Miles 1135-1441: Minneapolis and Drive to Aberdeen
Today was the first day where we weren’t in any hurry to get dressed or pack up, or at least me. All I had to do was slip on flip-flops and a sweatshirt to go get breakfast and jump in the car. Jackson and Dad played golf, and Mom and I went to the Mall of America, the largest mall in the country. There was literally an amusement park inside the mall, along with over 555 stores, restaurants, and other attractions. You could be in there for months and still not visit all the stores. All we ended up getting were some bathing suit tops, but it was still really cool getting to see how massive the mall itself was and it was really fun getting to spend some time with my mom. We had lunch in Minneapolis at a little place called Revival, which was ironically a Southern restaurant. It was the first place since we started the trip that actually had sweet tea, and I was so happy that I could finally get an Arnold Palmer. You guys, you don’t appreciate sweet tea until there’s no more of it. I got a chicken and waffle sandwich and ironically again, it was the best fried chicken I’ve ever had, and it was in Minnesota. Before we left the city, we went by the Walker Art Gallery, which according to my mom, is one of the most famous contemporary art collections in the country. We walked through the sculpture garden, which was really beautiful. I’m posting some of my favorite pictures from there on this page, but if you want to see anymore or any extra pictures from the architecture cruise, check the gallery page. Once we got out of the suburbs of Minneapolis, we were in the middle of nowhere. You could literally see for miles in every direction. It was amazing, awesome, and completely awe-inspiring, how far you can see, how small you feel, and how alone you are. Everything from Fast Food Nation, the Omnivore’s Dilemma, and Nomad Farms came rushing back when we passed some big commercial farms. It smelled absolutely terrible!! We also saw some horses (Frances!!), cows, two tractors, two Cadillac’s just sitting a field, one cowboy, and a partridge in a pear tree. Aberdeen is the third biggest city in South Dakota, and has a population of less than 30,000. It still sounds like a lot, but that’s about one-tenth of Winston-Salem’s population. There is no downtown area, and absolutely zero skyscrapers. The tallest things are trees and church steeples. We went to dinner at Danger von Dempsey’s Pizza and Brewhaus, which had delicious pizza. We came back to the hotel and here we are!! I can’t believe it’s only been five days since we left. It feels like at least a month since I’ve seen any of you, if only because every day is so busy. Make sure you tell us about any important stuff happening at home in the comments. I’d really love to hear anything from you guys, on the blog or through texting or email. Miss you!!
“A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.”