Phillip's Secret Weekend Getaway

A month ago Phillip told me to not make plans for the last weekend in June. I agreed and asked him why? He said it was a surprise and that I'll have to wait till we get there to find out. Yesterday I packed a bag and we took the bus downtown. I really had no idea where we were going, but i was super excited and surprised when we ended up at the Graves Hotel.

OMG is that place fabulous!

I’d never been inside before and once i walked in, I didn't want to leave. The decor is gorgeous, there's cool music playing all the time, the restaurant and bar are like nothing I’d ever seen before (yes, I admit, I’m sheltered) and our room was just beautiful.

I couldn't believe my eyes when we got into the room. It was a bit on the small side, but for just one night, it was perfect. The bathroom was totally luxurious and there was even a TV in there! the bed was so soft it was like laying on a cloud. unfortunately, it was a little too soft for me and i had trouble sleeping. and then I woke up with a back and neck ache. we had OK views of the city and the enormous TV/DVD player in our room kept us entertained for the 5 minutes we were actually in the room.












First we went for lunch at the Loon Bar and Grill. i had a Reuben and Phillip had a chicken wrap. it was delish. then we walked around Minneapolis, pretending to be tourists. we did some shopping and i bought some fruit from one of the farm stands that was set up. then we went back to the hotel and watched some baseball. i took a little nap:


Here's a super cute picture of Phillip that I love because I caught him in the middle of a story, so he's relaxed and more himself:


We decided to go to Block E and see Ratatouille. It was so cute! I loved it. Although I think it's more for adults than kids. Not sure if kids could follow it. After the movie we went to Pizza Luce for some pizza and beer. it was so tasty, even though I’ve had their pizza and beer a hundred times before. Maybe it was just because i was so happy to be on a mini vacation with my husband, but I’ve never tasted such good pizza.

After dinner we decided to head over to First Avenue to check out Too Much Love. it was free, so that was good. I guess last night was supposed to be "dark wave disco" night, but it was pretty much just pop-y house music. in short, it sucked, so we left after drinking our beers. we headed to the Saloon to check out what was going on, but there was a cover so we decided against it.

We headed back to the hotel bar, which is uber expensive and swanky. i ordered an amaretto sour and Phillip had a Stella Artios. The bill for those two drinks was $16, before tip. gah. So we moved from the bar to one of the cushy couches to chill out and relax. Well what do you know? About 2 minutes after we sat down our (cloth) napkins catch on fire from the tiny candle on the tiny table next to us. I freak out and quickly stamp out the fire. I thought we could just forget about it, but one of the bartenders came over and gave us the look of death (even though it wasn't our fault!) just before snatching the charred napkins off the tiny table. he was not pleased. Whatever, dude! Besides, who the heck gives out tiny cloth napkins at a bar? Where’s the paper, people?

Anyhow, after we finished our drinks we decided to go back up to our room. By this time I’d had 4 drinks and that's pretty much my limit. So we take off our party clothes and get into the super cushy bed and pile the comforters on top of us. Phillip falls asleep right away, but I stay up and watch some documentary on Courtney Love. It was boring so I turn it off and try and fall asleep. But before I do, I take this photo:

Yeah, it's not so flattering, but I think it's super cute.

This morning we got up at about 9:30, showered and dressed, checked out of the awesome hotel, and came home. I gave Lola a big hug and kiss because I missed her (she would have loved that bed!) and then Phillip and I got on our bikes and went to Crema Cafe (it's an old article) for brunch. I had the french toast and Phillip had scrambled eggs and sausage. The thing is, my french toast was literally two slices of bread with nutella in the middle and a scoop of their coconut ice cream on top. Phillip had organic eggs with one tiny sausage patty, home fries, and toast. My two slices of bread and ice cream was super tasty, but absolutely NOT worth the $10.95 they charge. Phillip's eggs were very tasty and I think he got his money's worth (well, MY money's worth, since I paid) for his breakfast. I'd go back again, but only for the ice cream.

At about 2:00 we decided to get our bathing suits on and head to Lake Harriet. It's about a 1.5 mile bike ride. I haven't been on my bike all summer (except to take short rides to the store, etc) and so by the time i got to the lake my legs were on fire. We swam around (Phillip even took off his shirt!) for about 30 min and then biked home. Needless to say, I'm exhausted. I feel great, though, and will probably go back to swim again tomorrow. I need the exercise.

So that was our weekend. We're just chilling out for the rest of the day. I'm trying to decide what to make for dinner. It would be awesome if we had a grill, but we don't so I have to think of something to make on the stove. Hopefully our next apartment will have a big kitchen so I don't feel so squished in there when I have to cook like I do now.

Man, I'm pooped. I was super happy with Phillip's surprise. And it really WAS a surprise! I had no idea what we were doing or where we were going until we got there. Totally awesome.