little 'ol stillwater, minnesota

driving fast down highway 36 through the misty rain that falls splattering on my windshield. i seem to be passing everyone in a quest to find a place that i have been to a hundred times but still couldn't give someone directions to. suddenly everyone comes to a halt as we move our way slowly down the hill towards old downtown stillwater, mn. i then decide to call my dad again to ask where to turn. oops i guess i was supposed to turn a mile back to avoid this line of cars trying to enter downtown. oh well. i like driving through old downtown stillwater. it reminds me of a place i was as a kid, frozen in time because it is exactly the same as i remember it when i was six years old. i finally make it past the one lane stoplight that is the entrance to many memories; which is the reason that there is always a lineup to get here. driving three blocks down mainstreet i remember my grandma betsy taking me to the stillwater art fair when i was ten. she said i could pick out one thing to have. i chose a wooden cutout of a unicorn with a rainbow behind it. very ten year old paula. that unicorn sat on a shelf in my room for many years. i still have it packed in a box somewhere. i miss my grandma betsy.
i drive past the antique store where eric and i went to when we stayed at a bed and breakfast in stillwater not long after we were married. i bought an old green glass seven up pop bottle. it is in my kitchen cupboard. eric and i spent a whole weekend going in and out of the shops along main street. the old time candy store, the book store, the camping supplies store, a couple antique stores and of course the old malt shop on the corner. the room we stayed in at the b&b was alice and wonderland themed with old lewis carroll books on the shelf and an old looking rabbit in a waistcoat stuffed animal on the mantel.




but i shake these memories off me as i continue trying to find the place i'm going. dad asks if i can remember how to get to nelson's - he will meet me there and then i can follow him. i say yes i do remember but i doubt myself as i say it. if i drive around in enough circles i bet i come to it eventually. left on myrtle and up the hill. now things are starting to look familiar. i pass the aveda salon and spa where nellie, BJ and i each got a gift certificate from dad for christmas one year. of course we all got the same thing - a massage. this aveda salon is inside of what appears to be a log cabin from the outside. once you walk in though you see that you have entered pure relaxation territory. i love the smell of aveda products. earthy and sweet, rosemary and citrus with a hint of lavender. wonderful. the massage was amazing and i remember that i used the complimentary shower afterwards cause the oils got into my hair. why would i go home to shower with my target brand soaps when i could use all aveda's for free? it was late fall and when i was finished showering and dressing i tried to leave but the women at the front said they wouldn't let me until i dried my hair because they didn't want me getting sick. so i went back and dried my hair and then was approved to go outside again once they saw my locks sufficiently void of all water.
anyway, across the street from this spa is nelson's. i can remember going to nelson's when i was too small to see over the counter. dad would lift me up to see inside the glass cases so i could choose from thirty flavors of ice cream. i remember when there was still one very old and small vinyl booth in the corner where you were lucky to sit if no one else had nabbed it. when they still sold an array of candy along with all the ice cream the world had to offer. trays and trays of candy of all shapes and sizes lined up behind the ice cream so the workers were literally standing in between every kids dream. since then they have removed the booth and got rid of all the candy. they now focus entirely on ice cream. they certainly did take some of the charm out of the little living room sized shack when they removed those though. it's quite plain inside now. but one thing that hasn't changed at all is the size of those scoops of ice cream. a child's size can feed a grown man. if you don't believe me and get a single which is the next size up you'll be sorry when they hand you a cup or cone filled a foot high with your confection. and i will bet you $50 you won't be able to finish it. that is if you can eat the mushroom cloud of ice cream that is sitting atop your cup without making it fall to the ground. walk outside and you will see a scoop of cookie dough melting on the ground not too far from a scoop of peppermint bon bon being licked up by someone's dog. my dad used to take me, nellie and BJ there when we were little. after dad ate his he would finish our bubblegum or rainbow sherbet cause it was always too much for us. i bet he would eat a quart of ice cream in one sitting. he always enjoyed it though and then would work it off the next day working outside in the minnesota summer heat. oh nelsons. everyone that works there probably has carpal tunnel - that's not spelled right but you know what i mean. scooping countless balls of ice cream for hours a day will do that to you.
i pull up to nelson's and see dad's car outside so i follow him as he gets back onto the road. turn past the hospital where grandpa o spent some time years ago. i remember cause we went to visit him there. past the preschool. past where the purple house used to be that i always wanted to buy and live in when i was little. then we park and walk inside.
a restaurant that hasn't hardly changed a bit in 25 years. they did move the three foot high wood carving of a native american man that used to greet you as you walked in the door. he's in the corner now but nellie and i would always say hi to him as we passed by following mom and dad to a table. polka music fills the air as you enter the dark little german restaurant. everythings red and black with dim lighting. trinkets hanging from the ceiling, ancient beer ads dot the walls and the same waitress who has been there over 40 years still serving even though her hair is all gray and she's hunched sightly. burger meister. if you have never been to this little restaurant hidden away in stillwater you must go. i have never had anything but the signature burger meister burger. it comes to you on a plate that is only big enough to hold the burger. yesterday with dad, my stepmom billie and billie's cousins visiting minnesota from kentucky we ordered five meister burgers and a basket of fries. somehow we also got a basket of onion rings from our favorite waitress but she has been working there over 40 years so she's bound to make a mistake now and again. the burgers are amazing. perfect seasoned beef patty with a slice of american cheese, your choice of fried or raw onions (i always skip the onions) and the best part - bacon. but not just a couple strips of bacon thrown on top. they crunch up the bacon so that your burger is thoroughly covered in tasty bacon bits. add a couple pickles, some ketchup and mustard and it is easily the best burger in the twin cities and for me the most nostalgic. the hand cut fries always served piping hot and a pitcher of coke make for the most perfect high calorie dinner ever. when i first came back from australia in february this is where nellie, BJ and i decided to have our first sisters night out dinner. it's always the same, never changing, always delicious.
so many memories in little 'ol stillwater, minnesota.