Falling Into Autumn

 

Falling Into Autumn

Todd Swank's Diary Entry for September 17, 2023

It was my buddy Dan Walters birthday this week and I was lucky enough to spend a couple of fun nights with him.

We went to a Minnesota Twins game together.  It was my first game of the year.  I'm not much of a baseball fan which is too bad, because Target Field is a beautiful place to spend a warm night in September.  Judging by the number of empty seats around us, it seems like a lot of others share my feelings about baseball.

The crazy thing about the light crowd is that the Twins are actually doing pretty good this year.  They're leading the American League Central Division and look to be a lock to make the playoffs.  They even won this game by a score of 3-2, but did lose the series to the Devil Rays.  Maybe people are afraid of coming to a game featuring a fish named after the King of Evil.  That's the only thing I can figure.

We also went out with Dan and his family on his actual birthday.  We started with dinner at the Copper Pint and finished with some Karaoke at the American Legion in Shakopee.  We sure do have a lot of fun with that microphone.

On Saturday, we drove up to Clearwater, Minnesota to hang out with our good friends, Sue & Ron Korkowski.

We spent the day at a ribfest fundraiser supporting an organization called Jessie's Wish.  It raises money for victims of domestic abuse and the funds go to Anna Marie's Women's Shelter in St. Cloud.

It's quite the event featuring 19 different food tents with contestants competing for who can BBQ the best ribs and other unique offerings.  These guys were the judges and it was enjoyable watching them have to eat 19 different ribs to determine which was worthy of earning the trophy for Best Ribs.

We also tried a whole bunch of creative food treats many of which were wrapped in bacon.  The bacon wrapped Oreo was a treat, but just one of many options available.

They also had other interesting experiences including a chicken plop contest.  Basically people buy one of 16 squares and then they release a chicken on top of them.  Wherever that chicken decides to make a deposit, the owner of that square wins a bunch of money.  Now that's a fun way to spend a Saturday.

We always have a lot of laughs when we get together with the Korkowski's and their family.  

We ended the evening with a boat ride and a competitive game of Settlers of Cataan.  It's getting pretty chilly to go out on the boat in Minnesota so our days to do it again in 2023 are pretty limited.  Glad we fit this one in!