After five years of regular visits, we said our goodbyes to the Twin Cities. This past weekend, Reed (hubby), Alli (baby of the fam), Quinn (best dog ever), and I traveled to Minneapolis to help Logan (middle child) move out of his apartment.

We got an early start, so a little caffeine was in order:

Notice the UHaul following us? Yep…there was a lot of hauling to be done. All of the stuff we hauled over last fall was now coming back. Yippee.

We arrived just in time for lunch. I was looking forward to eating at the Tiny Diner one more time. Not only is the food something to write home about, but puppies are welcome on the patio.

I opted for the Macro Bowl: black rice, some unidentifiable green stalks (tasty, yet I have no idea what I was actually eating), pickled radish, marinated tofu and avocado. This was sooooo good. And filling. The lavender lemonade wasn’t too shabby either.

There was a little boy sitting at a table next to us waving his hotdog around in the air. Quinn was quite attentive. Had that hotdog hit the ground, our dog would have been more than ready! (I was actually a little concerned that the hotdog wouldn’t even need to hit the ground.)

Just as we were wrapping up, dark clouds began rolling in from the east, so we decided we’d better get moving. Turns out our timing wasn’t good. We moved just about everything in the rain. The rain stopped shortly before hauling out the last box.

Although it was a tad bit chilly, it was perfect for a walk around Lake Harriet.

Floating dock. That should explain my posture.

A quick photo-op. And yes, I realize I was squinting. All four pairs of sunglasses were at home.

We then headed towards Macalester College. I wanted to check out Common Good Books one last time. I love this bookstore. Very quaint, and I always find something out of the ordinary to read.  This time was no different, but the reality was I have several “have to read” books before I can justify a “want to read” book.

From here, we walked to Shish, another of our favorite restaurants located just off campus.

Hummus to start (this is so amazing…I don’t know what their secret is, but they have one. I can’t seem to replicate this no matter how hard I try):

I followed this up with one of the best portobello burgers known to (wo)man. I will need to recreate this at home. Not only is it loaded with hummus, but the roasted red pepper totally sends this over the top.

And since no visit to the Twin Cities is complete without Izzy’s ice cream, we decided to take the scenic route and headed to the Minneapolis location. I love, love, love the fact dairy free options are always available. I chose dairy free peanut butter! (It was so good, I choose peanut butter for my Izzy scoop as well.)

They even have Doggie Ice Cream!

We took one more walk for the day before dropping Logan and Quinn off at Logan’s apartment and heading to our hotel.

The next morning, our tastebuds were set for The Birchwood Cafe. The weather was a bit dismal, so we opted to eat inside. (Actually it was more than a bit dismal…it was downright damp and cold.)

A bottomless cup of coffee warmed me up. I followed that with a fruit cup (notice the strawberries are the size of the blueberries…tiny, but oh so sweet), and tofu hash!!! I am so loving pickled radishes. If you are not a fan of radishes, you really need to try them this way. And roasted…you need to try them roasted as well. Notice the white radishes in my hash? I was not a fan of radishes until trying them pickled and roasted.

We squeezed in one last walk. I forced Logan to pose for this picture. He is typically camera shy. Alli, on the other hand, is not camera shy.

This trail was somewhat deceiving…

as this was how we had to go back up. Quinn was super stoked! Alli and I found it a bit more challenging as we were wearing sandals.

Then it was time for breakfast dessert: Glam Doll! (We made that up…’breakfast dessert’…completely rationalizing.) It’s probably a good thing there is nothing like Glam Doll Donuts in the Neenah area.

And just like that, it was time to say goodbye. I hate goodbyes. Hate them. To make matters worse, I didn’t even have my sunglasses (I’ve written about this ad nauseam).

Funny (pathetic) thing is, I’ll be seeing Logan in a few days. He’ll be home ever so briefly to collect his things for his summer job at Camp Treetops in Lake Placid. Reed and I will be joining him on his trip east, as we thought it would also be a great opportunity to deliver some of Kristin’s (our oldest) stuff to Rhode Island and visit with her.

You better believe I won’t be forgetting my sunglasses on that trip.