Secrets of the City

A million dollars.

Luverne, MN, is actually nowhere near Shirley, MN (which is near Crookston, and only 80 miles from Lenny, MN).

I haven’t been able to locate Squiggy, MN.

So, Alie wants to crank her heat to 90 degrees and eat a bucket of chicken wearing short shorts and a wife beater. That’s her idea of Shangri La. To each their own, huh?

Hey, I wouldn’t mind living in Luverne, it has off sale liquor!

I sure could use a bucket of chicken right about now.

Is there some kind of spatial anomaly that places Luveren 30 minutes WEST of SF?

Water, it would take some water. As I recall that part of the world is not as lush as central MN. Also, some free childcare would be sweet.

OMG, mnblrmkr….WHOOPS! East dammit! I wrote it at about 10:30 last night and didn’t even notice. Hopefully Max can fix it.

They had me at “bucket of chicken.”

My Grandma grew up in Luverne. It’s actually a pretty cute town. Although I haven’t been back there for a long time. I do remember going to to lots of wedding receptions at the Blue Mound Inn when I was growing up.

It would take me getting a good job, which is unlikely, for cjc to get a good job, which is unlikely, and for somehow the housing prices to rebound so we could sell our house for what we owe on our mortgage.

Oh, and for it to be located in Minneapolis or another bigish city.

Bacon. I would move for bacon.

and a helper monkey to feed my the chicken and bacon.

kc, Sioux Falls is near it and has a population of about 150,000 people. Definately not on par with Minneapolis or Chicago, but it’s big enough where you could get a good enough paying job at one of the 8 million banks there, Citigroup, or Sanford Medical Group. Too bad it kind of sucks for culture (unless you like drinking at dive bars).

I do remember going to to lots of wedding receptions at the Blue Mound Inn when I was growing up.

We used to drive up there a lot for lunch with the fam, but I only remember one wedding reception.

It would take me getting a good job, which is unlikely, for cjc to get a good job, which is unlikely,

That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of yourselves.

That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of yourselves.
Rude. Nah it’s a statement of the paradigm which has prevailed for the past 150+ years; people leave the countryside to get jobs in the city. Not a lot of opportunity in small towns to make 60k+ unless you already have a business or property there.

alie, cjc went to undergrad in Sioux Falls and his brother lives there. I have no interest in living there. Though, we did get sushi which was pretty good and the nigiri pieces were huge. And living in Luverne is not living in Sioux Falls, it is living 30 miles outside of Sioux Falls. It is like living in Big Lake.

And, we would not be able to get good jobs there, at least not by our standards. If cjc went to work for the bus company he would start all over in pay and seniority, which is not doable. I might be able to get one in government, but I find small town government to be very closed minded about people from the big city.

Where does one get a bucket of chicken in Luverne? The Cenex convenience store?

Oh, that’s right, I remember reading that he had relatives in SF. Where did he go to Undergrad? USF, Augie?

Sornie, why Chit Chat’s Family Restaurant, of course! I’ll bet it’s “broasted chicken” too. That shit is big in southern MN and South Dakota.

I’ll give a basket of fried shrimp and a cheeseburger handy to anyone who lives at my house.

When the broasted chicken shack closed on Highway 9, northwest Iowa went into a serious funk until Pizza Ranch came in to fill the broasted chicken void. Praise be to Pizza Ranch.

Pizza Ranch chicken is the best!!!

cjc went to Sioux Falls College, which is now University of Sioux Falls, I think. His parents went there also and his brother went to Augie. I went to Morris and know lots of people from the area, especially Luverne and Pipestone.

Huh…well, if his bro went to Augie anytime in the years between 1996 and 2000, I probably have seen him around campus. Small world!

Also, patiently waiting for Max to wake from the circle bed to fix my error.

I concur with the Pizza Ranch as well. Unfortunatly, there is no Pizza Ranch in SF anymore. However, I will be getting my Taco John’s fix this weekend. Yay!

This just proves my assertion taht the Twin Cities has a serious unmet market for pizza buffets. Anybody ever been to Old World in IGH? Good luck getting a table if you show up much past 11:15.

Alie, there are some Taco John’s here in the cities. There’s one on Silver Lake Road, near Rice Creek Blvd. I’ve biked by at least a couple of others on my weekend rides. Granted, it’s a drive from SLP, but not nearly as far as SF.

I’ve never eaten at Pizza Ranch, even though they’ve opened a few in the Fargo and lakes area.

And, truthfully, I’d never heard of Luverne before watching the Ken Burns’ doc on WWII.

kwatt- Godfather’s Pizza in Brooklyn Park used to have a Pizza Buffet and it was good. I haven’t been there in a long time because, well, it is in Brooklyn Park and I try and stay away.

Taco Johns was also a Morris favorite. There are some in the cities. We used to go for Taco Tuesday in the Minneapolis skyways. Nothing better than a burrito stuffed with potato rounds.

And cjc’s brother went there approximately from 92-96, though his wife probably went from 94-98.

I’m afraid we may lose max to NOLA again.

However, I will be getting my Taco John’s fix this weekend. Yay!

Me, too, twice!!! Hooray St. Peter!

Broadway Pizza (and its various locations) has a pizza buffet…

Alie, there are some Taco John’s here in the cities. There’s one on Silver Lake Road, near Rice Creek Blvd.

Yep, there’s one in Plymouth off of Winetka Blvd, too. I really don’t eat there a lot, so I’m fine with my thrice yearly visits when I’m in SF to visit the folks.

Me and my helper monkey would gladly work on a Pizza Ranch.

If only Luverne would throw in some assless chapes.

All this Pizza Ranch talk has me hankering for their buffet. Gluttony at its finest.

Blue Mounds Park also has a darling teeny tiny church that I played in many times as a kid. My grammy lived in Pipestone and we went to Blue Mound Inn for Sunday dinner a few times.

MNspeak needs to have a Blue Mound Inn Sunday get togethar.

Pizza Ranch updates from the heart of a dive bar in SF.

Pizza Ranch is open in Brandon (15 min E of SF) and Tea (15 min S of SF). The most exciting news is, Pizza Ranch is now open in Sioux Falls (close to 41st and Kiwanis Ave)

Now back to your regular programming

MNspeak needs to have a Blue Mound Inn Sunday get togethar.

Sure, it only takes four hours to get there. We can carpool!

Re: pizza buffets.

CiCi’s Pizza just opened their first two Twin Cities locations. One’s in Eagan; the other’s in Plymouth. The ads on TV advertise a $4.99 lunch buffet, I think.

I’ve ate at the one in Brandon. Top notch.

As much as I enjoy the Blue Mound Inn – aren’t there better road trip places?
Magnolia Steak House perhaps? Wait, is that place still there?

that cici’s pizza looks plastic… still better than aoki’s.

Cat, according to that list (which is offering a buy one get one free deal), yes, they are still open.

That’s almost incentive – thanks Alie – but I think I’ll wait until I have to vist the fam in Sioux Falls.

Hell to freeze over.

It was bad enough living in the middle of nowhere when Albany, NY was 1 hour away, NYC was 3 hours away, Boston 2 hours and Montreal 4 hours.

No way am I moving to/near the Dirty South (Dakota).

Not even for a bucket of chicken.

Erica- OH SNAP! I’m telling that Dirty South quip to my mom. I bet she’ll laugh! Haha!

Erica?

Whoops, sorry, I was reading Metroblogs just before that…

Tsk.

I know all black people’s screen names look alike but…

OMG…here we go…heh.

Sorries, bix…

We ate at a Taco Johns in Valley City, ND recently. Made us both sick.

I spent quite a bit of time in Luverne in my previous life as an environmental consultant. They had such bad mold in the Veteran’s Home that they had to basically gut the place and re insulate and rebuild. The state ended up putting about $6 Million into a facility that was only about 6 years old that only cost $6.5 Million to build originally. When they removed the sheet rock and insulation there were many places where you could basically look right outside. The fun part was that they couldn’t move anyone out of the home because they estimated that half of the Veterans wouldn’t survive a move. I do believe there was a County Kitchen the last time I was there that served a mean chicken fried chicken.

Pipestone state park has buffalo and turkey hawks that soar over the cliffs. It’s very pretty for the prairie.

Anyone know if Ike’s Chicken Shack is still open in Browns Valley?

I spoke about mold on Josie’s Show on Monday. No video link (Thank God!)

I’ve dug more pipestone out of that quarry than Carter has liver pills.

My mother went to the infamous indian school there where they made all the indian kids cut their hair, dress up like little maoists and stop speaking dakota. You wasichu should be proud.

I spoke about mold on Josie’s Show on Monday.

I asked the DA what she thought of that show (god knows I wouldn’t watch it). She said Steve and Sharon it aint.

You wasichu should be proud.

I sleep well. How about you?

She said Steve and Sharon it aint.

That could be a good thing, if you wanted something different.

No video link (Thank God!)

Yeah, there’s only so much I can do in a day over here. Trust me when I say Bob brings mold to life!

Bob… Mold… Get it? Hüsker Dü? Aaahhh never mind!

Trust me when I say Bob brings mold to life!

ha