Monthly Archives: July 2018

August 2018 Newsletter

A note from our President…..

Summer’s going faster than ever.  Come on out and enjoy it with us before it’s all gone!   You’re always welcome to attend several activities before deciding to join (only $20/year).

Contact Sally@TheWAnderersMSP.org for more information 

Flicks & Fun—Mama Mia here we go again!

Coffee Break—downtown Hopkins is a fun destination for coffee and treats

Lunch Bunch—visit the charming Mad Hatter in Anoka

Garden Tour—chill out at Normandale College’s serene Japanese Garden

Books & Booze—discuss “Silent Sister” at Cahill Bistro

Game Night—Meat Raffle, Happy Hour, BARGO, Dinner and live music at the Legion

Restaurant Critics—get a passport to a great “Eat Street” restaurant

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR RSVPs NEED TO BE RECEIVED IN A TIMELY MANNER. BETTER TO RSVP EARLY AND CANCEL IF NECESSARY, THAN TO CALL AFTER THE RSVP DATE. 

WE HAVE LOTS OF SPECIAL OUTINGS COMING UP.  TAKE SPECIAL NOTE OF THEIR RSVP DATES WHICH CAN BE OVER A MONTH IN ADVANCE OF THE EVENT.

See you there!

 ACTIVITIES

WALKERS:every Tuesday and Thursday, 8:30AM—Centennial Lakes 

Need motivation to get out, move, and exercise? Join us as we walk around Centennial Lakes.  Spring has sprung – so meet us at the “Big Clock” outside of the Hughes Pavilion.  Walk around the lake or as much or as little as your legs allow. Be on time–we’ll start walking promptly!  If it rains – we meet at Southdale outside the Hennepin Country Service Center.  No need to RSVP – just come

 

BE A RESTAURANT CRITIC: Wednesday, August 8th, 3:45PM Departure––Ice House Restaurant Bar

2528 Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55404 

NOTE August 1st RSVP DATE!

Here’s your chance to be an Eat Streetrestaurant critic.  Eat Streetalong Nicollet Avenue is an intriguing and often affordable area to get a full taste of all the different flavors of the Twin Cities.  Pam Bratsch and Anne Shea have “scouted” all the venues and chosen several for The Wanderers Critics to review.  We’ll meet at the Icehouse for cocktails where you’ll be given a Passportto one of them. A small group will be sent to each restaurant.

Here’s the plan:

4:30PM – Meet at Icehouse for Happy Hour cocktails and restaurant assignments

5:30PM – Dinner reservations

7:30PM – 8:00PM – Meet back at 5555 Dewey Hill Party Room for desert and critic reports.

The cost of cocktails and dinner will be $20-$40 (depending on your menu selections). Additional $5 for dessert will be collected at Icehouse.

A carpool will leave Edina at 3:45 PM.  Please indicate if you are carpooling and are willing to drive. Or, meet us there at 4:30PM.

RSVP by Wednesday, August 1st AnneS@TheWanderersMSP.org

Directions to carpool:Hwy. 100 to 70thSt. exit.  Turn RIGHT (W) and follow 70thas it turns to the West to Cahill.  Turn LEFT (S) to Dewey Hill Rd. and turn RIGHT (W). Take first LEFT (S) into Dewey Hill and follow to # 5555.  Park in Rear.  

Directions to Icehouse: #62E to #35WN to Lake Street exit.  Turn LEFT (W) to 1stAve. and turn RIGHT (N). At 26thSt. turn LEFT (W) to Nicollet. Parking is available only in lot adjacent to courtyard at 2528 Nicollet, the lot on North side of building, and lot located at 2644 Nicollet—or you will be towed.

 

COFFEE BREAK: Thursday, August 9th, 9:30AM Departure – Munkabeans

1206 Main Street, Hopkins

Munkabeans has a lot of menu options, as well as great coffees. We can sit indoors or out, depending on the weather.

A carpool will leave Edinaat 9:30AM or meet us there at 10:00AM. 

RSVP by August 7th to GailS@TheWandersMSP.org.Please indicate if you will be carpooling and are able to drive.

Directions to Munkabeans: #62 to #169N to Excelsior Blvd. exit.  Turn LEFT (W) to12thAve.  Turn TIGHT (N) to Main Street.  Munkabeans on SW corner.  Park on the street or use the free public parking lot on 11th Street near the theater.

 

LUNCH BUNCH: Tuesday, August 14th, 11:00AM Departure—The Mad Hatter Restaurant and Tea House

1632 S. Ferry Street, Anoka

We’ll be traveling to this unique and charming—otherwise know as Minnesota’s Most Curious Tea House—on the Rum River.

A carpool will leave the back parking lot of Kohl’s at Knollwood (Hwy.7/#169) Please indicate when RSVPing if you plan to participate and are willing to drive.  Or, meet us at the Hatter at 11:30AM.

RSVP by Friday, August 10thto either JudyS@TheWanderersMSP.orgor CarmellaA@TheWanderersMSP.org. Reservations are strongly recommended for the Mad Hatter, so we need an accurate count ASAP.

Directions:  Hwy 169 to Anoka. South Ferry St is the first right after you cross the river.

 

GAME NIGHT: Monday, August 20th, 5:00-7:00PM—Fun Times at the Legion Club

Richfield American Legion, 6501 Portland Ave., Richfield    612-866-3647

This place is a hoot! Meet us for an unforgettable evening of food, cheap drinks and entertainment: Happy Hour (5-6PM), Dinner and the Meat Raffle (5-7PM). free BARGO (Bingo) 5-7:30 and Live Music 7:30. Show up anytime between 5-7PM to partake in any or all of the above (no membership or fees required).

The meat raffle: a quintessential Minnesotan bar tradition that plays out every night of the week in one working-class neighborhood’s watering hole or another. Though its origins are unknown, its existence is as homegrown as tater tot hot dish. Once only found in rural areas, they are now happening all over the metro area, from dive bars to hipster haunts. Buy a ticket for a dollar — the proceeds go to charity — and get a chance to win a shrink-wrapped package of raw, pink flesh.  Bring a cooler for your winnings.  Dinner menu at: http://www.mnlegion435.org/files/Bar_01_2018_01.jpg

SVP by Saturday, August 18th to Sally@TheWanderersMSP.org

Directions: Hwy. 62 East to Portland Ave. exit.  Turn RIGHT (S) to Legion on left. 

 

FLICKS & FUN: Tuesday, August 21st, 1:35PM—“Mama Mia! Here We Go Again”

Southdale AMC Theater

This romantic musical comedy is the sequel to the 2008 film “Mamma Mia” and will take you back and forth in time to show how relationships forged in the past still resonate in the present. Strib critic Colin Covert says it’s “an almost all-singing, all-dancing event that is, by any objective standard, an endearing, effervescent slice of amiable nonsense.”  Please arrive at 1:35 so we can walk into the 1:45PM showing together. Afterward, we will meet at Ruby Tuesday for Happy Hour. If the time changes. I will update you.

If it’s no longer playing, I’ll pick an alternative for us to see. As always, your suggestions for movie viewing are appreciated.

RSVP by Monday, August 20thto LynnJ@TheWanderersMSP.org

 

GARDEN TOUR:  Thursday, August 23rd, 11:00AM—Normandale College’s Japanese Garden    9700 France Avenue S., Bloomington

he beauty and serenity of this 2-acre oasismake it ideal for contemplation and renewal of the spirit. We’ll be taking a free self-guided tour of the garden’s plants, ponds and structures. The garden is free to visit and is open year-round.  The Japanese Garden is easily accessible on the campus of Normandale Community College. After our tour we’ll have lunch at Poor Richard’s Commonhouse, 8301 Normandale Blvd,Bloomington, poorrichardscommonhouse.com 952-835-8308.

RSVP by Tuesday, August 21st to Barbara@TheWanderersMSP.org

Directions:  France Ave. South to 98thSt.  Turn RIGHT (W) to Collegeview Rd.  Take 2ndRIGHT to parking lots 3 & 4 in NW corner of the college where we will meet.

 

BOOKS & BOOZE:  Tuesday, August 28th, 3:30PM— Cahill Bistro

7078 Amundson Ave, Edina, MN 55439, (952) 426-4196  (70th at Cahill)

The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlin

Riley MacPherson has spent her entire life believing that her older sister Lisa committed suicide as a teenager. Now, over twenty years later, her father has passed away and she’s in New Bern, North Carolina cleaning out his house when she finds evidence to the contrary. Lisa is alive. Alive and living under a new identity. But why exactly was she on the run all those years ago, and what secrets are being kept now?

RSVP by Saturday, August 25th, to AnneS@TheWanderersMSP.org

Directions:  Hwy. 100 to 70th exit.  Turn RIGHT (W) and follow 70th as it turns to the RIGHT (W) at stop light.  Continue to Amundson and turn LEFT (S).  If you get to Cahill Rd. you can still turn LEFT.  Restaurant is next to Domino’s and Asian House.   

 

NEEDLECRAFTERS: The group will not meet during July and August, but will resume after Labor Day.

 COMING UP

 NIGHT-TIME BOOK TALK:  Monday, September 17th, 7:00 PM – Lunds & Byerly’s Mezz
France Ave. at Hazelton Road, Edina
The Good Earthby Pearl S. Buck

Nobel Laureate Pearl S. Buck’s epic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and Oprah Book Club selection about a vanished China and one family’s shifting fortunes.  Though more than seventy years have passed since this remarkable novel won the Pulitzer Prize, it has retained its popularity and become one of the great modern classics. In The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck paints an indelible portrait of China in the 1920s, when the last emperor reigned and the vast political and social upheavals of the twentieth century were but distant rumblings. This moving, classic story of the honest farmer Wang Lung and his selfless wife O-Lan is must reading for those who would fully appreciate the sweeping changes that have occurred in the lives of the Chinese people during the last century..

 

MUSEUMS TOURS: Monday, October 15th – Lunch/Guided Tour at the “new” Bell Museum

Details in September Newsletter

 

THEATRE OUTING:  Wednesday, September 26th, 10:45 Departure—Lunch & Beehiveat The Old Log

5185 Meadville Street, Greenwood, MN 55331

NOTE AUGUST RSVP DATE!

Beehive the 60’s Musical nostalgically recalls the days of miniskirts, transistor radios and flower power. Told from the perspective of six women who came of age in this enigmatic decade, these ladies look back on a host of issues from their first Beehive Dance to the challenges we faced as a nation – all accomplished by a vast array of the most celebrated and memorable songs of the era. Cost: $51.71 Lunch/Play (11:30AM)

$26.82 Play Only (1:30PM)         Lunch at the onsite Cast & Crew Restaurant includes your choice of:

-Braised Boneless ShortRib, potatoes, seasonal vegetable, gravy

-Seared Pork Chop, potatoes, seasonal vegetables, bacon port demi glaze

-Dill Roasted Tilapia, potatoes, seasonal vegetables, with lemon

-Angel Hair Pasta with Garden Marinara

Dessert, Coffee and tea

A carpool will leave the back parking lot of Kohl’s at Knollwood (Hwy.7/#169) at 10:45AM.  Please indicate when RSVPing if you plan to participate and are willing to drive. Or, meet us at the Old Log at 11:30AM.

RSVP by Friday, August 22nd by mail with your check and menu choice.  Contact CarlaH@TheWanderersMSP.orgfor mailing instructions.

Directions:Hwy. 7 West to Excelsior. Turn RIGHT (N) at Christmas Lake Road stoplight. Turn LEFT (W) onto Excelsior Blvd. Go 3 blocks and turn RIGHT onto Minnetonka Blvd/Old Log Way.  Turn LEFT at the street sign marked Old Log Way/Meadville Street.  You will see the entrance to theatre immediately on your right. 

 

BOOKS & BOOZE:  October Date TBA

Digging to America by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler gives us a story about what it is to be an American, and about Maryam Yazdan, who after thirty-five years in this country must finally come to terms with her outsiderness.”
Two families, who would otherwise never have come together, meet by chance at the Baltimore airport—the Donaldsons, a very American couple, and the Yazdans, Maryam’s fully assimilated son and his attractive Iranian American wife. Each couple is awaiting the arrival of an adopted infant daughter from Korea. After the babies from distant Asia are delivered, Bitsy Donaldson impulsively invites the Yazdans to celebrate with an “arrival party,” an event that is repeated every year as the two families become more deeply intertwined.

 

THEATRE OUTING #2:  Thursday, November 8th, 11:30AM—Lunch & Radio Galsat Masonic Theater

11411 Masonic Home Drive, Bloomington

Set in the 1920’s when radio ruled the airwaves and small stations thrived, Radio Galsis a charming musical about Hazel Hunt from Cedar Ridge, Arkansas, who broadcasts from her front parlor with her “all-girl” orchestra, “The Hazelnuts”. What comes over the local airwaves is an array of hilarious, toe-tapping songs. However, Hazel’s broadcasts are not always so local due to her habit of impinging on other frequencies, like NBC, attracting the attention of a federal radio inspector who’s intent on shutting her down. It turns out he has a fine tenor voice, plays a mean accordion and quickly becomes enchanted by the “Hazelnuts”.  From the creators of Pump Boys and Dinettes.    Price:  $45 Lunch and Show (11:30AM)    $25 Show Only  (1:00PM)

Menu:  Pork Chops & Stuffing in a Mushroom Cream Sauce

Scalloped Potatoes and Vegetable du jour

Cold Salad – Chef’s Choice

Dinner Rolls, Coffee, Decaffeinated Coffee and Hot Tea

Dessert – Chef’s Choice (Slice of Cake, Pie or Torte)

Special dietary meals available by request (please notify us in advance)

RSVP Details in September Newsletter