Celebrate: Good Times

Happy Birthday Brendo!

The boys love their trivia.

Jeri gets in on the action.

A few of the group that gathered to celebrate Brendoman

Friends

Mr. and Mrs. Hutch

21 gun salute - - Gramps you will be missed

Fort Snelling

Tribute bench in front of the chapel.

Memorial Chapel

Inside the chapel before Grandpas service

Family gathering at Great Aunt Teddys after the service at the cemetery

A little bit about my grandad

M.i.s.s.i.s.s.i.p.p.i

On our last day in MN the mom and I decided to take a tour boat on a 90 min. ride down the Mississippi River. The weather was pleasant but very windy. I wish the camera could have captured some of the surroundings better, it was just so beautiful.

There were plenty of different types of birds. Swallows, Eagles and this guy were all about.

A cool looking bridge

The Mom

Miss-sippi

Me

Twin City

On our ride I noticed a cave up in the side of the rock formations above the river. At first I thought the writing on the right said "why pay rent" I am not so sure what it says now. However I am sure that is a chick squatting in there (literally).

off to the races

During our travels we realized that there were horses about half a mile from us so we stopped over for a few races. It is the 25th anniversary of the park or something which means free admission all season!

Starting Gate

3rd race of the day, I put money on #7 to win, he started off strong and was in the lead the entire race. I told Paul who was on the phone with me there is no way he can win after starting off so fast.

 

Still in the lead with only a few meters to go...

He won! He won!

Mom and I only saw a couple of the races but we still had an enjoyable time.

playing with picasa

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While in MN my mom and I took a drive to go see some larger than life art at the sculpture park.

Ginormous

You are in Minnesota, where do you go first? If you are with my mom you end up at the Mall of America, a mere 6 miles from the hotel we stayed at. FYI, you can't bring your gun to the mall (Ryan).

The mall is a giant circle and in the center is a mini theme park.

Panoramic Overview

There are lots of rides and coasters all intertwined.

Legos: you can build 'em, buy 'em and race 'em.

Safe!

This family was walking down the path and as soon as I turned on the camera they decided to fan out behind my mom. The family would then not move, so we took a photo with them in the background.

Man V. Food

I have never eaten at White Castle before and so when we happened upon one by chance I knew we just had to make a quick stop to give it a try.

I also took my mom to a couple of the places as seen on the show Man V. Food. The 5-8 club was a speakeasy back in the day. A burger called the Juicy Lucy is apparently what everyone flocks there to have. The cheese was inside the burger patty. So melty and delicious. Mom and I split the burger and fries.

I totally forgot to get a photo of the food here. It was quite a different taste. We had the pulled chicken and beef with sides of black eyed peas with cornbread and sweet potatoes with spicy sausage on top. It was quite enjoyable, if you are ever in the neighborhood I would suggest you stop by.