Valentine's Weekend

Chaz took me on a weekend getaway to Minneapolis for Valentine's Day. It was to be a trip of exploration, culture and fun. It started out so, but then it took "a turn for the worse," (cue creepy chords from Oregon Trail). You see, Chaz and I are both non-planners. And when two non-planners get married and try to non-plan something fun, disaster is inevitable.

Our trip began with coffee with Al in Owatonna. Delightful. After the quick detour for good conversation with a wonderful friend, we finished the last leg to Minneapolis. On the way, we had to decide what we would do first. Being non-planners we just blurted out something and called it good. We first went to the Global Market in downtown Minneapolis. I had been there before and had a good time, so I knew Chaz probably would too (and it was something he wanted to see). It's basically an international market indoors. What could go wrong? Nothing. We ate fish tacos and tamales, wandered among the booths, and then called it good.

What next?

We decided to check into our hotel, which was a real snazzy, trendy hotel in downtown Minneapolis. This place was happenin! We probably should've just stayed in the hotel, but we were determined to ruin the day somehow. Chaz then tells me he really wants to go to the Walker Art Museum. This is at 4:06. The museum closes at 5 (this is where planning would have helped). We decidee to go anyway and at least check out the sculpture garden. We get lost along the way and ended up at Walker at 5. Being -10 degrees, we decide to walk around anyway and take some pictures. In increasingly bad moods, we returned to the car after a quick walkthrough for the next disappointment.

This came in the form of driving around downtown Minneapolis trying to find someplace to walk around/shop. No luck. It was far too cold to walk around, and Chaz was stressed out from driving, so we stayed in the car. Then, we decided to go for dinner, and we desperately needed someplace good to get us out of the foul moods. We took a recommendation from a friend and drove to St. Paul for dinner. When we got to the area, there was absolutely no parking and masses of people as a result of a hockey game. Nice. Needed that. We ended up paying $10 to park 7 blocks away from the restaurant and cried as we walked in the cold. Once at the restaurant, we realized it was not the romantic dinner we were looking for. We waited in line with a million other people, got some "fast Italian food" cafeteria-style (slapped on a plastic plate) and sat at a table surrounded by rambunctious college students. Happy Valentine's Day! The food was mediocre and probably tasted worse than it actually was (as that place is highly acclaimed) due to our mood.

Upon returning to the car after a brisk walk, we drove back to our hotel and collapsed on the bad extremely tired after a depressing evening. Things could still turn up, however. We were invited to a bluegrass show at a local bar by my dear friend Cassie. While tempted to stay and go to sleep, we decided to try to make up for the rest of the day by going. We were not disappointed. I didn't know how it could, but that show made up for the rest of the day. We danced and laughed to amazing bluegrass music by Trampled by Turtles and Two Many Banjos. You have to have real talent to play that kind of music, unlike in other genres. It was incredible! When one of the fathers of a musician joined them on stage to play harmonica, he brought down the place! It was hott! Everyone was dancing because you can't help it to that music!

We ended the trip the next day with a venture to IKEA. How could we go wrong there? Thank you, Chaz, for a wonderful trip despite the downfalls. Thank you Cassie and bluegrass music for lifting our spirits. Thank you Minneapolis for the joy and the pitfalls. This trip was definitely educational. While we may or may not have learned the lesson about planning, we sure learned a lot about each other and our marriage.