Vacation Day 2

Day two of or vacation started early. Even though we hadn't slept much we woke up around 6:30.  We putzed around the tent for a little while before heading over to the showers.  After getting cleaned up we discussed what we wanted for breakfast.  Erin remembered seeing a sign for the Original Pancake House the previous day and I looked it up on my phone so we could get directions. When we got there we were surprised by how busy it was. There were a lot of people who looked like they were meeting for a business breakfast there.  I ordered some pancakes and eggs while Erin got some pancakes, an egg and some hash browns.  As we were waiting for our food a waiter walked by with something that looked delicious.  When we inquired as to what it was we were told it was an apple pancake, one of their specialties. When our food arrived we were very impressed. It sounds odd to rave about pancakes. Pancakes are such a simple thing that we've had so many times, but these were clearly the best we've ever had.  After breakfast we headed to Ikea to start our day of shopping.

We arrived a Ikea a little before the store opened.  Shortly after we got there they opened the cafeteria and we went in a sat there for a little while before the store opened. Once the store was open we wandered around the showroom.  We saw some blinds that we thought were neat, some cool lighting stuff and a small bookcase that we could put a TV on in one of our basement bedrooms.  Once we made it through the showroom and down to where they actually have the merchandise we did a little more planning on how we were going to use some of the things and decided that they might not work how we'd originally envisioned.  We did buy the book case, a wall mounted glass marker board and some color changing lights that were just too cool to pass up.  Then we headed across the street to the Mall of America.

When we got to the mall is was about lunch time and we decided to hit our favorite restaurant in the mall Tucci Benucch.  I suggesting just ordering from their small pate menu and sharing everything and Erin agreed.  We had some fried mozzarella, ravioli and polenta fries and finished with tiramisu for desert.  All of it was amazing.  Then we started to wander around the mall and shop.  We didn't find too much that was worth buying. We hit up a candy shop and Erin found a graphic novel about zombies that looked interesting.  After we were done shopping it was supper time so we hit up the Twin Cities Grill.  I had a burger and Erin had a chicken sandwich.  After our amazing meals earlier in the day this one was a bit of a disappointment.  After supper we found where we had parked and headed back to the campground.

Since the weather looked nicer then our first night we decided to have a campfire. We roasted a few marshmallows and Erin made a smore with a chocolate coconut spread that we had purchased the previous day.  I thought the coconut was a little odd and was content with only having a bite. After the fire started to die down we put it completely out and went to bed where we got much more sleep then the previous storm filled night.