LeeAnn Chin is a Win

Our New Favorite Chow

A new take-out food store just opened at our local mall on Monday. We now have a LeeAnn Chin in Fargo. I tried it for lunch. Then we both went back for take-out supper. LeeAnn Chin is our new favorite take-out food restaurant. Besides how wonderful the food is, they do not use any MSG. I was not paid to say any of this. Excellent chinese food, for very reasonable prices. Here is their menu: LeeAnn Chin Menu

Smash Burger Fargo

Overpriced. Underwhelming.

Smashburger recently opened its doors in Fargo. We decided to check it out. On the way home, I stopped by to order two sandwiches and two sides "to go". They don't have a drive-up window so you do need to park and go in to order...from their order taker. Let's call him Raymond. My first impression of the place was from Raymond - not good. (Wouldn't you want to put someone with some personality and professionalism on your front line?) He was looking down and yawning more than listening and communicating. I started trying to order but wasn't sure if he was paying attention. In the meantime, there must have been two dozen employees all moving around but none of them were doing anything. My order was supposed to be one classic smashburger without onions and an order of smashfries, plus one classic crispy chicken sandwich without onions with an order of veggie frites: to go. With tax, the order came to $17.08, which did not include any drinks. I was thinking that in order to overcome my bad first impressions of the place, some incredible food would be the only possible redemption. At home, a few minutes later, we opened our to-go containers to find: 1. sandwiches that showed little evidence of any recent heat (even tho the to-go bag was next to the floor heater for the two-minute drive home) and 2. side orders of jokingly small proportion. The classic smashburger ($4.99) and crispy classic chicken ($5.99) both had onions, even tho "no onions" was written on the side of the to-go container. The veggie frites ($2.99) yielded about eight small pieces of flash-fried asparagus and eight small pieces of flash-fried carrots (and no green beans as is mentioned on the menu). Bottom line: If you are in Fargo looking for a bite to eat, take your business to Culver's where the same meal would have been $5 less and twice as good, or McDonald's where you would have spent half as much and gotten twice as much food. We came away from our Smashburger experience with average food, small portions, high prices, and poor service. Any questions?

Spring Buffalo

I'm not sure if today or tomorrow is the first official day of Spring but let's just deem that it's TODAY! One way to tell it's Springtime around here is flooding. (Flud is a four-letter word.) Fargo/Moorhead has these buffalos all around town, each painted differently by different artists. This one at the intersection of Main & Broadway looks like Spring to me. That means it's time to go mow my snow.

Tower of Shower

It is always nice when water towers say the name of the town they serve.

For anyone who forgets where they are, just look up at the water tower.

I wouldn't want to be the person who paints these giants.

Dolce Vita

If you are looking for luxurious living in downtown Fargo, North Dakota, look no further than the Graver Inn. These peaceful getaways provide the epitome of lavish self-indulgence.

Built in 1917, it was originally the Graver Hotel and then subsequently transformed into 70 deluxe apartments. Just kiddy-corner from the Post Office and a half block to the Presbyterian Church, the Graver Inn is also walking distance to the many downtown bars in Fargo.

Italiens would say dolce vita but here we just say the sweet life. All the letters in "Fargo Graver Inn" can be rearranged to spell "Garnering Favor". You can bet that everyone agrees there's no question about that!

Christmas Snowstorm

It was originally reported that this snowstorm was going to miss the Fargo area to the south. We might pick up a few inches.

It ended up being more like a few feet. These pictures are deck side which faces South. The wind was out of the North during the blizzard.

Wrap-around snow results in a major Sunday project for Johnnny. That's OK because the Minnesota Vikings don't play until Monday Night.

Remembering Winter

It's been so mild here during the month of November, I had to look back at pictures of last winter to remember what it was like.

If memory serves, this was a very cold winter morning. Just as the driveway got shoveled clear, the plows came by clearing our street, and left behind a huge hard-packed snownami ridge. Besides building character, our North Dakotan winters do help keep out the Riff-Raff.
I still like to do it the old-fashioned way: with a big shovel and a hot cup of chocolate milk coffee.

Fake Lake

We have a lake in our neighborhood. It's very popular for joggers and dog walkers. It's not a real lake. It's our Fake Lake.

For being man-made, it certainly fools a lot of waterfoul. As I drove by today, a great blue heron flew right over my car. Gaggles of geese love to land into the wind. The fountain is intermittently active. It's lit at night by colored light.

Fake Lake is starting to seem more like a real lake. Reeds are growing along the west side. I'm starting to think a canoe or kayak or sunfish sailboat might not look too bad out on Fake Lake, with me inside.

Big Deal

An Add-On Poem by Kit & Johnnny.
Subject: Fargo Flood 2009.
Title: Big Deal.
Date Written: March 30, 2009.
Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved.
{Line 1: Kit, Line 2: Johnnny, and so on and so forth.}
{Rhyme scheme: ABAB, CDCD, and so on and so forth.}

Title: BIG DEAL.
When the rain falls hard on the grassy plains
Too much of a good thing can become a big deal
Like gray-haired rock singers' old refrains
If you don't plan your future, stand in line for a meal.
The message I sent in a bottle, now is lost in a sea
There's a river thru my kitchen and sandbags round my bed
How lost can I get before you find me
In a refugee camp with a bandana round my head.
Behind the walls that protect all we love
Mother Nature wreaks havoc to display her power
She teaches us things we have never thought of
Like mixing hot with cold, or sweet with sour.
Fighting like cougars, mostly we are kittens
Biting down trees, dam it up, says the beaver
Our grandmothers made us most of these mittens
While Granpa made moonshine to help with spring fever.
I've entered the tunnel, but see there's a light
Dark times behind us, ahead it's all bright.

An Add-On Poem by Kit & Johnnny.
Subject: Fargo Flood 2009.
Title: Big Deal.
Date Written: March 30, 2009.
Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved.
{Line 1: Kit, Line 2: Johnnny, and so on and so forth.}
{Rhyme scheme: ABAB, CDCD, and so on and so forth.}