Hiatus and a Trip to Minneapolis

Hello. Like me, you've probably noticed that I haven't posted for awhile. Why, you ask? I have been ultimately way too busy to be funny. It's very possible. It happens all the time. Even now, as I type I am feeling bitterly unfunny. But there is nothing worse than not trying.

So here goes. :D

I am now going to explain why, in my most recent blogs, I was lamenting my financial situation. Two weeks ago, my girlfriend and I decided that we needed to get out of St. Cloud. We had been intending to go on a mini-vacation sometime for my birthday, so we decided to just do it. Because I had so much extra money from the holidays, I paid for most of the trip. And let me tell you, we spared no expense.

First of all, I booked a room at the Foshay. Oh, you've never been? Haha, just kidding. I'm not an ass. But seriously, have you ever been there? Here's a picture.

Yes, the fabulous Foshay Tower, home of W Minneapolis (a 4 star hotel). Being a history nut, I totally researched the hell out of it before the trip. It was constructed and completed in 1929. Wilbur Foshay, a high rolling businessman had the building built for offices and intended for his office and personal apartment to be stationed near the top of the tower.

Wilbur "Douchebag" Foshay

It was designed to be a memorial to the Washington memorial. Which is a little convoluted in my own opinion. Anyways, when it opened there was a huge party. There were half naked women everywhere. No lie. Wilbur even commissioned John Philip Sousa to compose and perform a march at the event.

Remember? He composed "Stars and Stripes Forever." Kind of a big deal.

So anyways, it was an awesome party. But guess what happened three months later? Know your U.S. history? The stock market crashed. Wilbur Foshay hadn't even moved in to his fabulous new apartment yet. All of his assets were seized and he was exposed as a crook who had been running a pyramid scheme the whole time (which is why I called him a douchebag earlier). The check he wrote John Philip Sousa for $20,000 bounced and Sousa forbade the march to ever be played again until he got his money.

Fun fact: The march was prohibited all the way to 1988, when a group of Minnesotan investors finally paid Sousa's estate the $20,000 he was owed.

Anyways, Foshay lost it all. And now there was just a huge ass (for the time) skyscraper sitting in the middle of Minneapolis. It was beautiful, unique, and full of art-deco goodness. Until the mid-seventies, it was the tallest thing on the horizon in our majestic Twin Cities. Over time, the tower fulfilled a variety of uses. Finally, in 2008, it opened as the hotel it is today.

And what a hotel it is. It is a strange hybrid of old-timey class, and Vegas glitz. Look at some pictures.

The lobby.

The front desk. (The lady who was there was a bitch.)

So there you have it. And then there was the room... It didn't take long for my girlfriend and I to realize that it was essentially a sex room. By extension, I guess it is a sex hotel. It was (as my girlfriend puts it) ricockulous. Huge bed, purple lights, and a frosted glass wall between the bedroom and the shower. So privacy? Not so much. But is that a bad thing? Quite a conundrum.

Giant bed.

The revealing shower.

So that's enough about the hotel. We also went to a show at the Guthrie Theater. My first time going there, much to the dismay of my girlfriend. I was pleasantly surprised by a very entertaining production of Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors."

The Guthrie. Great architecture. 

In the morning, we had an expensive breakfast at the Foshay's in-house restaurant, Manny's Steakhouse. Yes, Manny's, the Star Tribune's 2008 Restaurant of the Year. It was SO expensive and SO worth it.

See that fruit bowl on the left? That is an $8 bowl of fruit.

That night, we had a romantic dinner at Chino Latinos. Another great restaurant in the cities. They advertise their menu featuring "Street Food from the Hot Zones." It was interesting. Everything we ordered was very unique and very delicious. My girlfriend and I joked about doing a fake marriage proposal in the middle of the restaurant. Naturally, I chickened out. :)

So that was my date weekend. It was very plush, very fun, very relaxing, and very expensive. In fact, the wonderful happy feeling stayed with me for a full week before wearing off due to the stress of college life. It was such a great break from the daily grind. However, it also explains why I was so broke for awhile there.

I'm fine now. I've got a nice paycheck in the bank and I am back on the rise. In conclusion, I love the cities, I love being treated like I'm rich, and I love my girlfriend.

More to come,

Cody M. Logeland