My "real" top ten....

[houseelf]

About a year ago I made a half-hearted attempt to list the top ten best things about Minnesota. At that point, I hadn't made peace with the move. Now that the place is... well... at least more familiar, I'm going to give it another go.



1. Something for everyone. Seriously, there is enormous support for the theatre here (most theatre seats per capita except for NYC). 5 professional team sports. A huge equistrian community. Runner's World rated the Twin Cities the number two best supported running community. Heck, there is even a huge Harley Davidson community here if "hogs" are your thing. Whatever you like, you'll find it here.



2. Liberal and open thinking. Education is well supported here. The culture seems to be a bit more tolerant of new ideas. Everyone recycles here. Conservation is not a radical idea.



3. The Great Outdoors. Everyone spends time outside, even in the Winter. Although I have NOT become acclimated to 6 months of winter, most Minnesotans embrace it. They consider themselves the great outdoorsmen with year round sports. In the winter there is always an outdoor hockey game, sledding, ice fishing, snowmobiling, and cross country skiing. The TC are always rated amongst the healthiest of cities to live in because of the sportmanship here.



4. Muscle economy. The unemployment here is always lower than the rest of the country. The jobs are plentiful and high quality for both white and blue collar workers. This creates less poverty, and in turn, fewer social issues.



5. Access. Living in a large city is new for me, but if I had the money I could enjoy major national acts, get direct flights to Europe or Asia, take a class in anything my little heart desires, or enjoy five star restaurants. (Of course, these are all hypotheticals until we win the powerball.)



O.K. I can only think of 5 right now, but this certainly is a lot better than I did a year ago. (Ask me to reconsider when it is 25 below this winter. )



Kelly






Edited by: kmbsjbcgb at: 8/23/02 12:14:27 pm

Those are well thought, excellent points, Kelly! It makes me want to visit - especially for The Great Outdoors point!



This will be a fun exercise. . .especially for tonight when I'm feeling so grumpy. If I can get to 3, I'll feel as if I accomplished a lot.



Top 10 OK things about TN:

1. Excellent jazz/blues music if you're in the mood for a late night out and a glass of wine. (Uhm, now let me count how many times we have gone out to listen - hmmm, 3).



2. We found a super church here that we will most likely not be able to find again. Great music, casual, humble pastor, and they serve coffee for my sleep-deprived husband!



3. They have a fantastic cat adoption shelter here. It is in a little boutique shop and there are cats all around - in cages, sofas, tables - living the good life. You can pet all of them and pick your special kitty for a minimal price. This is where we found our frisky feline.



OK, that's it. That's all I can think of. I'll never make it to 10!

[DCJenn]

OK-



I would have done better earlier in my stay here in San Antonio but... here it goes from one who is truly suffering "short-timers".



1) Excellent Mexican and Tex-Mex food. 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week you can find a hole in the wall somewhere!



2) My neighborhood is the coolest one in San Antonio- reatuarants, art galleries, funky shops and historic homes. Love it.



3) Great people. The people here are so nice that it makes those of us from the East Coast pause. Like people say hi on the street- to strangers- with eye contact. Wow.



4) The greatest grocery store in the WORLD is here- better than Trader Joe's, better than Whole Foods- Central Market is amazing.



5) The Winters- I planted my tomatoes in February. 'nuf said.



Jenn

Well, here are my top things I like about where I've just moved (I agree this is an EXCELLENT exercise):



1.) The lush greenery everywhere in the summertime. (remember I came from TX where it's all brown and dry in the summer)



2.) The beautiful architecture - even the small dumpy houses are neat to look at.



3.) I looooove the huge amount of things to do with my family around here ( I listed some of the things we'd already done on another thread).



4.) I am looking forward to having a substantial amount of snow on the ground over the holidays!!!!



5.) The many friends I've made - the church is smaller up here so it's a much more tight-knit community and they have made our transition here run much more smoothly.



6.) My husband loves his job. He comes home almost everyday and literally says, "I love my job." There is so much satisfaction for ME knowing that the point of this difficult move was met - my husband is happy where he is.



Anyway, that is what I really love about where we are. Like Kelly there are drawbacks but I agree with her idea of staying positive and I will follow her lead in not listing my least favorite things.



Jennifer

I have only been here six weeks but this is my take on San Antonio so far ....



1) Great housing prices. There is no way we could have bought a 1-year old two-story house with 2200 sq. feet during residency in most other states.



2) TREES!!!! I love how green the grass is and all the trees. You have to remember I came here from Arizona. Night and day difference. It really is beautiful.



3) Jenn mentioned this already --- the people are VERY friendly.



4) There are so many family things to do. I live six miles from Sea World one direction and six miles from Fiesta Texas- Six Flags. Plus all the historical places like the Alamo, museums, parks, zoo etc.



5) San Antonio is a big city with all the pluses of lots to do, sports teams yet it is spread out giving me a feeling that I live out in the country. The best of both worlds.



6) Rudy's Barbeque!!!!!



Okay there are six things for being here six weeks!



Robin

[houseelf]

Woohoo! Good for us for seeing the silver lining. In the interests of staying positive, I will not list my top ten least favorite things.



Kelly

Robin, is Rudy's BBQ the one off of the highway past Sea World? They have lots of outdoor seating and the BBQ "thingy" is huge with pipes running all over the building. If that's the same place I'm thinking of - it is truly outstanding.



Jennifer

[DCJenn]

That's the place Jennifer!



Best BBQ in the world!



Jenn

This is a good exercise for me too right now....



~The many things to do in the area with families tops my list. During Thomas' vacation a couple of weeks ago, we went to The Mall of America...again....tourist trap..maybe...but the kids absolutely love Camp Snoopy. The best thing that we discovered was their underwater aquarium...right there in the Mall. We purchased an annual family membership for 59.95. The onetime admission for a family would have been 49.95, so it wasn't much more...and it was awesome....they have a huge turtle and fish collection and you walk through a cave made of glass with fish swimming all around you...first the freshwater..then the saltwater...it was a WEIRD feeling to have sharks swimming right above us! The kids absolutely loved it and are begging to go back....



~There really is something for everyone where we live...even though we are in Central MN, they have a rather large Paramount Arts District where some famous plays and ballets come to show off their stuff....



~Hubby's hours..Thomas literally makes his own daily schedule and has a great deal of flexibility with it. He stays at work later, but doesn't go in until 9.30 AM His specialty is really hospital based so he doesn't have set appt. times for clinic accept follow-ups on a couple of afternoons..it's awesome..it has given us so much family time...



~The schools in Minnesota are very highly ranked and we are having a really positive experience this year!



Wow...I feel so much better...



Kris

Jenn, I didn't know that Central Market was down in San Antonio, too! Well, I guess that makes sense since it is an HEB store, right? And isn't HEB based in SA? Well, anyway, it IS wonderful and you can find them popping up all over DFW. Only problem I had with them is that they were much pricier than other grocery stores. The selection for rarer foods is AWESOME and their bakery/deli area is drop-dead amazing, that's for sure.



Jennifer

[mommax3]

Alright, you San Antonio people! You are making me more homesick all the time! I could have made your lists and added twenty more things of my own. (Especially restaurants -- Silo, Boudros -- awesome guacamole, Biga on the Banks, Milano Cafe, Alamo Cafe, La Scala, Canyon Cafe, Salsalito, EZ's, Papa Dante's, The Vineyards in Garden Ridge, Huisache Grill in New Braunfels -- be sure to check all these out!)



There is no way I could come up with even three positive things about Wichita Falls. It is a wasteland. By far the weirdest place I have ever lived. There are a good percentage of people here with serious money (trust fund babies -- oil related) and several neighborhoods with $400,000.00+ homes, but there is not one good non-chain restaurant in the city, and the mall is pathetic.



I don't want to spoil the positive vibe of this thread, so I will stop -- but I MISS SAN ANTONIO!



This is weird -- but does anyone else ever get attached to the news anchors in their town and then "miss" them when they move? I did this when we moved from Indianapolis, and again when we moved from San Antonio -- so watch KMOL for me tonight and give my regards to Deborah Daniels and Randy Beamer.



Sally

[DCJenn]

Sally-



We're all sending you positive vibes that you guys can transfer out of the Wasteland.



Jenn

[Cumberland]

Sally,



i did a two week clinical rotation for grad school at Lawton Indian Hospital, which is not too far from you. I understand the wasteland feeling, that was my impression also- when i was there it was boiling hot, and our only entertainment for the day was to go to the Super walmart, which really wasnt super at all. oh, yeah and we went to the stock car races!! we watched a bunch of beatup old cars go around and around for two hours- whoopee. one neat thing we did was go to a park with a lake that had the highest point in oklahoma- we saw a herd of bison. that was fun.



so i just wanted to tell you i have experience, albeit briefly, your pain.



sue anne

Just a note to tell you, Sally, you are completely justified in your feelings - Wichita Falls is, indeed, the armpit of Texas. I am sooooo sorry! Run to DFW whenever you can!!!!!



Jennifer

You mean to tell me you don't boot scoot over at Cheyene Catlle Company? LOL. But there is the best Karaoke at the Parkway Grille- thats where I met DH. Don't you enjoy the Hotter than Hell shutting down the town once a year? There is so much to love, especially the fact that we are not there anymore. ROTFLMBO.

Hang in there!
Trisha