swede hollow thanksgiving.

the dane and I took a trip to the east side and swede hollow in st. paul 

a couple of days ago.

swede hollow park.

swede hollow wild turkeys. watch out turkeys, know what day's comin' up?

the hamm's bear (and turkey) the old hamm's brewery borders swede hollow to the north.

hamm's bear. lunch at ward 6 on the east side.

east side.

mercado.

boing!

that was fun. 

I definitely recommend ward 6. lunch was excellent, I had a rueben with house braised corn beef. I was too busy with a sandwich melting in my mouth to notice the dane's lunch, but he seemed to like it. ward 6 is really nice. 

 and, umm… do other restaurants have adult malts? I had a myers's rum and creme de cacao…  

mind-blowing.

   oh, also:

may this day find you and all of yours hearty, rested and together.

and may all of your travels be sweet.

may the thanksgiving dinner menu be of your dreams and full of love.

and last but not least, may the folks we sup with have an aversion to dark meat, sweet potatoes and scalloped corn, 'cause I'd like seconds…  

godspeed.

sven.

w 6

hamm's bear

swede hollow.

hey ma... marino's!

if you ever want to go to marino's restaurant in fridley minnesota, but were confused about it's secret home inside an american legion or it's location, just ask me (or look it up). and I recommend you do go since it's one of my favorites! 

the last time we went it was a thursday night, which everyone will tell you, is polish night... (at an italian restaurant? I know, it seems confusing, but makes perfect sense, trust me)  ...where steaming polish delicacies are served fast while the excellent polka band serenades dancers and diners alike. 

ma opts for a trusty patty melt and I go local with the polish combo: pork roast, pierogis, cabbage roll, mashed potatoes, polish sausage, beets, dark bread, and of course...  saur kraut. yum. a few white russians, some excellent food, a quick dance... what more could you ask for?

dancers take the floor, fun.  americana.  during this past visit and every once in awhile when we go, there is a young lad of seven or eight, who takes over the drum kit. what a gas, he really loves to play! his playing style can best be described as: 'exhuberant'. really great though! our time at marino's has once again come to an end. my belly's full, my feet are tired, my vision is foggy but my heart is true, see you soon at marino's!

viva la marino's!

marinos

pedro thinks.

I remember the river.

too many times I missed them.

I can smell the water now.

sven.

white bears.

my field trip to see a play and eat and drink in wonderful white bear lake minnesota!
by sven

   a friend of a friend is currently playing florence unger in the 'the odd couple (female version)', at the lakeshore players theatre in white bear lake minnesota. we agreed to go. with tickets purchased and plans made and extensive preparations completed, the night began...

the first things I encountered were pretty rural scenes...

I see the ice is still holding up:

   a short hop, skip and a jump through lovely centerville minnesota and I arrived at my destination:

white bear lake minnesota to eat and drink and see a play! 

   in white bear lake there is a special down town area with lots of good shops and delicious food purveyors and libations experts. there is a nice home town feel in white bear lake, and everyone seemed very pleasant and happy you were there. and I was happy to be there. 

   I started out my evening arriving earlier then planned. I went into the cozy and venerable 617 cocktail lounge, so named for it's former and original address, same location, different address...don't ask.

   having wanted to come here for years, I finally made it. I order a drink and retire to one of the over-sized booths. it is a good place to while away the hours. hmmm, not sure how to describe the decor, a classic 60s lounge for sure, it's a melange of nautical, english tudor and modern? the service was very friendly and efficient, the drinks very good and the locals welcoming. I wouldn't change a thing at the 617 cocktail lounge!

   after, I went next door to truly, a really nice gift shop. gretchen, the lady in the shop, was nice to me and answered all of my questions even though I had interrupted her dinner of french toast! I enjoyed asking her about the local artists they feature in truly so much I forgot to take any pictures! next time. gretchen, who lives 6 blocks away from truly, seems to embody the 'feel' of white bear lake, they seem to know some secret. well, I won't spoil it for them!

   I did see something in white bear lake I had never seen before...a bird aviary in the waiting room of a dentist...I guess it helps to calm the patients.

?

  ...but then it was off around the corner to...washington square!

   my dinner of fish tacos with corn tortillas, beans, rice, fresh onions, cilantro, lime, really nice fruit salsa and guacomole was excellent! and the folks I was with seemed to agree. we like it here at washington square! 

   our only complaint was being seated in some kind of 'adjunct' room. the main areas were really hopping with all kinds of glamorous white bear lakians, but not ours. I never had to go to school in one of those prefab trailers, the kind I see nowadays around some of the local schools, who's student body has out grown the main school. I always wondered if that wouldn't be a little disconcerting, now I think I know what it's like. oh well the room wasn't too bad, I just like being 'where the action is'! tip: opt out if given your druthers.

   then, a little while later we drove exactly 6 blocks to the theatre, a neat little converted church. the play took a little to get warmed up, but then the cast really came through. cindy was very good as the florence character and so was the rest of the cast. well done.

bravvoo!

   as you know dear listener, all good things must come to an end. but all in all it was a fine night, full of heartfelt conversation, good food, libations, performances and oh...don't forget wonderful white bear lake!

whew! back in good old columbus, good night!

sven.

truly

washington square

lakeshore players

   

san francisco treat.

dear diary,   

   I did so many fun things today during my super cool visit to san francisco to see crosby stills and nash at the fillmore, and to visit my really nice family and to do so many other boss things - diary! one super fun place we visited was the corner of market and octavia, where I saw this trolley, out side of...

 ...grooves, a super fun record store! my brother doug was with me diary. he and I have been to a few record stores in our time as you know, and so we think we 'know the ropes'. it came as some surprise then, when doug attempted to 'carefully' remove and  look at a record hanging on the wall.

   the record store chap was having none of it and so, with out speaking he unceremoniously 'removed' the record from doug's hands...Walls Are Verboten!..and in one smooth gesture the record was safely home on the wall again. doesn't he know we know what we're doing? well, I do anyway...we enjoyed the rest of our visit none the less and chalked it all up to our ignorance of some local 'custom' (though I would think doug should have known - being local, diary?)

   I ended up purchasing a super cool book about california sunshine so I hope that made up for our faux pa. while searching the record bins I began to notice it was 'time for breakfast' so I suggested we go to the 'it's tops coffee shop' I had spotted next door...

...heaven...this is my kind of place diary. our server was nice to us and she made us glad to be there and the other customers were very interesting to be around too and there was good old 'rock 'n' roll' on the hi-fi. the food...

...was scrumptious! viva la 'it's tops coffee shop' in san francisco!

   there is one bad thing about these snapshots though, diary. they remind me of the case I made for my iphone which is in the picture of my breakfast. later in my visit I left it at a restaurant in tiburon. when I realized it I ran back to ask if they had found it. they suggested a seagull had likely stolen it off our table! a common occurrence they said. oh diary I just have to make another one soon! 

   but, at that time everything was ok with the world. I hope some day I'll be able to return to this neat little corner of san francisco with another hand fashioned iphone case to shop at grooves and eat at 'it's tops coffee shop'!

sven.

p.s. if you're ever in tiburon, watch out for the rude seagulls that live there.

it's tops coffee shop

north by north east.

emily's lebanese deli.

mistah and raw kibbi. (ground beef, cracked wheat and spices) uh...yes you can eat it raw, it's very good.

crema, yum.

(modern home, fridley)

back to north east today. saw some pretty cool homes and some weird ones too. dinner at emily's lebanese deli was awesome as usual.

emily's