Per Wm. Puckett's suggestion, starting a new thread. This is a reminder of the forthcoming lunch for the MN "Chapter" of the BPLers at Salut (a French/American Restaurent in St. Paul).

http://www.salutbaramericain.com/menu/stpaullunch.html
http://www.salutbaramericain.com/

917 Grand Ave
St Paul, MN 55105

Google maps:
http://tinyurl.com/coyvsl

For 11:30 am, Sat, April 18.

Current headcount is:
Roleigh Martin
Vicky and Craig Maki
Wm. Pucket
Dan Cunningham and Leah (75% sure)
Matt and Jacci
Matt Foehrenbacher
Keri Poeppe and Joe
Jim Colten
Phil and Leanne Davis

It should be fun. We'll be meeting nearby afterwards at a park for gear showoff, whatever. Because of the change of restaurant, we need to rethink the nearby park we go to afterwards.

See below thread for reason for change of location. The time/place/city has remained the same, and the price for this restaurant is affordable - see menu.

PS - so the below thread makes sense for late comers, the original location was The Highland Grill but we could not book them for a reservation.

Edited by marti124 on 04/16/2009 22:45:13 MDT.

Dan & Leah are now 75% sure.

Edited by mn-backpacker on 04/10/2009 22:17:55 MDT.

I forget nearest place but some of the St. Paulers will let us know. Someone bring a simple to follow map of how to get there.

Here's a mapquest link to the Highland Grill. We can retire afterwards to Hidden Falls Park, to the southwest. Zoom out one step and you'll see the closest entrance at Hidden Falls Drive.

Edited by jcolten on 04/11/2009 06:10:28 MDT.

If you're open to additional members my wife (Leanne) and I would be interested in joining you on the 18th. We don't get a lot of chances to share hiking experiences with most of our friends/family.

Phil, you and your wife are most welcome and I have added you two to head count. Any other BPL members are welcome too. I am hiking Afton St. Park now and using my Iphone.

Jacci and I will be there.

Dan, I hope you come and I hope you bring your 3.5 oz gravity feed water filter system. I'm interested in the tubing setup as I understand some have had problems with a snug fit for the Aqua Mira Frontier Pro filter. I'm also interested in placement and tubing length before and beneath the filter.

I'm bringing my recently-crafted MYOG half-bag.

Cool Matt, and if you have a sewing machine you super like, bring or post what model sewing machine you have. I'd like to find a super reliable sewing machine that does not jam. I only care about simple sewing projects but sometimes involving working with thick material, such as sewing velcro onto nylon (making home-made "dirty girl" gaiters out of normal gaiters); repairing silnylon tents, spinnaker ground cloths, etc.

I'll bring the full hydration setup.

I'll also bring the BushBuddy setup - I'm sure some would be interested in it.

<--This guy.

I'm calling to make reservations for 14 people Monday. If I don't posting confirmation of such by Monday night, bug me via PM Tuesday morning, ok? Thanks! (Sometimes I get so busy during the day at work, I forget personal chores.)

I just called and spoke to Valentina at the Highland Grill ( 651-690-1173 ). She said they don't take reservations but ask people to call 90 minutes ahead of time. She said we'll be split up into either 2 or 3 tables next to each other. I'll create an alarm on my iphone to call 90 minutes ahead a time for the reminder.

http://www.highlandgrill.com/directions.php

I'll bring along my Gorilla Pack for the Hidden Falls show and tell.

I'm not surprised they wouldn't take reservations - I didn't think they did. It's a relatively small classic diner type place. It's good, but probably not the best for a large group. Here's a pic of the interior:



Should we consider a change of venue? There are TONS of restaurants in the area. I'm just not sure if people wanted to sit as a group or not.

I'm game but clueless for nearby options.

Hmmm, my expectation was based on experiences at its "sister" grill ... the Longfellow. Was looking for a moderately priced place ... a bit more inclusive. The Longfellow is a bit larger, Mpls end of the Lake St. bridge, about 3 miles up river.

Otherwise, suggest an alternative.

Ok, I think I have the best substitution. I called Longfellow but they like the Highland Grill do not take reservations and can't seat us together so I ruled them out.

My college son works part-time on Grand Ave in St. Paul, and he likes the French/American restaurant, Salut, and I ate there twice with him and they can seat 14 and I booked a reservation with the Manager, Andy, for same time/same date, 11:30am, Sat., April 18 for 14 people. Good food, affordable prices.

Here is the menu.

http://www.salutbaramericain.com/menu/stpaullunch.html
http://www.salutbaramericain.com/


917 Grand Ave
St Paul, MN 55105

Google maps:
http://tinyurl.com/coyvsl

Reservation under the name, Roleigh Martin and the manager knows it's for a group of backpackinglight.com members.

Edited by marti124 on 04/14/2009 22:54:00 MDT.

I updated the Wiki for this event -- you others might want to edit the wiki page and have a pointer to your profile page. I added Phil Davis name but not link. click "edit" -- how you do the link is obvious by seeing how it's done.

http://wiki.backpackinglight.com/Category:Chapters:Minnesota

PS, I did a private PM to everyone in the head count notifying them of the change of location and gave them a link to this page.

Edited by marti124 on 04/14/2009 07:04:06 MDT.

I haven't been there before - looks cool! Good choice Roleigh.