On the Road - On a Stick - Day 6

Well Well Well. After a couple of days of eating like a champ (and I don't mean healthy), I awoke this morning ready to write an update on the escapades... Let's backtrack. I'll start with yesterday. I am currently staying in the VIP luxury suite at Casa D' Craig (My friends of several years; AND the friends who have hosted me at the most different cities in the US - 3 - chicago, philly, and now Minneapolis). I woke up, and found them sitting on the nice, soothing back patio, with their cappuccinos and reading the paper. I joined them and sat out there reading a great article in a NY Times insert about tennis rivalries. This article also featured photos of Andy Samberg dressed up (and quite convincingly) as specific tennis players from the open era and those respective player's biggest rivals. (Sorry if I'm boring you with this, but) McEnroe - Borg - Agassi - Sampras - Connors. We then got dressed up for a quick 3 mile run around a nearby lake. it was really nice and even their little dogs made the run. There were a ton of people running/biking/rollerblading around this lake and it was a perfect day for it. Then we came back and got showered up for a nice day at the main attraction - MN State Fair. I'm excited because last year Mike D and I were in MN during the fair as well. We ate so much fried food and on sticks and it was a fun experience. SO I felt so lucky to be back in town during the fair again this year.

Aside from people watching and just walking around, looking at different products/machinery/cars/tools/booths, the food was our main goal so here is a recap:
-Deep fried pickles - I never thought this sounded good, but they actually tasted great, and just like pickles
-Fish Taco
-Asian Fusion Carnita taco
-jamaican jerk seasoned french fries
-Chicago coney dog
-Pronto Pup corn dog w/ mustard
-Spring Grove Lemon Sour soda
-Deep Fried Milky Way on a stick (AMAZING)
-Cheese curds (could only eat 2 pieces at this point, but they were good; saltier than I imagined)
-Root Beer float on the way out the door (after letting things settle for a while)

I think we had the right approach. Since I was a 3rd wheel, that means there was 3 of us. We decided to just pool our stomach resources and just split/share everything. This would allow us to try more and not get full/sick too quickly. It worked out well. After our initial surge of eating 5-6 items right off the bat, we were satisfied and pacing ourselves well, this allowed us to walk around for a good portion of the fair. We capped it off with a couple of late treats like the cheese curds and the root beer float. Just an amazing time. The cash adds up for sure. And special thanks to my friend Brian for paying for most of it (aside from all of the other perks he has afforded me in the last two days). What a great time, if you have never been to a large state fair, I strongly advise you to do so.

All right, on to YESTERDAY. My friend Em was nice enough to take time out of her busy weekend to hang out with me on Saturday. I scheduled things in advance and when I realized that not only were the Tigers playing the Twins this weekend in MN, but Justin Verlander was pitching Saturday and going for his 20th win!









We also decided to pig out at some point. It started (for me) with a quaint, hot pretzel, one of my major weaknesses. Then I had one of my favorite ball park concoctions: I called it a "Dillemon." (we actually came up with that name together). It's a big beer (must be in a plastic cup) from any ballpark, usually costing around $8. Then purchase a frozen lemon chill/lemon ice cup. Let the lemon ice thaw out a bit (or if it's a really hot summer day, just drop it right into the beer after drinking it down and making room for it. Patiently let the beer engulf and embrace the lemon ice as it melts into a consistent texture, and then enjoy your citrus, refreshing beverage. Anyway around halfway through the game we were ready for the main course. I got a chili dog, and Em impressed me by getting a polish sausage with BOTH sauerkraut and onions! Then we split a grande nachos which was actually really good and the toppings were ample and perfect. >br>









Then we walked around Minneapolis after the Tigers victory and chose to wind it down with the sun... laying in the grass at Loring Park as the sun went down.







So Saturday was another fun day on the road. I would have loved to play a show every single day, but if I can't, then I had the best two alternatives for Saturday and Sunday.

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Let's not forget about Friday folks. My last post was Friday, but BEFORE my show that night. I wanted to recap that night. I rolled into the Red Raven and started setting up. There was a local, named Adam, who plays as "The Prarie," which is an interesting blend of music using backing tracks and some cool backing arrangements (I think I heard some recorder in there). He opened up the show and brought in a good amount of peeps. When this usually happens I feel it can go either of two ways, (1) when he finishes playing everyone will promptly leave or (2) everyone will stick around. Fortunately it was the latter. This was one of the best audiences that I had ever played for. I did a nice, solid 45 minute set, and they were so attentive, quiet, and receptive throughout. After I finished, I was packing things up and talking to Adam, and then a woman showed up very late (whom I had met the night before at the wine bar). She missed the whole set but wanted to come, and brought a couple people with her. So I proposed to play her a couple of songs unplugged. So I pulled up a stool, and there was also a table of kids hanging out that also wanted to hear more. I played two repeats to open up the "unplugged set." "Stay 4 Hours" + "North Milwaukee" by request. Then I rattled off about 4 more, and I think everyone was quite satisfied... even me.

This woman, Jane, is all about helping me break into the Fargo market, which I am excited about, and I actually need to call her up today and talk about some things... I love when complete strangers are able to receive what I am giving, and actually believe in it, also while offering to help down the road; a pretty nice payoff.

I think my backtracking is now current.

Today is now Monday, and it feels like a day off, but that's just because I don't play until 11PM tonight. I will probably be falling asleep by the time I start to play, but I'm sure I won't play a sleepy set. After that is the homestretch: driving to and from Minot, ND, and then Fargo, Duluth, and Winona before heading back home for just a few days...

Kudos if you read all of this...