Eating Out Ten - BWCA Trip
As alluded to in my last entry, I next headed out of town for my annual trip to the The Boundary Waters Canoe Area with my father.
112. Tuesday, June 23 - Itasca Grille - This is by far the best restaurant in the Delta wing of the Minneapolis airport. It's got pretty standard bar food. I usually get the nachos.
113. Thursday, June 25 - Chocolate Moose - My father & I usually drive from our home in North Dakota to Ely, Minnesota. We stay in a hotel and start paddling the next morning. For the last several years we've gotten dinner at The Chocolate Moose, which has a nice selection of burgers and salads.
114. Thursday, June 25 - Dairy Queen - Dairy Queen is really big through northern Minnesota. Some years we get dessert at Chocolate Moose, other years we hit the Dairy Queen next to our hotel. This was a Dairy Queen year.
115. Friday, June 26 - Brittons Cafe - If you get up at an ungodly early hour, you might as well have a large diner breakfast. Our group been eating at Brittons for even longer than we've been eating at Chocolate Moose. The waitresses were in high school when we started going there and are now in their late 20s. I always get hot chocolate.
116. Thursday, July 2 - Grandma's Saloon & Grill - For years Dad & I would stop at the Pizza Hut in Hibbing, Minnesota on the way home, but in 2014 we found that it had closed. For our 2015 trip, we joined the rest of our group at their preferred restaurant, Grandma's Saloon & Grill in Virginia, Minnesota, which is slightly famous in the running community as the long-time primary sponsor of Grandma's Marathon in Duluth. It was fine, but it was right next store to a Pizza Hut, so maybe Dad & I will hit that one next time.
For the record, we still stop at Hibbing on the way to Ely to get gas.
117. Thursday, July 2 - Dairy Queen - I cannot recall us ever going to the Boundary Waters and not stopping at the Dairy Queen in Fosston, Minnesota, on the way home. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever stopped in Fosston for any other reason.
118. Friday, July 3 - Dairy Queen - Mom & I always go to a movie together when I'm home. This time it was Inside Out. On the way home we stopped at a Dairy Queen and bought Dilly Bars to take home. Supposedly that Dairy Queen is one of the very few in the country that is old enough that it is still allowed to make its own Dilly Bars.
119. Saturday, July 4 - Itasca Grille - And I stopped for lunch at the Itasca Grille on the way home.
120. Saturday, July 4 - The Detroiter - M picked me up and we got dinner at The Detroiter, which is a bar within walking distance of my house that replaced the now defunct World of Beer. It's not bad, but you can get better versions of the same food for a lower price across the street at Deagan's, so I can't imagine that I'll go back. Afterwards, we walked the fireworks over the lake.
Updated Stats - Note that categories overlap.
Days elapsed: 185
Times Eating Out: 120
Beer/alcohol only: 18 (15%)
Ice Cream only: 10 (8%)
Chains: 34 (includes Cleveland Chains like Aladdins, Winking Lizard and Mitchells) (28%)
Work-Related: 12 (10%)
Gaming Night: 6 (5%)
Ultimate: 4 (3%)
Travel: 52 (43%) [includes above categories as appropriate]
112. Tuesday, June 23 - Itasca Grille - This is by far the best restaurant in the Delta wing of the Minneapolis airport. It's got pretty standard bar food. I usually get the nachos.
113. Thursday, June 25 - Chocolate Moose - My father & I usually drive from our home in North Dakota to Ely, Minnesota. We stay in a hotel and start paddling the next morning. For the last several years we've gotten dinner at The Chocolate Moose, which has a nice selection of burgers and salads.
114. Thursday, June 25 - Dairy Queen - Dairy Queen is really big through northern Minnesota. Some years we get dessert at Chocolate Moose, other years we hit the Dairy Queen next to our hotel. This was a Dairy Queen year.
115. Friday, June 26 - Brittons Cafe - If you get up at an ungodly early hour, you might as well have a large diner breakfast. Our group been eating at Brittons for even longer than we've been eating at Chocolate Moose. The waitresses were in high school when we started going there and are now in their late 20s. I always get hot chocolate.
116. Thursday, July 2 - Grandma's Saloon & Grill - For years Dad & I would stop at the Pizza Hut in Hibbing, Minnesota on the way home, but in 2014 we found that it had closed. For our 2015 trip, we joined the rest of our group at their preferred restaurant, Grandma's Saloon & Grill in Virginia, Minnesota, which is slightly famous in the running community as the long-time primary sponsor of Grandma's Marathon in Duluth. It was fine, but it was right next store to a Pizza Hut, so maybe Dad & I will hit that one next time.
For the record, we still stop at Hibbing on the way to Ely to get gas.
117. Thursday, July 2 - Dairy Queen - I cannot recall us ever going to the Boundary Waters and not stopping at the Dairy Queen in Fosston, Minnesota, on the way home. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever stopped in Fosston for any other reason.
118. Friday, July 3 - Dairy Queen - Mom & I always go to a movie together when I'm home. This time it was Inside Out. On the way home we stopped at a Dairy Queen and bought Dilly Bars to take home. Supposedly that Dairy Queen is one of the very few in the country that is old enough that it is still allowed to make its own Dilly Bars.
119. Saturday, July 4 - Itasca Grille - And I stopped for lunch at the Itasca Grille on the way home.
120. Saturday, July 4 - The Detroiter - M picked me up and we got dinner at The Detroiter, which is a bar within walking distance of my house that replaced the now defunct World of Beer. It's not bad, but you can get better versions of the same food for a lower price across the street at Deagan's, so I can't imagine that I'll go back. Afterwards, we walked the fireworks over the lake.
Updated Stats - Note that categories overlap.
Days elapsed: 185
Times Eating Out: 120
Beer/alcohol only: 18 (15%)
Ice Cream only: 10 (8%)
Chains: 34 (includes Cleveland Chains like Aladdins, Winking Lizard and Mitchells) (28%)
Work-Related: 12 (10%)
Gaming Night: 6 (5%)
Ultimate: 4 (3%)
Travel: 52 (43%) [includes above categories as appropriate]