I just finished spending the weekend in the Land of Many Lakes, Mall of America, the Twin Cities and the head of the great Mississippi River. Thats right, I just spent the weekend in Minneapolis/St. Paul and had a great time in the surrounding communities of White Bear Lake, Woodbury and Shakopee. I had to learn to pronounce Shakopee correctly and to elongate my “oʼs” in words like “Minnesota” and pronounce them “Minnesooota”. I thought that I was in Canada for a minute with all the hockey-style sweatshirts (which I thought was pretty cool and decided to buy one myself).
The Minneapolis/St. Paul area is gorgeous and definitely worth the trip. We ate at an authentic Polish restaurant (the sauerkraut was great and I felt like I was in a Russian Mafia Movie). The restaurant, Nyeʼs, is located on the River Walk in St. Paul. Great location, great setting and great food.
What did I learn? I did not realize that the Mississippi ran right through the middle of Minneapolis and St. Paul, hence splitting the cities and creating the “Twin Cities” concept. The area expanded economically in the mid-19th century because it was at the head of the Mississippi and become the starting point to ship grains and lumber to the booming Mid-West.
The people were very kind and a lot of fun. It was a little surprising, however, that of all the places that I traveled and educated people on Xagave, “Minnesoootans” (as they call themselves), were the least aware of either Xagave or Agave; nevertheless, they were very receptive and I believe that we have developed a lot of friends of the product in just a few days.
In addition, this is the first time that I have traveled with someone that is going to start training demonstrators in the markets with Samʼs Clubs. Her name is Season and she has been demonstrating in Utah and told us that she would like to start traveling. I really needed the help. She is fantastic, although not nearly as pretty as me. I have attached a picture of her, so I will let you decide who is better looking. Looks aside, she has great product knowledge and is great with customers. I think that she is fantastic and a great addition to the Xagave team. I hope that you will get a chance to meet her in one of the many Samʼs Clubs that we travel to. She was a little shocked that the “Minnesoootans” thought that she had an accent, which she does, but do not let her know that I said that. She is originally from Idaho, but her accent is all Utah. I have encouraged her to begin writing about her travels so we will see. She did contribute the pictures to this addition of my blog, however. Maybe she should become the photographer for my blog since I am not good at taking pictures.
The pictures include the front of the Mall of America. If you did not know, the Mall of America is the world’s largest mall, or it least it was in the 80s when it was developed. There is an amusement park in the middle for kids and it is 3 or 4 stories tall. It is massive.
Just know that Xagave is live and well in the upper Mid-West. I hope to get back there soon and explore a little more of what the Twin Cities has to offer.