I'm home again, but I want to go back. I went to Minneapolis this weekend with Lisa and her friend Christy. We left on Friday morning around 9:45 and arrived at our hotel around 7:00 I think. We had trouble with some maps and the elusive Flying Cloud drive. One of the most difficult parts about a seven hour car trip with three people is agreeing on the trip's soundtrack. I had to veto the Dixie Chicks but agreed to let Faith Hill play. As a nod to my compromise Lisa and Christy allowed me to play the Foo Fighters for them. Christy asked if they were a screamer band. I didn't think of them as that kind of band. I know screamo bands like Alexisonfire and I don't really care for that style either. However, Dave Grohl and friends were quickly ejected after he sang the line, "Can you hear me, hear me screamin'..."
On Saturday we went to the outlet mall. That place was awesome. Such good bargains it should be illegal. I only bought one pair of shoes, my dad figured I'd bring home several. They were from the NineWest store and I got them for $21. That is a big bargain for NineWest gold strappy heels.
On Sunday we went to the big mall. We had already spent our limits at the outlet mall and we were wearing down a bit. I ended up only buying some things for my sister at Abercrombie.
-->side note, I just did a spell check and it suggested that I replace NineWest with Minnesota, and Abercrombie with Crowded. I asked for spell check, not word associations!
After the mall I suggested we check out the statue garden in Downtown Minneapolis. I've been to the mall a few times before but I have never actually been to downtown Minneapolis. The gardens were neat. I was most excited about the cherry/spoon statue. I took some pictures--old fashioned film so they may make an appearance on here at a much later date.
That night we ordered in pizza and a movie--Tristan and Isolde--added up our receipts and prepared for the drive home. We weren't sure what we would have to pay for duty or if they would make us go into the garage for a search. We traded horror stories about border inspections and tried to imagine how much they would make us pay. I could easily have not claimed some things but I wasn't feeling very lucky that day.
The drive back went quickly until we hit the border of course. I think it was an hour wait in line and then half an hour spent paying our duties. They only charged us 14% on the overage so I paid seven bucks for being $50 over. I could have brought more home, but I was pretty happy with what I did take.
I do want to go back for sure. I don't even have to go back to Minneapolis, I'd be happy with Fargo I think. It also felt strange to be down south on a Friday night without going to the races.
And that was my trip!
2 comments:
I was going to ridicule you for telling the truth and paying border taxes, but then what the hell are 3 girls doing down in the States for the weekend. Better to tell the truth or they would have done cavity searches, El Al style.
I bought a watch that I totally could have "forgotten" to claim and a bag that I used to pack all my purchases in. Not claiming the bag would have put me below my limit. Like I said, I was not feeling especially lucky that day. Christy also told us about a group of girls who tried to not claim stuff and they ended up strip searched to see if they were hiding their Victoria Secret underwear. I don't know how true that story is, but it may have played a factor in our honesty.
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