I have just returned from a week-long trip to Minneapolis in celebration of my mom’s 70th birthday. I left last Monday and stayed overnight at the airport before flying out the next morning. The flight was fine, if a bit long but the nice flight attendent plied me with booze for the first few hours so that helped pass the time. Mom made dinner that night for me, Dad and Grammy and at my request we had brisket, carrot ring and green beans with lemon poppy seed cake for dessert. That night, Mike, my BFF, collected me and we spent the evening over at Ron’s, an old friend who lives nearby.
On Wednesday, I had lunch with Mike and his dad, Dr. Tom at TGI Friday’s, one of my favourite chain restaurants. I had a bacon cheeseburger and fries with root beer to drink. In the States, I tend to order root beer everywhere I go since it’s one of the things I can’t get over in Europe. I went out to dinner that night with Grammy, my mom’s mom who will be 95 in February. She is still very with it and it was great to spend a bit of one on one time with her. We ate at the Crossroad’s Deli where I had the grilled Reuben, thinly sliced corned beef with saurkraut and russian dressing, topped with swiss cheese. I hung out over at Mike and Keli’s that night, as I did most evenings. We ran out of Mountain Dew so made an emergency run to the all night supermarket where we also got a bag of mini candy bars, vanilla wafers and Pearson’s salted nut rolls, a MN specialty. The cashier was most amused with our purchases.
I did most of my shopping the next day where I got some new shoes, a pair of boots, two pair of jeans and load of stuff from Target including toiletries, underwear and socks. When I explained to the cashier that I lived in France and was stocking up on things that were hard to find there, she asked whether they sold underwear over there. I had lunch with Carolyn who grew up on the same street that I did and has been one of my closest friends ever since. We ate at the Good Day cafe where I had huevos rancheros, another food item to tick off the list. My dad had everyone over to dinner on Thursday evening where he made chicken chili and latkes, both of which were very good. It was my first time seeing all the nieces and nephews and I always enjoy seeing them play together.
Mom and I went over to Suzy’s on Friday and the three of us went out to lunch. I had the buffalo chicken salad, eschewing beef for a change. We collected Evie from her morning play date and later went to Maddie’s school where her class was having an inventors fair. Suzy and Steve went to a neighbourhood party that night, so Mom and I stayed with the girls that evening. We took them to Shabbat dinner at Knollwood Place, the senior apartment building where Grammy lives. Aunt Mimi had arrived in town that day so we had the pleasure of her company at dinner that night. After returning home with the girls, we put them to bed and then I headed over to Mike and Keli’s for the evening. I left their place around 2am and was not pleased to find an inch or two of snow had fallen, making the drive home a little treacherous. Not being accustomed to driving in snow, I took my time and arrived home without issue.
On Saturday, Miles and Bradley each had a basketball game so Mom and I went over to watch those. Bradley is 7 and at his age, they don’t keep score but there’s no question he was the best one on either team. His game was in the morning so afterwards, we went to lunch with Ben and Ione at Santorini, a Greek restaurant nearby. I ordered the gyro burger, thinking it would just be gyro meat, but it was actually a hamburger with the gyro meat on top so I was very full after eating that with the fries that accompanied it. Miles game was in the afternoon and at his level (4th grade), they play full court and keep score. His team won by a fair amount and Miles scored at least 4 or 5 baskets. As a rule we Frisches aren’t the most athletic bunch so it’s odd and also impressive that both boys are both really good athletes. Also, having seen activities for both sets of kids, I am surprised by how diverse MN has become with loads of kids from Somalia as well as Asia.
I went out with Suzy and Steve on Sat night. One of my favourite foods is sushi and it’s nearly impossible to get here so we went to a place called Nami where I got my fix. Suzy and I split the sashimi platter plus a couple of specialty rolls. I was still full from lunch so couldn’t eat as much as I wanted but it was great food so the quality makes up for the quantity. I also had a martini, my first drink of the trip. After dinner, we went to a party at some friends of theirs, a guy Suzy went to school with so someone I know too. Steve overdid it at the previous night’s party, so he didn’t really drink, much to everyone’s surprise. Suzy was losing her voice making it hard to talk so we left around 11 and went back to their place where Suzy and I stayed up drinking and talking till around 2.
The next day was the party for my mom, a brunch held at a local country club. We had around 50 people in all, mostly family but a number of my mom’s close friends too. It was a good chance to see a lot of people, but I still didn’t manage to speak to everyone I wanted to. After the buffet, Ben, Suzy and I did a little speech, part roast, part toast and then a few other people spoke, including some of the kids. We also assembled a poster board with pictures of Mom from infancy up to present day. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and we’ve had some nice thank-you notes from some guests. Mom and I had dinner at Grammy’s that evening along with Mimi who got some prepared soup and salads at a nearby store. Mimi left the next day so it was nice to spend a bit of time with her. I went over to Mike and Keli’s that evening where I saw Nicky, Keli’s BFF, who was staying over that night. She had been having a craving for root beer floats the past few days so Mike and I did another late night run to the shop for supplies. We used IBC root beer and Bryer’s vanilla so they were extra special good if I do say so myself.
I had breakfast with Dad on Monday morning. We ate at a greasy spoon near my mom’s and I had Eggs Benedict with a twist. Instead of canadian bacon, I had mine with corned-beef hash, another favourite of mine that’s hard to find here. After the perfect Eggs Benedict we had in the Philippines earlier this year, I was afraid to order them but I’m happy to say, this version was a pretty good second. Mom made mushroom soup for lunch and despite being full, I managed to eat the whole portion cause it was so good. We did a bit of last minute shopping that afternoon for foodstuffs that are hard to find here like pecans, chipotle chilis in adobo sauce and some specialty tea. Afterwards, we saw a French film called Le Harve, a story about an illegal immigrant who is befriended by an older man in the eponymous city. It was lighthearted and had a happy ending, unlike many French films so we both enjoyed it. Mom dropped me and my stuff off at Mike’s and I stayed at their place that night since they live close to the airport. Keli made brisket with a very tasty bbq sauce, latkes and green bean casserole, all very delicious. Since I had brisket for my first and last dinners, I am referring to it as “brisket bookends”. I certainly got my beef fix this trip to say the least.
On Tuesday, the three of us had lunch at El Loro, a Mexican restaurant with good food and better margaritas. We wanted to try a new place that Suzy recommended but they weren’t open for lunch that day. My flight was meant to be at 4 so we headed to the airport around 2. When I checked in the previous night, I was offered an upgrade to first class for $300 and although I can’t really justify spending the money, the price was too good to pass up so I went for it. Around 3:30, they told us that our plane needed maintenance and wouldn’t be ready until 7:30 so after using my food voucher to purchase a martini, Mike picked me up and I hung out at their place for a few hours before heading back to the airport. Keli made me a perfect bloody mary at that time, so I was nice and buzzed when we finally boarded the plane. I had champagne, followed by two vodka tonics plus wine with dinner and then I must have passed out before dessert because the next thing I knew, we only had 3 hours left in the flight. Feeling like I needed to get my money’s worth, I helped myself to a few bottles of vodka and rum from the drinks trolley that was left out for self-service. I would have missed my original train so I switched to a later one the night before. This one left from Paris and not the airport so I got the metro to the station and then switched to an earlier train, getting me into Angouleme around 6 and home by 7:30. Will had cleaned the house, brought in plenty of wood and had dinner already made so it was a very nice welcome.
In summary, it was a very pleasant trip home. Besides satisfying my cravings for sushi, Mexican food and root beer, it was nice to see everyone even briefly. I hadn’t seen the kids for a year and a half so it was fun to see how much they’ve matured in that time. The weather was unseasonably warm, or so everyone kept saying. Last year, they already had 3 feet of snow by mid-December so this was quite a change. The temps most days were right around 0 (32F) and a bit colder at night so it was cold to me but not too bad. Not a lot has happened in my absence although I just found out I didn’t get the job to do the iPhone app so I’m back to square one work-wise. We hope to have more to report after Xmas.