Joe's Visit

My brother Joe finally had a break in between his schooling to redeem his Christmas/Birthday present from me – all expense paid trip to visit Alex and I in Minnesota. We were both very excited to have Joe come for a long weekend – my birthday weekend nonetheless. 

I had planned a lot for us to do for the 4 days he'd be in town. We picked Joe up from the airport Wednesday night and headed over to Stella's rooftop bar for a quick drink. I got to see Joe drink legally for the first time. Here is the first sip.

We were treated to Mother Nature's fireworks show. Yes, we are still outside. As we were finishing up and paying the bill, the manager was removing all of the umbrellas in case the storm came too close.

Stella's is a great seafood restaurant in Uptown. What I love about it the most is the rooftop and being able to see the city's skyline. Unfortunately, you can't see it in this picture. 

On Thursday we headed over to General Mills for a tour and lunch. Joe got to art direct some packaging – coming to a store near you. We also visited with the Pillsbury Doughboy. 

Next stop the Walker Art Sculpture Garden. Yes it is the Cherry in Spoon . . . again. This time we had fun with it. Joe wanted some dessert after lunch.

I'm not exactly sure what this sculpture is but there is a lot going on in this picture.

The next day, Friday, we headed out onto Lake Minnetonka. Alex had found a great deal on rental pontoon boats. The morning was a bit overcast, but we still managed to get a lot of sun. The trip made Alex and I want to get a boat. It was so relaxing out on the water and hardly anyone was out so it seemed like the lake was ours. Alex felt that standing up would help him drive the boat.

That night, after our boating trip, we headed over to St. Paul to watch a St. Paul Saints baseball game. It was a lot of fun. On the way in to the stadium this bumper stick caught my eye. Enough said . . . *sigh*

The game was fun. There were a lot of crazy things going on. Ushers were dressed up as nerds, lumberjacks, military, etc. There was a guy hanging on the outfield billboard trying to catch a ball. People were in a hot tub. I was a little overwhelmed with all of the activity and was ready to go by the end of the game. The Saints won 4-0.

Saturday night we headed out to Seven Steakhouse for my birthday. We had our first celebrity sighting – Tubby Smith, Minnesota Gopher basketball coach and the former coach of University of Kentucky. I was the one who spotted him. I do know my sports. 

I was happy to have Joe in town to celebrate the big 29 with me. The weekend was a lot of fun. My hope is the next time my family is in town we can go up North and see some scenery.