weekend up north
Well, I’ve driven 1,146 miles since my last post... my weekend was spent in great state of Minnesota.
Weekend in review: left Lawrence on Friday afternoon dropped Braden off at KCI Airport on the way so he could fly to Fargo, and I rolled into our driveway around midnight. I stopped in Des Moines for food (more on that later) and also checked out their new (and first) Caribou Coffee.
I think it's safe to say that Iowa people DO NOT KNOW MEXICAN FOOD! After passing countless McDonald's, Wendy's, Perkin's, etc., in Des Moines, I finally found a non-franchise (so I thought) Mexican place called "Tasty Tacos". This place was chock full, and I got the only booth left in the place. It was a dive, too..real dirty (although this is sometimes a sign of a good restaurant)..salsa all over the floor...looked like a converted Bingo Hall inside. I ordered two chicken tacos. They don't use flour tortillas here, they use chalupa shells. I had to make a special request to get salsa. Oh well, it was good! But it should not have been called a taco, maybe an Iowa sandwich. An interesting place nonetheless, but out of curiousity I googled it just now to learn a little more about it. Check out some user reviews from AOL CityGuide Des Moines-Best Mexican Food 2005:
*SafireStar27: "La Hacienda and Tasty Tacos Hands down have the BEST mexican food in Des Moines"
*LOU4000: "Carlos O'Kelly's Best food, best chips, best Con Caso, and their Atomic Sauce is terrific!"
*Kate1113: "Carlos O'Kelly's has the best Mexican Food in the Midwest. I believe they have around 50 restaurants now and also support YOUR community."
*AllsLa7: "On The Border, right outside of Jordan Creek Mall. JUST OPENED!!!! The best!"
AGGH!!!!!#&@% And I applied to Iowa State! Well at least one person in Iowa seems to know Mexican food:
*GarVanho: "Carlos O'Kelleys sucks! Get an imagination. I am sorry they do not sell imagination in suburbia!"
I don't mean to intend any of my (one or two) Iowa readers but I just had to express my concern. I guess we're spoiled with all the great Mexican joints in Minneapolis.
Anyway, on Saturday I went to Tiffany's Sports Bar in Highland Park...the designated bar to watch KU basketball in St. Paul. There I met some interesting alumni and watched us lose our second game in overtime this week!
Then, I saw Christina for the first time since coming back from Europe. We had a nice afternoon/night, headed downtown and hit up Nicollet Mall and Rock Bottom Brewery (like a bigger, just as good, more expensive Free State on Hennepin Ave.). As soon as we parked the car it started to snow, and by this morning we had around 7 inches. It was great to see the snow pouring down like it only does in Minnesota, and I had to celebrate with a few sled runs down the hill (while Christina stayed in the car and watched :p).
Today was mostly spent in the car (12:30-9:30 p.m.), with stops at Caribou and Quizno's in Des Moines and then to KCI airport once again to pick up Braden.
But one of the main reasons of the trip home was so I could semi-furnish my apartment. I now have my coffee maker and an equipped kitchen, and I've converted my air mattress into a very comfortable bed which I'm about to hop into.
The homework was not touched this weekend. Which leaves me still at least 600 pages behind in reading. I'll worry about that tomorrow.
Weekend in review: left Lawrence on Friday afternoon dropped Braden off at KCI Airport on the way so he could fly to Fargo, and I rolled into our driveway around midnight. I stopped in Des Moines for food (more on that later) and also checked out their new (and first) Caribou Coffee.
I think it's safe to say that Iowa people DO NOT KNOW MEXICAN FOOD! After passing countless McDonald's, Wendy's, Perkin's, etc., in Des Moines, I finally found a non-franchise (so I thought) Mexican place called "Tasty Tacos". This place was chock full, and I got the only booth left in the place. It was a dive, too..real dirty (although this is sometimes a sign of a good restaurant)..salsa all over the floor...looked like a converted Bingo Hall inside. I ordered two chicken tacos. They don't use flour tortillas here, they use chalupa shells. I had to make a special request to get salsa. Oh well, it was good! But it should not have been called a taco, maybe an Iowa sandwich. An interesting place nonetheless, but out of curiousity I googled it just now to learn a little more about it. Check out some user reviews from AOL CityGuide Des Moines-Best Mexican Food 2005:
*SafireStar27: "La Hacienda and Tasty Tacos Hands down have the BEST mexican food in Des Moines"
*LOU4000: "Carlos O'Kelly's Best food, best chips, best Con Caso, and their Atomic Sauce is terrific!"
*Kate1113: "Carlos O'Kelly's has the best Mexican Food in the Midwest. I believe they have around 50 restaurants now and also support YOUR community."
*AllsLa7: "On The Border, right outside of Jordan Creek Mall. JUST OPENED!!!! The best!"
AGGH!!!!!#&@% And I applied to Iowa State! Well at least one person in Iowa seems to know Mexican food:
*GarVanho: "Carlos O'Kelleys sucks! Get an imagination. I am sorry they do not sell imagination in suburbia!"
I don't mean to intend any of my (one or two) Iowa readers but I just had to express my concern. I guess we're spoiled with all the great Mexican joints in Minneapolis.
Anyway, on Saturday I went to Tiffany's Sports Bar in Highland Park...the designated bar to watch KU basketball in St. Paul. There I met some interesting alumni and watched us lose our second game in overtime this week!
Then, I saw Christina for the first time since coming back from Europe. We had a nice afternoon/night, headed downtown and hit up Nicollet Mall and Rock Bottom Brewery (like a bigger, just as good, more expensive Free State on Hennepin Ave.). As soon as we parked the car it started to snow, and by this morning we had around 7 inches. It was great to see the snow pouring down like it only does in Minnesota, and I had to celebrate with a few sled runs down the hill (while Christina stayed in the car and watched :p).
Today was mostly spent in the car (12:30-9:30 p.m.), with stops at Caribou and Quizno's in Des Moines and then to KCI airport once again to pick up Braden.
But one of the main reasons of the trip home was so I could semi-furnish my apartment. I now have my coffee maker and an equipped kitchen, and I've converted my air mattress into a very comfortable bed which I'm about to hop into.
The homework was not touched this weekend. Which leaves me still at least 600 pages behind in reading. I'll worry about that tomorrow.