Woke up this morning with the best kinds of souvenirs from a really awesome day yesterday…sore muscles…sunburn…and “Shots” by LMFAO in my head. You’d think I had been at a college party…nope…just out for a day in Buffalo, MN with my friend Olivia.
Several weeks ago we had marked the day off on our calendars. As it got closer I asked her what she wanted to do…thinking we would plan it together. She assured me that she had it all planned out and wanted to surprise me…and I very willingly trusted her and rolled with it. I knew that we have very similar adventuring tastes and that no matter where we ended up or what we did that it would be amazing. Having my day planned out for me also was a huge treat.
We started the day at Buffalo Books and Coffee. This place was perfect. I honestly could’ve spent hours there. Indie bookstore that serves an amazing selection of lattes…plus has outdoor patio seating overlooking the lake…heaven. I would drive an hour for that any day. I also learned about the .5 setting on my phone camera. Have no idea what that does, but let’s me fit more in my pictures.
We wandered around downtown Buffalo. Lots of cute little eclectic shops…plants and music in one store…never saw that before, but why not!? A farmer’s market where they were selling lots of yummy things that looked like they would be a major health risk if we let them sit in a hot car all day to get them home. Olivia got complimented on her shorts in the same breath she was asked if she got them at Walmart. All in all we got a sampling of the local vibe.
Then we headed to our next destination which was kayak rentals at Griffin Park. This is where the sore muscles and the sunburn come in….and a major feeling of badassery and accomplishment. We had the kayaks for 4 hours so we decided to go around the lake. It started out great. Leisurely paddle next to each other…chatting and looking at all the rather impressive lakeshore homes. Some of them I would love to just live in the boathouse! We saw a few loons…which I love! There were pelicans flying overhead…enormous birds. A blue heron was fishing in a little inlet.
And then….we hit the far side of the lake…the wind blew in…it got super choppy…I had a slight moment where I got hung up on some underwater debris…and my kayak took on quite a bit of water…my boat was riding so low in the water…my arms were burning from digging so deep with the paddle just to go anywhere. We got out of the worst of it and decided to stop on shore and dump the water out.
The whole shore is filled with houses, so no matter where we stop we are essentially on someone’s property, but we decided to pull in at this stretch of shore next to this dock where there were a few college-aged kids hanging out. So we paddle in and this one kid asks us what’s going on. We tell him we’re just stopping to dump the water out of our kayaks and then we’ll be on our way…to which he replies “Oh. I thought you had to pee” (?!) and walks away. Luckily, his buddy was brought up right and realized that his momma would’ve wanted him to help us out.
We start paddling on our way again. We’re going against the wind, so the paddling is a little tougher…but we’re on the homestretch. And then we realize dark clouds are starting to roll in…we hear some thunder…and start paddling like the dickens because we really don’t want to be caught in a storm in a kayak out on the lake. Luckily, the storm never materialized and we made it back to the park safely. As we were giving our life jackets and paddles back to the kids working the rental booth we discovered that most people don’t go around the whole lake. They just do the leisurely paddle we started out with. Did I mention that we are badass?
Next stop was Buffalo Nickel…an antique store that is in a barn. Super amusing to look through. The few things that I would’ve purchased were more than I wanted to spend on them, but Olivia was reunited with one of her favorite books from her childhood…and we got to meet some super cute doodles that were doing an awesome job of helping behind the counter.
Our artistic sides were challenged next. We went to Artistic Me and decided to make fused glass trays. Yesterday, we glued all the little bits of glass on…then we left them there to be fired (fused). Neither one of us are super artistic, so we both decided to go more abstract instead of trying to make it look like something. I think we were both feeling all right about our art until one of the women who works there…maybe she was even the owner?…walked by our table and commented that she had “no idea how THAT will look”. Apparently she didn’t get the memo that generally you should make people feel awesome about what they are attempting to create. I still think they are going to look fantastic when they are done.
By this time the coffee had long since worn off so we ended our day at Norm’s Wayside. Almost walked out of Norm’s when Norm’s political affiliations were so proudly displayed….but “Shots” was playing on the jukebox so we decided to stay. Easily demolished the best reuben I have ever had. I don’t approve of all of Norm’s choices, but his food was on point.
Buffalo, MN you were a treat. Looking forward to visiting you again.
Love, Tennis, and Cancer 