Minnesota (and Iowa)

[Moss]

So my big vacation starts Friday. I will be in Clear lake, Iowa on my birthday (Saturday) followed by Minnesota for most of the week.

 

I plan to hit the Buddy Holly crash site on Saturday since I am staying the night nearby, I heard there is now a path to a monument that is there. Anybody been there? Is it easy to find?

 

As far as Minnesota, I could use ideas for what to do. I already have some suggestions for good used record stores. Anybody know:

• Guitar stores
  
• Brewpubs
  
• local brews to check out
  
• Other things to do
  

 

Anybody want to meet for a beer at the old Replacements/Husker Du bar "C and C" or somewhere else next week?

[dondoboy]

So my big vacation starts Friday. I will be in Clear lake, Iowa on my birthday (Saturday) followed by Minnesota for most of the week.

 

I plan to hit the Buddy Holly crash site on Saturday since I am staying the night nearby, I heard there is now a path to a monument that is there. Anybody been there? Is it easy to find?

 

As far as Minnesota, I could use ideas for what to do. I already have some suggestions for good used record stores. Anybody know:

• Guitar stores
  
• Brewpubs
  
• local brews to check out
  
• Other things to do
  

 

Anybody want to meet for a beer at the old Replacements/Husker Du bar "C and C" or somewhere else next week?

CC is pretty fun for that reason alone.

[Three dollars and 63 cents]

Check out the Surly Brewery in Brooklyn Center if you have a chance. Their website says they give tours on Fridays.

 

http://www.surlybrewing.com/index.php

[uncool2pillow]

So my big vacation starts Friday. I will be in Clear lake, Iowa on my birthday (Saturday) followed by Minnesota for most of the week.

 

I plan to hit the Buddy Holly crash site on Saturday since I am staying the night nearby, I heard there is now a path to a monument that is there. Anybody been there? Is it easy to find?

 

As far as Minnesota, I could use ideas for what to do. I already have some suggestions for good used record stores. Anybody know:

• Guitar stores
  
• Brewpubs
  
• local brews to check out
  
• Other things to do
  

 

Anybody want to meet for a beer at the old Replacements/Husker Du bar "C and C" or somewhere else next week?

Summit beers are great! Not a brewpub, but the Extra Pale Ale is widely available on tap. There's a brew pub in downtown Minneapolis called Glueck's that I used to hit before shows @ 1st Ave. Beer's okay. A GREAT city. Also worth checking out is are the art museums. Both MIA and the Walker.

[dondoboy]

And Electric Fetus records. Great record store.

[cryptique]

There's nothing to do in Iowa.

 

However, if you need dinner, are a carnivore, and are anywhere near it, check out Rube's in the tiny town of Montour. They now have a second location in Waukee (just west of Des Moines). It's a grill-your-own-steak place that my friends and I used to go to as often as we could afford it (which wasn't often -- we were college students).

 

edit: ...and holy shit, I just looked at their "new" "menu," and it's totally expensive now. I mean, it was a bit pricey even in my day, but fucking hell.

[dondoboy]

Uncool mentioned the Walker Art Museum. Don't forget about their sculpture garden too. People often overlook it. And Thursday is cheap day. Free day if you have a student I.D. (or one that you've held onto for 10+ years like me).

[Guest Speed Racer]

Check out Willie's in Saint Paul, just on the other side of the river. Great, great vintage guitars. The Wilco crew has picked up its share of pre-war Martins here, and Jeff talks on the IATTBYH commentary track about picking up one of his guitars at Willie's that day. All around awesome place.

 

And ditto on checking out Surly.

[cryptique]

There's a brew pub in downtown Minneapolis called Glueck's that I used to hit before shows @ 1st Ave. Beer's okay.

Wow, I didn't know there was still a Gluek's.

 

My brother has collected beer cans for over thirty years, and in the early days he got hold of a bunch of these:

 

 

Looks to be the same company.

[Sly like a Foxwell]

There's nothing to do in Iowa.

 

 

 

i'm not sure i can agree with this

[cryptique]

i'm not sure i can agree with this

I did live there for four years. There are a few things to do in Iowa City, but Des Moines is duller than dirt.

 

Of course, it's been nearly twenty years, so maybe that state got a life in the meantime.

[solace]

Wow, I didn't know there was still a Gluek's.

 

My brother has collected beer cans for over thirty years, and in the early days he got hold of a bunch of these:

 

 

Looks to be the same company.

 

Marc Perlman from the Jayhawks often tends bar there still (least as of last summer he did, i haven't been in a while)

[dondoboy]

One more and I'll probably shut up about my old home town. This joint is good fun:

The Bryant Lake Bowl

[solace]

One more and I'll probably shut up about my old home town. This joint is good fun:

The Bryant Lake Bowl

 

great place.

 

Andrew Bird used to play the small theater (cap. 100-ish) there ALL the time too

[Happiechick]

Minnesota, well, back in the day, I used to go to the Cabooze in Minneapolis, (Tina and the B-side Movement played there a bunch). If you are looking for music venues like that, you may want to check out a bunch of schedules. I can recommend really great Irish Bars in St. Paul, etc., but mostly went to Mpls. for music. Hit Grand Ave. in St. Paul, and the Electric Fetus in uptown, mpls. PM me if you want more details, info. I grew up and lived there through college, it all depends on which neighborhood or city you are planning to visit. A good resource might be the Cities 97 website if you are going for music... oh, and if you like beer, get some Grain Belt beer. Mpls. just sold the historic building for $1 to someone who is going to renovate it!

[uncool2pillow]

DM is better than it was 10 or 20 years ago. Hell, Wilco's played here 3x in the past 6 years. What else do you need? Seriously, there's some cool things happening. For a town its size, it's not bad.

[cryptique]

DM is better than it was 10 or 20 years ago.

This is good to hear. In the late '80s it was a cultural wasteland. Or sure seemed to be -- we never found any compelling reason to go to Des Moines except for occasional visits to Taste of Thailand, which at the time was probably the only Thai restaurant in the state (and had a great beer list).

[Guest Speed Racer]

One more and I'll probably shut up about my old home town. This joint is good fun:

The Bryant Lake Bowl

 

It is, but it's not for everybody. It's very 'scene-y,' and I don't mean for that to detract from the place at all. The food is good, I presume the alcohol is mighty fine, and everyone there always seems to have a good time, but if you don't fancy yourself to be particularly hip (and I don't fancy myself to be hip), you might feel like a bookworm at a sports bar/some other demographic mismatch. Again, not a bad thing - and definitely not a bad place! - but if you're mega-nerdy (which isn't to say that you are), it might not be your cup of tea.

[solace]

weird... never really felt that vibe at the BLB, i mean it's close to where a lot of the more "hip" people live (Uptown), but it's always had a pretty wide swath of types when i've gone.

 

*shrug*

[Guest Speed Racer]

No! It's great! But some people think it's the 'place to go' and me, I just like that I can get a buffalo burger with gouda. Awesome beer selection, but I doubt I'd recommend the place to any friends that came into town because for me it's just a place to get a buffalo burger with gouda.

[solace]

oh sure... it's def not somewhere i go very often and usually only go if i'm going to a show in the theater or to bowl, but their food is pretty good for a bowling alley after all

[Moss]

There's nothing to do in Iowa.

 

However, if you need dinner, are a carnivore, and are anywhere near it, check out Rube's in the tiny town of Montour. They now have a second location in Waukee (just west of Des Moines). It's a grill-your-own-steak place that my friends and I used to go to as often as we could afford it (which wasn't often -- we were college students).

 

edit: ...and holy shit, I just looked at their "new" "menu," and it's totally expensive now. I mean, it was a bit pricey even in my day, but fucking hell.

 

Let me get this straight. I have to pay a buttload of money to grill my own steak? Do I have to bring my own salt and pepper? How much do I tip myself? Can I send it back if I burn it?

 

Thanks so much everybody for all the great ideas. I am all over Electric Fetus, Surly's, Willie's, the museum. Perfect stuff! I'm actually getting more excited about the trip.

 

My brother in law works at Chanhassen dinner theatre so I will be attending "Seven brides for seven brother" one night. Other than that I am open.

 

I'm buying for anyone who wants to meet at Surly's or C and C's!

[Guest Hollinger.]

Rubes sounds bizarre, but it's so fuckin awesome.

[mpolak21]

Check out Willie's in Saint Paul, just on the other side of the river. Great, great vintage guitars. The Wilco crew has picked up its share of pre-war Martins here, and Jeff talks on the IATTBYH commentary track about picking up one of his guitars at Willie's that day. All around awesome place.

 

Wow, I have been driving past that for the last year and never made that connection. I'll have to check it out when I get back to St. Paul.

 

The Electric Fetus has pretty much everything you'd want in a record store, and if you're into bookstores at all, Magers and Quinn in Uptown Minneapolis is amazing.

 

--Mike

[dondoboy]

So how was the trip?