Leaving someplace is always a little bittersweet. Since I moved out to Michigan from the West Coast with no one familiar but my cat, I suck up time with my family like a sponge whenever I do get it.
I have terrific travel karma as a person, being blessed with lots of luck and excellent patience. I always end up where I’m supposed to be, no matter the adventures along the way. I think my luck really manifested over this trip; the cheap plane fare, the coincidence of spring break, getting the time off from work, staying within budget, exploring new places, staying healthy, and having great driving/flying weather. I’m grateful that I could bring a little bit of my travel luck with me to support my aunt at the memorial service and during family time – most of the family having never met me before or not having seen me since I was a baby. Even though they are adopted, they made me feel like one of the fam anyways. (And the dogs adopted me too)
The last day in Minneapolis was spent with family, with a quick jaunt downtown to do a little more book shopping before family dinner and my flight back to Detroit.
Seeing the train yard in the snow as we crossed into the downtown area was a great view – reminded me of Rocky.
Our mission was to find one more bookstore, preferably of a local persuasion, rather than a chain store.
Eat My Words Bookstore, located on 13th street in Minneapolis, is possibly one of the coziest places I’ve ever walked into.
As you walk in, you immediately notice the pottery for sale on neat shelves inside the door – The previous owners of the building were potters, who were looking to give up the space but not the business completely, and the owner of Eat My Words agreed to sell their wares.
All throughout the several rooms of the store, there’s a cozy vibe emanating from the couches and little reading nooks all around.
For more on Eat My Words, you can check out my featured blog post here.
I originally wasn’t going to purchase anything because my itty-bitty-carry-on is already stuffed to the gills, but I couldn’t get this beauty out of my head, so it came home with me. I’m a huge Stephen King fan, so this should come as a surprise to no one.
+1 Desperation: $8
Dinosaur Girl? Is that coffee we spy in your claws?
Of course it is. I had to try some more of the local coffee while out on the town.
This was a teeny little hole in the wall organic coffee shop that we drove by after the bookstore, and it was so intriguing that I ended up driving back to it.
This is the kind of place that makes me a little homesick. The tiny little place was full of people sharing soy chai lattes in earthenware cups, everything can be repurposed or recycled, and they only take cash. I got an iced coffee to support the local business, which was a bit bitter-tasting, but if you don’t mine putting a little cane sugar in your coffee, it goes down great.
+1 fair trade iced coffee: $3
Check out their Facebook here.
Hopping back into the car, I noticed something cool.
Why does the parking sign have a sock? Could it be possible the people in the Midwest do weirder things than in Oregon?!
Turns out, there is an art group that is yarnbombing the streets of the twin cities. They’ve been around for some time and do many of their pieces in conjunction with protest movements. A recent article in Twin Cities; Follow the yarnbomber tumblr here.
I saw another art piece that made me smile on our way home:
These kinds of street art remind me of home, and I love seeing them. I’m really wanting to plan a trip up to Portland this summer when I’m back in OR for my birthday.
Last thing on the agenda was gathering up all the cousins for dinner at Muddy Cow in Coon Rapids. One of the four-year-olds fell asleep on me before dinner even got there, and at the end I won a black and white checkered rubber duck out of a claw machine.
+1 rubber duck: $1
They had some good deals on Fishbowls and Wings, both were great. Would definitely go here again. I had a blue coconut fishbowl and the blackberry BBQ boneless wings, which I mixed into a strawberry salad.
The bathroom doors are made to look like old fridges…
I’d ask him what the specials are, but I think it might be a moo-t point…
Fed and watered, it was time to hit the trails. Smooth sailing back to the airport, and a smooth flight home.
This flight I continued listening to Melissa Albert’s “The Hazel Wood” which will be reviewed on my book blog later this week. I am LOVING it.
Some last trippy details:
Arrived at DTW: 9:30 EST
Arrived home in Lansing: 11:15 EST
Time spent without my cat: Approximately 3 days, 19 hours.
Cat mood: displeased yet purring.
Some last trip-y details:
Budget for the entire weekend: $100 + gas to DTW and parking lot fee
Day 1: $24
Day 2: $35
Day 3: $12
Total: $71/$100
Parking ended up being $28.50 and I had enough gas in my tank to still have plenty for the rest of this week, so I ended up almost exactly at $100 with other costs included.
Total cost of the trip: $278, including airfare (and seat selection), food, gas money, souvenirs. I think that was a pretty good deal, especially since I was treating myself a little bit.
Whenever I complete a trip, I like to drop whatever loose cash and change is leftover into my future travel savings jar, and I was able to put $25 of loose change into the savings jar this time (Thanks lightrail coin return).
What’s next on the horizon: I’ll blog some sights of Lansing, then it’s off to D.C./VA for a weekend with friends in just 2 weeks!
This brings the free-boob funeral trip to a close. Going braless and adventurous for a weekend was worth it, spending time with family was refreshing. I really enjoy this travel blogging thing, I think it’s going to be a great addition to my writing hobbies.
Morale: “Why isn’t spring break like, 3 weeks longer?”
Goodbye Minneapolis Leaving someplace is always a little bittersweet. Since I moved out to Michigan from the West Coast with no one familiar but my cat, I suck up time with my family like a sponge whenever I do get it.
