Friday, August 10
Our journey to Minneapolis began 9 a.m. on Friday, when Amanda, Noah, and I picked up Rose from her Ankeny home. The first leg of the trip featured a stop at Jake’s Pizza in Albert Lea, my first meal at the restaurant in five years.
Ready for pizza at Jake’s.
We grabbed dinner to go at D’Amico and Sons in Minneapolis, before checking into the hotel. Rose and I saw Charli XCX, Marina and the Diamonds, and Coldplay at the Xcel Energy Center, while Amanda and Noah hung out in our room. The show was good as expected, with coordinated, light-up wristbands creating some cool arena lighting effects.
Exiting the parking ramp was time consuming, but after that, it was a simple trip back to the hotel in Eden Prairie.
Saturday, August 11
Noah and I were up early to explore the grocery store scene, including Kowalski’s Market, where Noah picked out his raccoon. He and the raccoon were jamming out to Award Tour by hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest.
After breakfast in the hotel, we dropped Amanda off at Blooma for a prenatal massage before heading to the Electric Fetus, a CD shop with an unusual name. Enamored by Marina and the Diamonds from the Coldplay concert, I purchased both of her albums; Noah also picked out his second sound book, Nighttime. Before returning to Blooma, Rose and Noah experienced White Castle for the first time.
Noah’s first White Castle hamburger.
We all went to Wild Rumpus Books, perhaps the coolest bookstore in America (and featuring a kid-sized door.) The bookstore was followed by a pizza lunch at Arezzo Ristorante in Edina, then a stop at IKEA before returning to the hotel.
Day two of pizza.
Amanda and I skipped Charli XCX but were at the Xcel Center in time to see Marina and the Diamonds open for Coldplay. The concert was once again excellent, though I was a little disappointed the set list was exactly the same as it was the night before.
Sunday, August 12
Noah and I were up early the next morning for a throwback breakfast at Mickey’s Diner in St. Paul. We shared eggs, toast, and bacon, and Noah drank a fresh-mixed chocolate milk.
The food was so-so, but the retro exterior was cool.
After breakfast, we stopped by Bread & Chocolate in St. Paul to grab pastries to bring to Rose and Amanda.