Oh, hey dere! /Midwestern accent
Ryan and I just got back from an extended weekend in Rochester, Minn., where we visited some family for a little pre-Christmas celebration.
While Ryan is a born-and-raised Arizonan, his mom Mary is a born-and-raised Minnesotan. Mary has been living in Arizona for most of her adult life, but all six of her siblings remain in the Rochester area. Additionally, Ryan’s older brother Derek moved to Minnesota for college, and now lives in Rochester with his wife Amanda and their two kids Braxton and Adler.
Ryan’s dad, Brad, decided to surprise Mary by booking her a flight back home for her family Christmas party, and Ryan and I were both able to get the time off of work to join in.
We left last Thursday. We arrived in Minneapolis late Thursday afternoon, checked into our hotel (the Hyatt House downtown) and then walked to Forager Brewery for dinner and beer.
We walked back to our hotel and called it a night after that.
On Friday, we woke up and met up with Mary, Brad and Derek to walk around downtown. We had Caribou Coffee and took a tour of Rochester’s biggest attraction: Mayo Clinic.
The Plummer Building was absolutely gorgeous. I’m a sucker for the Art Deco architecture of the 1920s (I mean, I spent years working in Tribune Tower!) so I could not get enough of this building – both inside and out.
We saw a few other fun things, including the Kahler Grand Hotel.
After we left downtown, we headed to the Tap House for lunch (I had cheese curds and a salad) and then went to Derek’s house for a little bit before driving over to see Hilltop Camper & RV — which is a business started by Ryan’s mom’s family. It’s still family owned-and-operated, and it’s where Derek works.
Then, Ryan and I went back to Derek’s place to collect the presents we got for the kids. We stopped at Target for wrapping paper, then spent the rest of our night drinking hotel beer and wrapping gifts!
We woke up Saturday morning and met up with Ryan’s parents, Derek, Amanda, Braxton and Adler. We drove up to Minneapolis and spent our afternoon at the Mall of America.
The kids loved the rides and Ryan and I spent a lot of time browsing through bookstores.
Afterward, we hopped back in our cars and headed out to the suburbs for the holiday party!
The holiday party was a little chaotic, but I had a lot of fun! Ryan’s cousins Tommy and Lindsey hosted the party, and it was just about the most Minnesota gathering you can imagine.
There was a backyard ice rink and everything.
We didn’t get back to our hotel until about 11 p.m. Saturday night, and then we woke up early for…
Adler’s baptism!
Ryan and I got dressed and headed to his brother and Amanda’s church to sit through mass and watch Adler’s baptism.
After the baptism, we went back to Derek and Amanda’s house for a celebration.
Minus a quick trip back to our hotel for a nap, we spent the entire rest of Sunday at the house spending time with family.
Then on Monday, we checked out of our hotel. We met Ryan’s parents and Derek at Hollandberry Pannekoeken for breakfast.
Ryan and I each had a benedict and a muffin, and then we split two pannekoeken for the table: One apple (the restaurant’s most popular) and one cranberry rum (the flavor of the month).
After breakfast, Ryan’s parents left for the airport (they were leaving a day earlier than us), and Ryan and I hopped into Derek’s truck. Derek had the day off, so he took us around Rochester a bit more. He gave us a tour of Pill Hill and the Mayowood Historic Home as well as the Mayo Foundation House.
He showed us his and Amanda’s wedding venue (Ryan was there; I was not) and then we stopped at one of his favorite bars, the Douglas Saloon & Social Club, for a beer.
After that, it was time to head back to pick up Braxton and Adler from daycare.
We grabbed the kids and then went downtown to meet Amanda after work for dinner at ThaiPop.
I had the Khao Soi curry with tofu and Ryan had the Noodles N’ Brussels with shrimp. Both were SO good!
We headed back to the house afterward. Since we’d checked out of our hotel, we planned to stay our last night with family. Derek and Amanda got the kids ready for bed, Ryan and I watched some TV and then we played table tennis and had some beer with Derek and Amanda before we all went to bed.
And, that was it! Ryan and I were up at 5:30 the next morning to get ready for our flight out of Minneapolis.
And, that was it! We landed in Phoenix, stopped at Lenny’s for veggie burgers and drove up north to pick up Yukon.
This was the first time I’d ever been to Minnesota, and I really liked it! It reminded me so much of my home state of Michigan, and I’d love to go back some time to explore both the Twin Cities and the Boundary Waters — which I’ve heard is gorgeous!
Hopefully I’ll be able to head back!
