Twin Cities Real Estate Blog

The Great Minnesota Get-Together: Round 4

MN State Fair - Gopher

This fair rendezvous took place with my mom, sister, and wife. This experience was not all about eating -- each time I go to the fair with my mom, we go into all the buildings, shops, and check out everything that's going on. And, we have to go early. So our day started by getting up in the morning for our fair experience and ended just when it started to really get hot. Upon our arrival, most of us started off the day by getting some of our favorite go-to foods -- footlong hot dogs and corn dogs.

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The State Fair Attendance Reaches the Norm After Heat Keeps Patrons at Home

MN State Fair - Fresh French Fries

The Minnesota State Fair is one of the largest events the state hosts each and every year. This year started off the same with healthy attendance numbers, but the fair experienced a big dip as the temperature and humidity reached unseasonable territory. The worst attendance days were early in the week, but yesterday was a huge turnout for the event, with 117,480 attending compared to the just over 101,000 last year. This day alone helped the numbers in...

The Great Minnesota Get-Together: Round 3

MN State Fair - Humid

This planned trip to the fair was a date with three of my closest friends, Dan, Ryan, and Derek -- of course, we planned this Wednesday day trip before we knew it was going to be one of the hottest days of August made worse by the immense humidity. I'm guessing because of the weather, the big crowds usually present midday were not in attendance. This was probably the lowest midday fair turnout I've seen in years. Humidity can destroy the will of a person in this state. Well, at least we could sweat the pounds off we were adding on by eating. As most of you know, my...

A Patio Worth Visiting -- 'Salut' Restaurant Review

Salut_St. Paul
Looking for a restaurant with a great patio for a sunny afternoon happy hour? Then Salut in St. Paul is an excellent choice.  The ambiance is what makes it for me. Their patio is spacious and charming, with ample seating and umbrellas if you don't want the full sun. I met a few girlfriends here on a week night for some after work happy hour goodness.
I love the restaurant, but honestly their happy hour menu isn't that exciting. They have only one fun mixed drink highlighted as a happy hour special for $5, the "Business Time" which was a glorified vodka lemonade,...

Women Shine at Women Rock Marathon Event

Women Rock - St. Paul

His lungs burn. His heart pounds in his chest as beads of sweat course down his face as the unrelenting August sun beats down the race course. But in this race, "he" is not a runner, but a cheerleader. The real racers, although with different backgrounds, share a common bond -- all race participants are women. We're now under one week until the 2013 Women Rock Race on August 31st, sponsored by the Team Ortho Foundation. The Women Rock race series comprises of a 5k, 10k and a half marathon on the last day of August. St Paul plays host to this series for all female...

Gem Lakes of the Lake Superior Trail

Lake Agnes - Camping

As nightfall came to our secluded camp nestled on the shores of Lake Agnes, a bone-chilling howl carried across the calm water. “Wolf?” a member of our camping party considered. Without confirmation of the animal and regardless of the fact it could be a coyote or a wolf, I knew we’d come to the right camp spot along the Lake Superior Trail. This was Mother Nature at her finest. With the peak of the tourist season coming to an end, now is the perfect time to explore Minnesota’s diverse and expansive trails, rivers, lakes and parks. Among the grandest of them all...

The Great Minnesota Get-Together: Round 2

MN State Fair - Main Gate

This second fair day was a late night, brief visit. Cadi and I made it to the fair consecutive days, Friday and Saturday, but this second visit we got to meet up with my sister and brother-in-law to eat dinner and have some drinks. It's always fun to go to the fair later in the day as the crowds are smaller, and the sun and humidity are less brutal. Of course, some people don't want to shell out the $12 to only stay at the fair for a few hours, but for some like me, the brief visits are sometimes the best -- you are significantly less worn out, and you still leave full of fair...

'Woodbury Days' -- It's No State Fair, But It Has Plenty of Heart

Woodbury Days - 2013
The Minnesota State Fair is not the only fair in town come August. This past weekend, Ojibway Park in Woodbury, MN played host to Woodbury Days. This event has been running for 35 years, so clearly it isn't simply a small gathering of a few Woodbury folk. I attended this neighborhood/city type event with my family, a perfect outing for both kids and adults alike. There are a lot of the same attractions as the State Fair, live music, good food, and some rides for the kids, but this event doesn't come with the same headaches -- the crowds...

'The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones' -- Movie Review

Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

Cassandra Clare’s five-part series The Mortal Instruments has gained popularity all over the world since the first book, City of Bones, was published in 2007. Five years later, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones has reached the big screen with stars like Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower bringing the famed characters Clary Fray and Jace Wayland to life. Set in Manhattan, the film tells the story of how Clary Fray, upon the disappearance of her mother,...

The Great Minnesota Get-Together: Round 1

State Fair - 2013

My wife Cadi and I are huge fans of the Minnesota State Fair -- each year we make sure to visit the fairgrounds as much as possible. Even though the fair only opened on Thursday, both of us were a bit anxious to be sitting at home that evening as the first day of the fair wrapped up -- waiting until the following day seemed like torture, the dinner we had at home paled in comparison to delicious food at the fair. We are both fans of eating everything the fair has to offer. With that in mind, I'm going to visit the fair as much as possible in 2013 and try new foods each visit. Well, and some of the...