Running Chick

Old people who can hardly drive should not be employed as hotel shuttle drivers. Seriously, can't they tend to the shrubbery or something? The shuttle driver to the Mall of America proudly informed me that even though his wife doesn't allow him to drive anymore, the hotel lets him drive on short runs. Yipee for me! I think he had Parkinson's in his hands and feet because we were constantly swaying from left to right and speeding up and slowing down. Also, he was very chatty and insisted on turning around to look at me when as we were zooming down the expressway. Seriously scary. I still think it was a miracle that we arrived safely.

I must be getting older because the Mall of America does not have the same appeal it once did. I could never figure out which side I was on and once I did, I was always on the side which was the farthest away from where I wanted to be. I swear, I walked 10 miles. My feet are sore as hell.

Anyway, we went to dinner at Famous Dave's BBQ (meh), poked around in REI for five minutes before they closed and went to the next door hotel for drinks to wrap up the night.

Tomorrow starts my quest for new running shoes.

We arrived in Minneapolis around 5:00 local time after an uneventful 7 hour drive. Well, maybe not that uneventful. We stopped for lunch at the Minocqua Brewing Company in Minocqua, WI. The beer was not good and the food was mediocre. Not impressed.

Anyway, after getting settled into our room at Staybridge Suites, we headed out to find some food and drinks.

We ended up at Brit's Pub in downtown Minneapolis. Old Speckled Hen is way better on tap than out of the can. We had dinner there as well, JP had fish and chips, Josh had Guiness pot roast and I had Tandoori chicken. Everything was delicious, although I was disappointed that I didn't hear any British accents.

Our quest for (good) beer continued and led us to The Local, an Irish pub about a block from Brit's Pub. This place was in an awesome old building with tons of intricate wood and glass work. I had a pint of the Finneagan's Irish Amber which was very good.

Continuing on with our American-UK pub tour, we headed a few blocks down the street to MacKenzie's, a Scottish Pub. Aside from a few Scottish beers on tap, I really didn't see anything Scottish about this bar. I had Bellhaven. It wasn't nearly as good as OSH or Finnegan's. JP introduced us to bar golf and the crabby bartender yelled at some guy trying to scalp Norah Jones tickets in the bar.

The Nuvi sent us on a crazy course back to the hotel. We stopped at Major's Bar for one final drink before retiring to our hotel room.

Tomorrow, I'm spending the day at the Mall of America while the guys are in class.