Skating the Stadium

 Minneapolis, MN

Skating at US Bank Stadium

Tonight we walked The Skyway (and as an added bonus got to walk the part that only people going to the stadium can walk) to US Bank Staduim to skate.  Minneapolis has a long tradition of skating in arenas dating back to before US Bank Stadium was a thing.  For $10 you can skate the smooth 200 Level of US Bank Stadium or Run / Walk the smooth 300 Level.   

This is the part of The Skyway we haven't been able to walk until tonight!

The green line is the path we took.

It was fun seeing some of the stadium decorations seeing as how we are never going to an NFL game.

The stadium was giant and impressive.

Thankfully we got to an escalator before we put on our skates.

They set up a lace up area for the skaters.  We were there at 4:50.  Skating started at 5pm.  The place began to pack out by 6.

Ready to go!

They big drum they probably bang at times during games.

They had helpers or skate police depending on your point of view.  One helper offered to take our photo.

Speed skating started at 9pm but we were long gone by then.  It would have been fun to watch people with giant wheels screaming by.  Some skaters seemed like they were almost speed skating.

Donna wanting to be seen.

It was a really fun experience.  People around here skate so well.  It's going to take a lot of skating practice to blend in while skating.

If this is something you want to do visit on a Tuesday or Thursday and get your tickets via Ticketmaster.

We took transit home because The Skyway was closed.  Our bus was decorated for The Hollidays.

That's it for today.  If you missed, Sippin' Santa 2024, check it out.  We sipped Tiki Drinks amongst Christmas Decorations in a hotel lobby bar.

Old School Roller Skating

 Arvada, CO

Get funky y'all!  

Skate City

Today we went to "Adult Skate and Workout" at Skate City in Arvada, CO. We arrived at 10:15am and paid our $5 to get in and were given rental skates.  It was my first time on traditional roller skates in about 20 years.  After getting my skates on, I skated over to the doughnut table and grabbed a "free" doughnut.  At 10:30 the skating started.  All in all, there were about 25 skaters that attended and there was 1 fantastic "skating leader".  She knew most people's names, including ours, and skated with us (she is in the upper left of the photo above, while keeping the music requests playing.

Mmmmmm, doughnuts!

Old School skates!

After the first half hour Kelly, our skate leader, blocked off part of the rink and passed out squares of carpet just like in kindergarten.  We weren't entering "Nap Time" tough, we were entering "Workout and Stretching Time".  I thought it was going to be casual but Kelly was a drill sergeant.  Have you ever done leg lifts, crunches, squats, and planks with skates on?  I have.  

After exercising, the cones came out and people practiced their sweet moves.

And then the skate dancing started to old school hip hop songs.

It was super fun and we will probably do it every Wednesday until we leave.  I fell twice but that was because my confidence was coming back faster than my skills.  By the end of the session my confidence and skills were high but my legs were tired so I chose to take it easy.  Next week I will push myself again and hopefully I will get back to where I was in Jr. High minus the flexibility for "Shoot the Duck" and "Limbo".

That's it for today.  If you missed Confluence Park, check it out.  We are staying right near the point where Cherry Creek flows into The South Platt River.

Tiki in Shakopee

 Shakopee, MN

How about another Tiki bar?

Skating Around Lake of the Isles

This morning we got up and took our skates to Lake of the Isles to skate around it before it got too hot.  It was hot but it wasn't too hot.  It was a lot of fun.  We only had to worry about people on bikes which is better than worrying about cars.  The trail around the lake is about 2 miles.

Me and my $5 thrift store skates taking a breather.

Rum Row Basement Tiki Bar

Today we did a little drive south to Shakopee, MN to visit Rum Row Basement Tiki Bar.  Rum Row is a new bar and when I researched it about a month ago they were doing a BOGO Happy Hour so why wouldn't you go?  Well we got there and it wasn't BOGO anymore but there was a happy hour.  The space was cool, the drinks were delicious, and the food was good even though it didn't look very fancy.  

Rum Row is in the basement of the Shakopee House.

Shakopee House looked pretty cool.

But their basement looked pretty cooler!

Decorations on the way down.

Donna's drink was delicious

Mine was even better delicious.

They had some interesting mugs.

There was another stairwell in the back

Donna explores the menu.  We didn't get a second round.

They had a cabinet for merchandise.

Sad News in the Tiki World

Yesterday we learned that Psycho Suzi's will be closing this month. We have been there twice (here) this trip and might go again to pay our respects.