L and I just got back from our overnight trip over to Stillwater to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary, and it was a lot of fun! Although we spend a lot of time together already, we tend to be more homebodies, and I think it's important for us to get out of the house and spend time with each other, and just focus on us. Exactly a year ago today, we were doing some last minute packing for our trip to Aruba and getting ready to board the plane in just a few short hours. Today, we relaxed and were able to enjoy each others company without the stress of international traveling! And now for a recap of our anniversary celebration:
As I mentioned in my last post, we ate our year-old cake on the 17th because we wouldn't have anywhere to keep it cool while we were out and about on the 18th. And yes, we devoured it! I had forgotten how good BreadArt's cake is.
The next morning (our actual anniversary date), we got up and made our way down to the MN Zoo, where we spent time watching the birdshow, walking the trails, and eating a picnic lunch. We were kind of disappointed that they didn't have the dolphin show going on that day, but the night before we visited, one of their dolphins had a calf, so they were giving them their privacy, so it was okay. I was really excited because I was able to see my favorite animal. I freakin' love the tapir. I know they look pretty ridiculous, but every time I see it, I want to bring it home with me.
We also spent way too much time watching the prairie dogs hanging out in the habitat. I think it was because they resemble our degus with their mannerisms and such.
After we had exhausted all of the exhibits at the zoo, we trekked over to Stillwater, which is where we would spend the rest of our anniversary. When we made our reservations with the Water Street Inn, I had mentioned in the "special requirements" box that we were celebrating our 1st wedding anniversary, and reminded them that we held our wedding at the Water Street Inn exactly a year ago. One of the nice things about the WSI is that in each of the rooms, they have a whirpool jacuzzi bathtub, no matter what. All we really wanted was the bathtub and the balcony in a nonsmoking room, so we had booked the cheapest room they had available. Unfortunately, the view of Water Street is not that impressive, especially when you consider that the other side of the hotel faces the lift bridge and the St. Croix river. We were a bit disappointed that we wouldn't be able to have a great view, but we were okay with that. When we checked in, the kid at the front desk gave us our key, and I noticed that the room number he assigned us was not the room I had reserved a few nights prior, but I just figured that they were doing some sort of repair on the original room, so they moved us just down the hall. We were put in room 308, the James Mulvey room:
Neither of us gave our new room any thought, until we walked past the bedroom (I thought that the Water Street room only had one room to it...), and looked out the balcony and saw that we were in fact facing the river. At that moment, we realized that they had upgraded us to one of their Suites at no extra cost. You've got to love places that want to keep their returning customers happy (especially those who have spent thousands of dollars in their establishment...)!
The view from the balcony was amazing, especially that night. We could see the gazebo and the lift bridge from the window.
After settling in and taking advantage of the cable television, we walked around town for a little while. We went down to the gazebo and reminisced over our wedding and the time we spent by the riverfront during that day. Since there was so much rainfall the night before, the water levels were way up, and the watcher was coming up onto the sidewalks, which was a huge change from when we were there last year!
When we had finished roaming around, we then went out to dinner. A part of us wanted to eat at the WSI, but we decided to try somewhere new, so we had our dinner at Phil Tara's Hideaway. The Hideaway is a great little Greek restaurant just on the outskirts of downtown Stillwater. L' s parents had recommended it to us at one point and we're really glad we went! Since it was packed, L and I grabbed a couple drinks at the bar while we waited for a table to open up. We ate way too much, but the uncomfortable stuffed feeling was well worth it. For an appetizer, we tried their gyros (who goes to a Greek restaurant and doesn't at least try the gyros??).
For our entrees, L had a steak with potato puree, and I had a pasta dish that included bell peppers, artichokes, and kalamata olives. The meal was great, but we both found ourselves waddling to the car afterward.
We returned to the room to digest a bit before walking around some more, and when we walked in, there was a bottle of champagne chilling on ice waiting for us! Next to the ice bucket was a note that said, Love, Mom and Dad K (my maiden name was butchered, and was spelled Klidberg on the note). My parents were very sweet and had called the Inn to have them deliver the champagne to our room.
By that point, we were both tired, so we visited the Irish Pub located within the Inn for a nightcap, and then turned in for the night.
Today we went antiquing, got malts, and visited the local winery just down from the Inn where we participated in a complementary wine tasting, so we were able to sample 10 of their locally made wines, and ended up purchasing a bottle to bring home. Overall, it was a great day trip and I'm still in shock that it's already been a year since our wedding. I'm definitely looking forward to many many more of these in our future!
