January 1-3, 2026
2025’s body wasn’t even cold before we headed out on our first adventure for 2026!
During the last weekend of 2025, Brandy said, “Let’s go to the Mall of America.”
So we did just that.
She hopped on and found an AirBnB not far from the Mall and booked it for Dec 31-Jan 3.
Drive and Arrival
After my early release on New Year’s Eve, we made the five hour drive up to the rental unit.
Minnesota saw a bit of snow in the days leading up to the trip so as we approached the unit, traffic slowed down a bit. Also, driving in an unfamiliar area with a bazillion highways interchanging over and under and to the left and right, all in the dark, and while I was operating on only a few hours’ sleep the night before, it was quite the adventure. (I have recently come to discover the wonder that is the white Monster, so that helped a little…)
We finally got off the highway at about 8:15 and a few minutes later, we pulled up to the spot.
The street was lined with early-20th century homes, all purposefully built with the intention of being lived in. They were almost all two story single family residences, with many of them having been divided into up-down individual units, but the faces of the buildings retained the charm that makes them so unique.
Many of the homes still had Christmas decorations up, us arriving a scant week after the holiday, and with the neighborhood blanketed in snow, Brandy noted, it was like stepping into A Christmas Story.
Being an old neighborhood, the resident parking was in the alley behind the home, but guests, such as us, would park on the narrow street in front of the house. Parking the massive Super Duty on the tiny road caused us some concern so I made sure to at least fold my side view mirror in when parked on the street.
The home we were staying in fit the early-20th century aesthetic perfectly, many of the furnishings and fixtures aligning with the time period, save the modern appliances in the kitchen. The kitchen cabinets had old, cast turn latches to keep them shut- no modern European hinges or magnetic catches to aid in their closure. There was an array of push-button light switches right next to the front door (though I only found one set that seemed to do anything, and that was to operate the porch light.) There were functional steam radiators throughout the house and a clawfoot tub as the central focal point of the bathroom.
Being a short, four night trip, we didn’t bring much- a small carry-on sized bag for each of us, and Brandy’s backpack for her work computer, because of course. But battling the snow bank formed by the plows that had visited prior to arrival made unloading difficult, and doing so in single-digit temperatures made things so much worse. But, I persevered and got everything unloaded in short order. Once settled in the house, we packed it in for the night.
Mall of America – Part 1
Thursday morning, we made our way to the Mall of America, the largest mall in North America (and in doing my research, I literally just found out that the mall sits on the land that was previously occupied by Metropolitan Stadium, or “The Met”, the former home of the the Minnesota Twins, before their move to the Metrodome in 1982.
Some of the stats I’m seeing absolutely boggle my mind:
- 5.6 million square feet
- Four levels in some areas (three in others)
- 12,300 parking spaces spread over two 7-stroy ramps and two overflow lots
- 520 stores and services
- Not to mention there’s a whole-ass amusement park, complete with roller coasters and a log flume ride smack-dab in the middle of it all
We pulled into the parking structure at about 10:00, Brandy flinching each time the truck’s aerial scaped against a low-hanging pipe or concrete truss (the ramp stated a 7-foot clearance, I’m certain Clyde is 6’11”.) We found a spot close to the entrance and made our way in.
Immediately, I was struck by the sheer enormity of it all. Finding a three-story mall in this day and age is difficult, much less a mall with a fourth level in some areas. We entered on 2 and our adventure began.
I’ll spare you the details of our shopping trip, but will mention that we rented a jumbo locker and stuff our booty in there as we continued about.
At 12:30, we headed up to the fourth level to the movie theater where we had purchsed tickets to see Song Sung Blue, the based-on-a-true-story of Mike and Claire Sardina, leads of a Neil Diamond tribute band, Lightning and Thunder.
Frankly, I had no intention of seeing this. In fact, I didn’t even know it was a thing until Brandy said she wanted to go to the movies while we were there and to see what was playing. But, man I am glad we saw it. It was such a good movie.
Now, I love going to the movies, but this theater was in desperate need of some improvement. It was dim and not inviting at all, it needed a good cleaning (and I’m not even talking about a deep scrubbing, I’m just talking about a good vacuuming, trash picked up, countered wiped down, supplies restocked) and with no one checking tickets as we walked into the theater, a clearly homeless person wandered into our theater and took a seat on the floor at the back of the theater.
But, enough about that.
After the movie, we were pretty tuckered out so we called it a day and headed back to the AirBnB for the night.
Mall Re-Visit, Thrifting and Ice Castles
The next morning, we headed out once more to a thrift shop not far from the mall. We picked up some items then headed back to the Mall for more shopping. Before we got too far along, we stopped at Cadillac Ranch, a place that promises “multiple bars, a mechanical bull, and rock ‘n roll inspired décor that will keep you coming back for more.”
Truly, posted of Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin and Hank Williams, Jr, adorned the walls, but the music that was playing took me completely out of the vibe. I had to Shazam the music to even see who it was (it was not anything even adjacent to the artists that were pictured on the walls.)
The food was fine, though, I got a Nashville hot chicken sandwich (not all that hot, but still flavorful enough) and Brandy got an appetizer sampler that she only ate about half of before she tapped out.
After lunch, we did a tiny bit more shopping before heading back to the AirBnB for a quick rest before making our way to the Ice Castles at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.
After our initial visit to the Ice Castles in Cripple Creek the year before, we had a pretty good idea of what to expect. This iteration did not disappoint, however the Real Feel of 4° made it a less-than-desirable experience. It seemed to be SO much colder than last year in Colorado, just amplifying the difference between Colorado cold and Midwest cold (humidity plays a BIG part in it, I tell ya.)
We walked through the caves and caverns… well, really we more like ran through it, just from being so cold. We were only there for about half an hour before we decided we needed to get out of there. We headed back to Clyde then made the drive back to the AirBnB for our last night’s stay in Minnesota.
On our way out of town the next morning, Brandy asked me to drop her at the Goodwill in Bloomington, so I did and while she shopped, I drove around the corner to a Mexican bakery where I picked up a selection of Mexican pan dulce, or sweet bread, and a cop of the thickest, richest hot chocolate I have even had, atole. It’s made from masa, the corn flour that is used to wrap tamales, so it gives the beverage a thick, porridge-like consistency.
Once Brandy returned to the truck, we made the rest of the drive home without incident.
Conclusion
Pictures from this trip are, as always on the Photo Diary.
Doing as much as we did in Minnesota warrants the addition of the sticker to the map I got for Christmas. The map is filling out quite nicely with some holes to the east and a wide swath across the south. We will get there eventually.
But, in the meantime, it was still a great trip, even if a rather short one.
At this time, our next planned outing will be the first two weeks of February when we will be heading back to Colorado for Brandy’s birthday trip, then nothing in the books until June when we are headed to Portugal for a four day getaway with Blue October.
That is, until, Spring breaks and we are able to get out and do more spontaneous things. For Christmas, we got the RIO Iowa Adventure Bucket List scratch off cards. This will give us a perfect opportunity to explore more of the state in which we live, and once those are done, we may expand the list and get the cards for a different state.
But that’s putting the cart before the horse. Let’s get through our home state, first.
Post-Trip Shenanigans
After our return to Iowa, I was feeling kinda Midwestern, craving a pork tenderloin sandwich and corn nuggets so I ordered some from a nearby dive bar called The Recovery Room.
This is the kind of place that was super dim when I walked in at noon, yet the place was crowded with families eating at the tables and farmers drinking at the bar. I grabbed our food and headed back home to enjoy the delicious fried pork patty that was three times bigger than the bun, loaded it up with ketchup, mustard and pickles. Little, sweet nuggets of fried creamed corn on the side with an untouched side of ranch dressing and a pop (not a soda) to wash it all down with and I was solidly in Iowa.
The next weekend, we made our way to Albia for a dinner with Craig and Sue at Bogies Steak House. This was unlike any steakhouse I’d even been to. Very midwestern atmosphere with banquet style chairs and tables, a four-foot long salad bar with almost no options (the macaroni salad seemed to be a hit though) and the grill cooking in the dining room (who needs a separate kitchen?)
The steak was fine, if a hair under-seasoned, the fried potatoes were evidently leftover baked potatoes from the night before that they sliced up and fried allegedly with onions (I spied none) but were well seasoned (better than the steak.)
It really reminded me of the time we went to The Barnyard on our trip to Leon. I understand Midwesterners like their food simple, quick and easy. That’s why seasonings are sparse, Busch Light is the drink of choice and you’re hard pressed to find decent ethnic food of any kind (though I will say, I am shocked at how many Mexican restaurants can be found in our immediate vicinity.) But this is how these folks live and are happy with it. Who am I to yuck their yum?
I washed down my steak and potatoes with a Michelob Ultra and was happy with it.
Now, to make some chicken tinga…