Minnesota Harvest Apple Orchard

 8251 Old Highway 169 Blvd. Jordan, MN 55352

(952)-492-7753

Although not my first choice for a date, Melanie runs a close second - the first is yet to be determined.  We set out for MN Harvest Apple Orchard near Jordan, MN along old HWY 169 to spend a glorious afternoon among horses, apple dumplings and even (at the risk of sounding naughty for mentioning it) men in cowboy hats and Levi's.  Ain't nuthin' wrong with that.

We've visited a couple different apple orchards, but MN Harvest is by far my favorite.  It's set in the MN River Valley and is home to dozens of horses, trails, vintage barns, a petting zoo, and 53 varieties of apples that you can pick yourself, or buy pre-picked.

We didn't try out the Corn Maze or Trail Ride, but I know some folks who are very interested in doing just that, so I may be forced to go back out to MN Harvest and have some more fun.

MN Harvest is a great place for a family to spend a day if you're on a modest budget.  There is no charge to visit the animals (except for the petting zoo) and some of them will even smile at the camera for you.  Sweet.

Now, this is the life.

I took Monday off to recuperate from an incredible weekend with my friend, Cindy, and instead wore myself out celebrating Angie's birthday.  The first time I spotted Angie, she was twelve years old and shooting baskets on her driveway.  She had on an old baseball cap with a gorgeous pony tail poking out the back.  I could tell by looking at her that she was trouble.  We eyed each other from across the street where I had just moved and I wasn't quite sure what to make of her.  Little did I know she would become so important to my family. 

Angie is a source of inspiration for me, and on a quest to be healthy and happy.  I'm going to hop on that wagon.  So, we decided to celebrate her birthday at Good Earth Organic restaurant, located in the Galleria in Edina.  We were also celebrating the change of seasons and asked to be seated outdoors.  It was spectacular.

The menu at Good Earth changes regularly and the flavor combinations are surprising.  We shared a pizza that gets topped with peanut sauce!  It was plumb-full of vegetables and healthy bites, and a lunch we could eat guilt-free.  The portions are generous at Good Earth and the prices are perfect for my modest pocketbook.  Angie and I spent the entire day together exploring the Twin Cities, doing good deeds, and appreciating our natural resources. 

I think we know we've made it, not by the size of our paychecks, but by the size of our happiness.  Once you've mastered that, God can relax.

Java Jack's Coffee Cafe

818 W 46th St
Minneapolis, MN 55419-4841
Phone: (612) 825-2183

My best friend from high school, Cindy, made my birthday wish of  chocolate chips cookies, coffee with cream and smart talk on a porch come true and it was wonderful!  I use the term "smart talk," but it's really me just saying things that are kind of, well, dumb. I don't know why I like doing that so much.  It makes the people around me feel good about themselves because they sound a lot smarter than me.  And that's ok.  Maybe they are!

I first got to know Java Jack's about ten years ago when I moved to the big city.  My friend, Penny, lived just a few blocks away.  Back then, the building was a little more rustic and they had this fabulous deck out back with the ultimate shade tree growing in the middle of it, sporting sparkly little lights.

Java Jack's is a great place to watch dogs and kids.  The neighborhood is old and established and there are a charming old hardware store and grocery store kitty-corner from them.  It's a place where being unusual and creative is encouraged.

Thank you for making a wish come true, Cindy.  Happy birthday to me!

Baby Karenna at Minnehaha Falls

Yesterday was the first day of autumn, and my friend, Angie, and I celebrated by visiting Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Believe it, or not, this was the first time I had been there.

Angie and I are waterfalls-proud, being from Redwood Falls in southwestern Minnesota where we grew up with our own waterfall.  And after a few obligatory remarks about the superiority of Ramsey Falls, we had to admit that Minnehaha Falls and the surrounding area was spectacular.

I can't think of anything that makes me feel better about being somewhere than knowing I can get a cup of coffee or a meal there.  Minnehaha Park offers dining at the Sea Salt Restaurant where you can sit outdoors and watch the seasons changing just a short distance from the falls.

Minnehaha Park also has remarkable architecture, vistas, and paths.  Angie and I were overwhelmed by how truly vast and beautiful the park is.  Why didn't I know about this sooner?  The park includes preserved historic homes which tell the story of the beginning of Minneapolis.  But I'm saving that for a later date.

My brother, Danny, brought my mom and dad from their farm in southwestern Minnesota to the Twin Cities last weekend to visit with us city-kids.  My brother, Pete, came down from Brainerd and my brothers, Steve, Bob and Jeff met up at Steve's house.  I also got to see a sister-in-law and a nephew who didn't stop talking the whole time we were together.  Turns out, I'm his favorite aunt and he wanted to sit next to me in the car and the restaurant!  I gave him a dollar, but he still kept talking.

The first thing on the itinerary was a stop at an airplane hangar where Steve has been working on a prototype for a gyro copter.  This has been going on for some years, but the boys had to see a fancy-shmancy new compressor that'll add some extra poop for take-off.

They stood around quite a while discussing its qualities until mom finally asked "is anyone hungry?"  Well, of course we were.  So, we piled into three cars and made our way to Buca's in Maple Grove.  I was afraid the atmosphere wouldn't be as stimulating as the Minneapolis Buca's, because it was in a new building, but it was as wonderfully gaudy as I had hoped.

We had a great time and my old dad thoroughly enjoyed himself.  It was wonderful having huge platters of food delivered to our table for family-style dining.  It goes without saying that my mom was thrilled to be out of the kitchen.  When you're having dinner with five brothers, four of whom are engineers and the fifth a technician, you do a lot of listening.  For the record, two of the brothers are older than me, two are younger, and one is the same age - give or take a few minutes.  There are also a couple older brothers who couldn't make it. Oh, jeesh.  Let's not forget my crazy sister Annie who actually visited a couple of weeks ago.

I didn't contribute much to the conversation, but every once in a while, I grasped what the boys were talking about and I could ask them to clarify some technical point.  That was about it.  Mom and I mostly just smiled across the table at one another and ate a lot.  My brother, Pete (who my old dad happens to think is practically a genious), appeared to be diagramming some vital point for the others, but upon close inspection, I realized he was coloring the cartoon images on a place mat left there for my nephew.  He's good at coloring inside the lines,  It turns out I am not.  But at least I'm smart enough to know it.

I recommend Buca's for an completely different kind of dining experience.  The trick is to be good at sharing, which we learned how to do a long time ago.

When we were in Northfield, Minnesota I was hot and tired and just wanted to find a place to sit down. But Melanie is like the Eveready Bunny.  Seriously, when it comes to shopping she just keeps going and going - in spite of my crabbing.  But in this case, I'm glad she insisted on looking at "just one more store," because it was fascinating.

We discovered Glass Garden Beads where the proprietor has a patent pending for the transformation of bottle caps into colorful, and sometimes vintage, jewelry.  How cool is that?  I wasn't able to photograph the equipment used for this process, but you can clearly see the results. 

Melanie rifled through the selection of beads and picked brands that would mean something to the people receiving her gifts.  She ordered a Schell's Beer necklace for Marcie, a native Minnesotan who is living in Washington D.C., and Diet Coke for Rita down in Florida because it's her favorite cold drink.  

And nothing for me?  No worries.  I get to tag along with her to meet colorful people with compelling ideas! It doesn't get much better than that.

The Tavern of Northfield Restaurant

(507) 663-0342

I think, in a previous life, I was bad girl (not a famous one, or anything) who hung out with bootleggers and rum-runners during prohibition.  I am fascinated by the 1920's.  I still have a tendency to be a little on the naughty side, which may be the result of cellular memory,  but more likely it is the result of having grown up in a strict family regime and attendance at an uncompromising Catholic grade school.  A girl needs to have a little fun, so it makes perfect sense to me that I would be drawn to former speakeasies, and Northfield in southeastern Minnesota has a wonderful example called The Tavern of Northfield hiding under the fabulous Archer House.

This former speakeasy is located in the old cistern.  Clever, huh?  It is now an intimate little restaurant with heavy, dark furniture and thick stone walls, and beneath it all, a tangible sense of history.

Remember, it was our own Andrew Volstead from Granite Falls, Minnesota (which, ironically, also has a former speakeasy called Bootleggers on the edge of town) who introduced the 18th amendment  leading to prohibition.  He meant well.  My own opinion is that the more laws you make, the more laws there are to break and enforce.  It gets complicated.  And let's face it, you just can't legislate morality.

Melanie and I slunk in through the back door of The Tavern and looked around for a discreet place to sit where we wouldn't be spotted.  Nah.  I'm just kidding.  Discretion isn't our strong-suit.  But eating is.  We chose a table in the shady courtyard out back and ordered up a couple cold, foamy . . . floats, made with Schwan's Ice Cream.  I used to make corndogs at the Schwan's plant in Marshall, Minnesota.  If you want to know how it's done, I've got the scoop.  Oh man, do I wish I would have made ice cream instead!  That would have been one jukin' pun! (Insert a high-five here.)

I'd love to take a tour of every speakeasy in the state.  I wonder if there is such an itinerary?  I bet our Minnesota Office of Tourism could advise me.  In the meantime, I'll try to behave, and maybe Melanie will let me continue riding along with her on adventures. 

Wonderful, wonderful September.  When I went to bed last night, I finally got to leave my window open. I didn't have to listen to the drone of my air-conditioner.  I'm not dogging air conditioners - I love my air conditioner.  It's just that I don't connect with the out of doors when my apartment is shut up tight against the night heat.  But now that autumn is almost here, and the goldenrods (my favorite wildflower) are blooming, I feel like everything is going to be ok.

What thrilled me most last night, other than being able to pull the covers up to my chin and really snuggle in, was the sound of a cheering crowd at a high school football game across the railroad tracks from my place.  I don't hear the sounds of traffic often, because my apartment faces a sculpture garden, but now that my windows are open, I can hear snippets of conversation from people leaving the restaurant down the block and I don't feel so isolated.

A kindred spirit recently mentioned the magic of a cool late-summer evening.  I suppose when one is in love there is a special kind of magic there.  For others of us at the mercy of something so captivating,  there can be a sort of ache, a tug at the soul, and the promise of someday having that kind of magic.

Funny story.  Earlier this week, while I was getting ready for work, I was shocked to find I couldn't fit into this pair of elastic-waist pants I had just worn the week before.  Well, for Pete's sake, I thought.  What is going on?  I really make an effort to eat right, and I swim regularly.  My backside has always been too much on the round side for my taste, but this is ridiculous.  And just as panic was really starting to set in, I realized I had them on backwards.  Thank gawd!  Who does things like that??  Hmmm.  I guess that explains a lot.

See more vintage postcards.