Red Wing Brewery, Red Wing, MN

A small adventure day requires a place to take a load off, decompress, and have a good beer (root or otherwise). We found this 15 month old resurrected brewery name down near the water of the mighty Mississippi. 

This new brew place has a max capacity capacity of 49 people, so it should never feel too packed, but the compact, light industrial space is filled with all manner of Red Wing brewing history. This artwork and history makes the space. 

The beer and pizza menus finish off the place. Be prepared to wait a bit for your pizza, perhaps filling the wait time with more beer? You can also get to-go growlers of anything on tap, including their very good rootbeer. We had that "beer" plus their fully leaded porter and stout. All of them were delicious, esp after an ambitious and somewhat white-knuckle drive on twisty snowy WI side roads...you got me this time Google Maps.

Two suggestions for upping their game or watch out for if you go - 

1. Watch the ingredient mix on the calzones. Ours had way too much ricotta and not enough of the ingredients we'd chosen. The crust and side of marinara were great though.

2. Service norms - while the crew is very friendly and helpful, they are missing some speed in the kitchen and what now seems like a ubiquitous POS system. They hand write checks then tally totals and taxes on a calculator. iPads aren't that pricey and a plug-in credit card reader can be bought at Target for $10 (like one from Square). 

Guest Pic, Hager City, WI

Found this gem of a small town bridge going from Hager City, WI to Red Wing, MN. Kinda sketchy roads this trip, but we could clearly see it could be a cool day-trip in the summer. 

 

Blog All Time Stats

For a long time I've used a free service called Stat Counter to count all manner of stat-related things on this blog. It really is informative, and somewhat scary, to see how much data is collected on all the people that visit. I can get right down to country, city, and ISP information.

I'm also now more familiar with the Google and its stat counter. I thought it would be interesting to see how the two compare. This is for the life of the ole blog...

From StatCounter:

 

 From Google:

 

In total, only a difference of 4,000 views. Those could be my own views alone... maybe. With this post, I'll be at 698 in total, over the 6 years I've been writing. Maybe that's not that many in the grand scheme of things, meh. What I also found interesting above is which posts had the most views all time. Clearly people are still finding the ones about the University of Texas, Japan, a horribly good MPLS dive-bar called the Red Dragon, and a great transportation museum in Omaha, the Durham. They were written so long ago, maybe posts get more popular as they age, gaining views and search results placement.

 

I'll stop rambling now - thanks for all the page views.

Maybe don't use this as your main dating profile photo.

I think it's a pretty universal truth that people visiting dating sites categorize others with intuition and experience. I think flattering pictures actually help people see beyond the cover, giving them time to peek inside the book. 

To that end, there may be some simple ways to get a leg up. Below isn't an exhaustive list, nor would I say they are absolutes, maybe someone has a good reason for making their main profile pic include a lizard (yet to see that actually). I also realize you may be trying to attract a certain/different kind of man. Good luck, but read below just the same.

I wouldn't make any of the below your main profile pic:

- you holding more than one drink (aka double-fisting)...at least not in my age bracket

- you posing with something dead that you've just killed

- you with a cat... ok, more than one cat

- you with a little teeny dog. Even just one. There's only one kind of woman that wants the kind of dog you can carry in leather luggage

- you with a random dude with your arms around him, face blacked out or not. Don't make us think of you with other guys...we don't know who they are just by seeing the pic

- you in zombie make-up...unless it's professionally done or just before Halloween

- you in a dark elf costume, including pitch black face and body makeup. There must be a dedicated dating site for that, or a support group

- you almost naked...why don't you leave something more to the imagination? We get it though, you like getting down. News flash - everyone does

- you on a bed, see above

- you with only your eyes/top of head/forehead/legs/cleavage showing. If it goes well, we'll see all of you eventually. Might as well start strong, start with all of you...or a nice headshot

- someone that isn't you. Duh 

- you in an amazingly hard yoga pose. You can impress me with your yoga prowess over a drink

- a sideways pic. You can't straighten an image file, really? How will you locate a bar for a first date?

- no pic at all... are you in witness protection? Do you work as a private investigator? Are you on the FBI's Most Wanted list? Maybe. And I'd guess your  job isn't that important. You aren't a spy, are you? ...if you can reveal that info. If none of the above, just post a pic of yourself 

I've seen everything above and presume people dismiss the profile immediately. Personally, I look for someone to date and hopefully more. It's slightly insulting to see someone's first introduction of themselves taken as a boast, goof, gaff, or outright lie. Not only that, but you have nine other photo slots to fill that aren't your main profile pic. Fill 'em up with all your pet/body/yoga/sideways shots, just not the first one. 

So join us - We all take a risk by making a real profile, main pic included. You might just be surprised by the results. 

Note: while I view female profiles, an astute reader has confirmed that male profile pics can be just as "creative"... probably worse.

Guest Pic, A Minnesota winter captured in one pic

This is a guest photo that the photographer enhanced with Instagram. 

Apostle Islands Ice Caves, near Cornucopia, WI

Well, last weekend I was able to check something off my bucket list that wasn't  even on my bucket list.

It all started a few weeks back when I heard the phrase "ice caves" mentioned by a few co-workers and Northwoods folks. I had no idea what they were talking about, kind of like a lot of things "up here", so after some prodding and internet research (largely from HERE), I found out it was this:

Ice CavesThe caves' beauty varies dramatically with the season. In summer the red sandstone is sandwiched between sapphire blue lake and emerald green forests that grow right up to the brink of the cliffs. Large waves generate plumes of spray and thunderous explosions as they surge into the sea caves. While visitors must enjoy these scenes from a distance, such is not the case when the lake is tranquil. Under calm conditions, kayakers can explore the caves' deepest recesses while listening to the murmur of water against rock.

 

By February, an ice bridge might connect Sand Island to the mainland. The lake surface is usually a frozen white expanse. Lake shore cliffs form a crimson red border to this arctic landscape. Pillars of ice extend to the cliff tops where waterfalls have hardened in place. Frozen lake water encrusts the base of the cliffs. Inside the caves awaits a fairyland of needle like icicles. The formations change from chamber to chamber and from day to day.

 

I had no idea, and color me interested. I like finding things in this great northern forest that will allow me to put another "feather in my cap", so to speak. I felt like a solo trip to this icy escapade would be a fine feather to add. And too add some fire, to the ice?, this phenomenon hasn't occurred in 5 years up here (Global Climate Change?), so you gotta get while the gettin's good.

 

It took some planning and packing, plenty of white-knuckle driving on snowy roads to Duluth, my overnight stop, and then up to Cornucopia, but it worked out well. I also stumbled on the shuttle service that only runs the weekend I had chosen to go up. Now understand, you have to walk from your car to the shoreline, then a mile to the ice caves, then 2-3 miles of caves, then all the way back to shore, then back to your car. So, if I could get a ride back and forth from my car, why not? City folks ain't that dumb.

 

Enough words, here's some pics:

It's a funny sight to see the largest of the Great Lakes frozen over... this is a bay, but still

"Does anyone see Timmy?!"



"Lady, move your poles!"



They have an abundance of red ice from the iron ore in the area. They also had regular ice and blue ice

Way on the right... blue ice

A duck's quack does not echo... wish I had one here

Finally, some icicles people couldn't reach and tear down... seriously, people!!!

 

I pretty much thought I would know what to expect before getting there, but the sheer size of the area, long walk, and massive crowds were way more than I expected. I talked to a gristled local at the general store as I started the day and he mentioned that 11,000 people daily were visiting the caves in an area that's really just "in business" during the nicest summer months. And I don't feel like I'm in much shape anymore, but there were all kinds of folks on the ice... trudging along in snowsuits and looking like ripe tomatoes stuck in GoreTex. I only heard of one person that day with a medical issue, but that can't have been the only one.

 

 

You can get a sense of how big some of the sea caves are in summer... would be fun to paddle out and see them filled with non-frozen water. (oh, I was able to tag-along with a co-worker and his family for most of the walk and they're in this pic. He's in green, his wife and daughter in red and pink)

This thing looks harmless, until you realize it's about 5 stories tall... and eats trees

Tycoons, Duluth, MN

I found this spot in a city I don't know very well by Googling "brewery". It looked good online and seemed to be "downtown", plus it had 4/5 stars, so I thought at least I wouldn't be disappointed. 

I arrived on a snowy night and after some parking issues, I had tucked my car into a city lot (put that on your website!). As I walked to the restaurant, I realized why it was called "Tycoons" as it's directly across from a creepy, gen-pop drawing, downtown casino. Gross. Nice city planning, Duluth. Must be the tax benefits. So, name understood, I went inside. 

The restaurant has a nice vibe and decor in an older building downtown. It was also busy, a good sign. I sat at the bar and inquired about a beer with the college-aged, female bartender. She helped me understand why Google chose this place under "brewery" as all their tap beers are supplied by Fitger's, a local Duluth brewer and she helped me choose their Tugboat Irish Stout. I was pleased with the beer choice from the first sip. 

I picked one of the evening's specials for dinner which is their "Cinnamon Salmon". It was served with fingerling potatoes and a grilled vegetable medley. Though I thought I'd be in for a Northwoods portion (aka huge), it was almost like a high-end restaurant portion (not petite, but no leftovers). The salmon was really well done, but the vegetable medley had onions, which I thought was odd and the potatoes were not consistently cooked, some tender and some a little under done. Despite the minor points, I liked the meal and would go back. 

They also had a great crowd and interesting folks on staff. For example, one of the bartenders had not one but two puka shell necklaces. Who wears these anymore...if you're over 22 years old... and not a swimwear model? In fact, all the male bartenders looked they needed a shower and shave too...I could chalk that up to a long winter.