the deep breath before the plunge
Captain Crash and I were in a quandary this weekend. Vali-Hi (the drive-in) doesn't open until April 18 (they've postponed the opening...AGAIN!!!!), but we had fantastic weather this Saturday. We had to do something... 60ยบ is not a common occurrence on a Saturday in Minnesota in April (at least this April).
So we hopped on a Metro bus and headed to downtown Saint Paul, spent some time in the lovely memorial gardens on the capital grounds...
And THEN...
We walked to Mickey's Diner.
Capt Crash outside Mickey's
Mickey's is an art-deco style diner that's been on this corner in downtown Saint Paul since the 1930's... It's one of the only diners on the National Register of Historic Places. Mickey's has been featured on several food/travel shows (they've even got their own Department 56 miniature), but what I was REALLY stoked about was the fact that it's been featured in several movies, including all the Mighty Ducks films, and--my favorite--A Prairie Home Companion.
Matter of fact, we got the same booth that the cast occupies in the closing scene. Think about it... my ass has shared real estate with Meryl Streep's!
Nayana perusing Mickey's greasy offerings
I decided on something called the "Lil Jill": a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon and tomato, accompanied by a big bowl of the best chili I've had in a long time. Captain Crash opted for a hamburger, fries, and baked beans.
Our food
I really don't remember the last time I've had such a fun, satisfying meal. Of course most of the fun was the fact that we were eating on an actual movie set. Sooo cool.
After stuffing ourselves stupid, we hopped back on good ol' Metro Transit and headed home. Nothing else much notable about this weekend except that TNT broadcasted all three LOTR films... with horribly timed commercials. To be fair, I can't imagine well-timed commercials for those movies, but they actually cut Haldir off in the middle of his speech when the elves came to fight at Helm's Deep! Bad form. We actually shouted at the television.
Eleven more days and the waiting will be over. Unless Vali-Hi keeps jerking us around. I don't know how much more I can take of this... but I'm open to suggestions for keeping my sad self busy next weekend.
So we hopped on a Metro bus and headed to downtown Saint Paul, spent some time in the lovely memorial gardens on the capital grounds...
And THEN...
We walked to Mickey's Diner.
Capt Crash outside Mickey's Mickey's is an art-deco style diner that's been on this corner in downtown Saint Paul since the 1930's... It's one of the only diners on the National Register of Historic Places. Mickey's has been featured on several food/travel shows (they've even got their own Department 56 miniature), but what I was REALLY stoked about was the fact that it's been featured in several movies, including all the Mighty Ducks films, and--my favorite--A Prairie Home Companion.
Matter of fact, we got the same booth that the cast occupies in the closing scene. Think about it... my ass has shared real estate with Meryl Streep's!
Nayana perusing Mickey's greasy offeringsI decided on something called the "Lil Jill": a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon and tomato, accompanied by a big bowl of the best chili I've had in a long time. Captain Crash opted for a hamburger, fries, and baked beans.
Our foodI really don't remember the last time I've had such a fun, satisfying meal. Of course most of the fun was the fact that we were eating on an actual movie set. Sooo cool.
After stuffing ourselves stupid, we hopped back on good ol' Metro Transit and headed home. Nothing else much notable about this weekend except that TNT broadcasted all three LOTR films... with horribly timed commercials. To be fair, I can't imagine well-timed commercials for those movies, but they actually cut Haldir off in the middle of his speech when the elves came to fight at Helm's Deep! Bad form. We actually shouted at the television.
Eleven more days and the waiting will be over. Unless Vali-Hi keeps jerking us around. I don't know how much more I can take of this... but I'm open to suggestions for keeping my sad self busy next weekend.
April 8, 2008 at 8:55 PM
Very cool! I remember that diner scene in "Prarie Home Companion" well.
April 9, 2008 at 5:14 PM
Be patient! And don't forget to check out Cottage View for the 1970's intermission clips of hotdog close-ups, puppies and kitties frolicking, and shoreline shots of Cancun--all presented with an intense, bad-trip disco soundtravk. Not. To. Be. Missed. Love the blog BTW. Good work!