sculpture that Jason did.
It was such a lovely evening and it was so quiet down by the river, especially for a Friday night.
You could just here all the crickets or whatever chirping away.
We found an ice cream place.
I love how the wall looks like a waffle cone.
Locally made since 1944 - must be good stuff.
It was nice inside.
I love the ceiling.
They had lots of flavors to choose from.
Jason got Strawberry Rhubarb and Butter Brickle.
I got Chocolate Monster and Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest.
The chocolate monster had nuts and Heath pieces.
Then the Oktoberfest was pumpkin based - it had a slight taste of beer but I didn't mind.
We sat outside and ate our ice cream.
Then we walked around the downtown area.
It was all lit up and there were a bunch more sculptures.
The trees were all lit up.
It's a little dark for taking pictures but I tried my best.
Maybe we'll come back tomorrow and take better pictures in the day light.
The lights on this old building were just covered in spider webs.
These two dogs riding a bike were cute.
This bike was covered with kitty cats.
Just a really nice walkable area.
A close up of one of the cats on the bike.
Little angel.
Great advice.
There were all these messages on the sidewalks for the runners.
We went to this restaurant, District, to get some supper.
I got their loaded potato soup.
It was ok, it had beer cheese added and I think I would have preferred it without.
We shared a chicken blue cheese salad and a burger with sweet potato fries.
The sweet potato fries had a cinnamon sugar or something on them which was kind of weird.
The burger was ok, it had a lot of this cheesy sauce on it, maybe too much.
It was ok but messy.
I can't seem to eat very much before getting full, I just bumped up to .75mg on the Ozempic on Wednesday and I think I can definitely feel the difference.
The changing colors on the bridge.
First yellow.
Then green.
Now blue.
Now pink and blue.
This is such a great place - we were loving it.
It was a clear evening.
The moon was looking particularly beautiful but my picture just doesn't do it justice.
We just couldn't believe how quiet and nice it was.
This is a Friday night and we did see people here and there but nobody was rowdy and it just had such a nice vibe.
Another shot trying to capture the beauty of the moon.
I headed back to the hotel and Jason ran back up.
We chilled in the hotel room the rest of the night.
I did manage to reach my step goal today - yay me!
That's all for today, until next time, be happy!
