Wisconsin and Minneapolis (Days 6-10)

Sorry I haven't posted for the past 6 days. The weekend was busy and we are usually on the road traveling all over Wisconsin when Mark gets out of class. He has been getting out a little earlier each day which is great. We finally got to see the Mall of America this weekend. It was amazing! Huge mall with tons of shopping and activities. We did not ride any of the rides in Nickelodeon Park, but we were able to walk through it since it was the center of the mall.

There was also a Legoland. We love looking at the amazing creations made all from legos.

There were tons of restaurants to choose from, but we ended up deciding on Bubba Gump Shrimp Company for dinner before we went to see the Avengers. Awesome movie by the way!

The food was delish!

The next day we had the most amazing breakfast ever at Al's Breakfast. The restaurant is the narrowest in the city with a width of ten feet. There are 14 stools. Mark and I had to stand along with other customers for over an hour in between the stools and the restaurant's wall waiting on people to finish their breakfast.

Very interesting experience, but well worth the wait. Eating was not as intrusive as i had initially thought. The food and the excitement of finally getting a seat distracted me from the fact that there were people behind me waiting on me to finish my meal. Mark and I were excellent customers as we already knew what to order and we gobbled everything down not wasting anyone's time.

I would definitely recommend Al's Breakfast to anyone visiting Minneapolis as long as they don't mind the wait.

Other than MOA, we have been traveling all over Wisconsin. Yesterday we went to Madison and had Thai food for lunch at Banh Thai Restaurant. We also stopped at the West Towne Mall.

The Madison Capitol Building.

That is all for now. I can't believe that we will be home in about 3 days. I can't wait to love on my little boo boo though! Been missing my little man.

Wisconsin (Day 5)

Not much to post today. We went back to Eau Claire for dinner @ Houligans (a steak and seafood place). Found a $10 off coupon in an ad. The food was great. There seems to be a wonderful trend with the restaurants around this area offering food made with local ingredients. I love it. Here I am with my salmon dish. Mark included his steak plate in the picture as well :o).

We got some frozen yogurt at a place called Frogiyo. I think these light fixtures are neat.

We also stopped at an Indian Casino called Ho Chunks Gaming Casino. Played a few times on the slots but left immediately after. We couldn't stand the smell of cigarette smoke. Came out of there smelling like an ash tray. Yuck! That is all for today. More tomorrow!

Wisconsin (Day 4)

We decided to stay around Sparta and walked around a shopping strip filled with antique stores and little hole in the wall restaurants.

A local suggested for us to try Angelini's Italian Restaurant. Mark and I ordered a 14 inch three topping thin crust pizza. We ordered pepperoni, bacon and basil but they forgot the bacon. We didn't realize it until we were already half way through eating the entire pizza. Needless to say, the lack of bacon did not affect the pizza's deliciousness. We ate the whole thing!

Afterwards, we decided to satisfy our sweet tooth at Ginny's Cupboard. They are known for their homemade soups,sandwiches,baked goods, and jerked soda. Many of the products they sell, such as chocolate lollipops and oat cakes, are homemade from other vendors in nearby cities. I ended up ordering a cappuccino and Mark got a hot fudge sundae with cashews. The ice cream was made from a farm nearby and is suppose to be the highest in fat content= goodness.

The service was great. We sat at the bar area and had light conversation with the lone high school aged server who was nice enough to take a picture of both of us.

That's all for today. More to come tomorrow.

Destination: Wisconsin (Days 1-3)

We arrived to Wisconsin on a plane at the La Crosse Airport April 29. The weather felt colder than I had anticipated, but I believe it is suppose to warm up within the next few days. Thank goodness for tights and cardigans.

****EAT**** When we travel we always research the best places to eat around the area we will be staying at. A restaurant called Fayze's was on top of the list for best restaurants to eat in La Crosse. The lunch was delicious. I ordered their fish sandwich, a battered deep fried cod between talame bread. Most of their sandwiches are served on talame (ta-lay-me)bread, a Labanese white bread. It was so soft on the inside and flaky on the outside. One of the best bread I have ever had on a sandwich. The cod was very flaky as well.

Mark ordered a bacon cheeseburger. He loved it and said that the cheese was amazing probably because it was a slice of Wisconsin cheese. On day two we went to Burnstad's for dinner. It kind of reminded me of a mix between Cracker Barrel and Whole Foods because it was a grocery store/restaurant/shop all in one.

I ordered the pork medallions with veggies and mashed potatoes. The veggies were so fresh. Mark had the sirloin with veggies and baked potatoes. Loved every bite!

On day three we drove to Eau Claire to eat at Pad Thai Restaurant. It was quite a drive just to go eat ( a little over an hour), but it was worth it. Mark and I both enjoyed our meal very much. I ordered fried tofu for our appetizer and Pho ( a Vietnamese rice noodle soup dish) as the entree. Love me some Pho!I still think that the Vietnamese restaurant I use to work at in California has the best Pho. I usually compare any I eat to that one. Mark had the red curry with steamed rice. He loved it.

We also stopped by Oakwood Mall and tried the cheese curds and frozen custard at Culver's (known to the locals as the equivalent to McDonald's). Will post more soon. Bye for now!