How Swede it is, Minneapolis that is

 Minneapolis, MN

Francis enjoying the sun

Scandinavian Gift Shop and Groceries

Today Donna and I went to Ingebretsen's Scandinavian Gifts to check out what they were selling.  We wanted to get some food but they also sell so much more.  I found it on a list of things you must try when in Minneapolis.  Their Lefse is on that list.  Donna found it by some other search so we ended up telling eachother about the same place.

Donna checking out the cool stuff we have no room for.

I liked these candles, also a phrase I thought I would never think when I was younger.

We have something like this we pull out for Christmas.  These were a lot smaller and more artsy.  Ours is probably 40 years old.

Scandinavians love cutting the cheese.  They even invented new ways to cut the cheese.  Here we see at least 8 ways to cut the cheese.  One more time, cut the cheese.

They have Jam flavors you can't really get here.  We passed on the Lingonberry (for ze lingonberry pancakes) but got the Cloudberry.  

These gummi fish are much more inclusive than Swedish Fish

Local Groceries

After the gift shop we went to Cub Groceries and picked up some more food to get us through the next few days.  We found some local treats also.  Local treats are one of the best parts of travel.

Local Candy!

Here is our local food hall.

After shopping I went back to Up Down Minneapolis to practice on a few machines.  I am trying to learn all of the modern Stern machines.  I am watching videos, reading strategy, making notes and then taking my learnings to the arcade and trying them out.  Today I focused on The Mandalorian, Star Wars, and The Avengers Infinity Quest.  I have a long way to go but I did have a pretty good game on Star Wars

I'm Number 2!

That was it for today.  If you missed Streets for the People, Not Cars, check it out.

Tasting Local Baltimore

 Baltimore, MD

Taking selfies like the locals

Local Flavor

Food is one of the reasons we like to travel.  There are many places with great local food traditions.  We had Texas BBQ in Texas, we had Kansas City BBQ in K.C., and now we have had Blue Crab and Pit Beef in Baltimore.  All of these local flavors were really good.  We have had some disappointing local flavor like Provel Cheese Pizza in St. Louis (do not recommend).  We also have local flavor coming up in New Orleans.

Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab

Today we tried local specialties from the area.  The first one was Blue Crab.  Instead of going to an expensive seafood restaurant, we picked up a few crabs at our local nice supermarket, Harris Teeter.  We did our normal shopping and then grabbed 3 crabs on the way out.  

They are pretty small and lighter than I would have expected.

They were steamed with Old Bay at the grocery store

The crab was really good.  I am used to San Francisco Dungeness crabs.  They are way bigger with way more meat and also way more expensive.  I think I prefer the steamed with butter over the Old Bay preparation.

It was a fun treat and a fun experience.  I am glad I didn't spend $50 getting them at a restaurant even though that would have been fun too.  I didn't have to fight off any gulls trying to steal my crab.

Old Bay 

You see Old Bay and Old Bay references everywhere you look in Baltimore.  I started seeing all kinds of Old Bay products at the grocery store so I decided to document the ones I saw.  I know there are more that I missed.

They had a nice display in front of the seafood

Okay I admit that I made a few of these myself but I am sure there are some that are just as crazy as the ones I made.  

Pit Beef

This afternoon Tony returned from his work trip and spent the evening and night with us.  We were closer to the airport and there wasn't a ton to do up in the Sparks, MD area.  Donna and I really wanted to try Pit Beef so we decided to get some when Tony arrived. 

We learned about Pit Beef in one of our favorite John Waters movies, Pecker.  It's a lot like really good Arby's.  We ended up going to a Pit Beef institution north of Baltimore called Chaps Pit Beef.  Tony mentioned to the work people he was meeting with that he was going to something called beet pit or pit beef, and all of the people he was with said, "oh yea Chaps".  

Tony is ready!

We accidentally ordered their special which has Pit Beef and Ham with cheese.  It wasn't what we thought we were ordering but we weren't disappointed.  It was so good!

We also got a large Gravy Fries

All of the online reviews make note that it is in the parking lot of a strip club.  It felt weird driving into a strip club parking lot but it was totally worth it.

Maybe we will be back for the Golden Rods.

The rest of the evening we sampled local beer and watched YouTube videos.  It was a great day.  We were so happy that Tony was able to spend the 2nd half of the day with us. 

If you missed yesterday's post you can see it here.