Even Cupid could agree that there are other ways to mark Valentine’s Day then putting an arrow — or dart — through her poodle-sweatered heart.
— For something different and even non-traditional on the weekend of Valentine’s Day, consider the back to the ’50s party being thrown on Saturday night at the Village Inn in North Hudson, suggests the stalwart bartender who will be on duty and has invited friends from the Twin Cities. In fitting with that theme, poodle skirts and leather jackets are encouraged but not mandatory. There will be karaoke (bring on your best Elvis), milkshakes, burger specials, Best Damn rootbeer floats and $2 Budweiser and Bud Light cans.
— Cupid is not necessarily the only one to put an arrow through your heart on this Valentine’s Day. Okay, it’s actually a dart and actually is on Saturday, the day beforehand. Dick’s Bar and Grill is offering a Sweethearts darts tournament for couples on the 13th, with things getting rolling around 1 p.m. There is a $10 entry fee. With Valentine’s Day being on a Sunday, many offerings are being held the day before, but Dick’s is among those to have another festivity, their crab leg feast, on both Saturday AND Sunday during kitchen hours.
— The Willow River Saloon in Burkhardt ups the ante and has a trifecta, a fish fry on Friday and then on both Saturday and Sunday, featuring steak and lobster tails or jumbo shrimp along with a complimentary bottle of champagne, dessert and (being a largely country venue) “all the fixin’s,” all for $89 per couple. Call (715) 386-5885 for reservations. Then work off that meal by dancing to the varied tunes of Armadillo Jump on Friday night and East River Rock on Saturday.
— While at Dick’s you might want to consider getting ASAP an Upper Peninsula Ale (UPA), rather than a India Pale Ale (IPA), which is said to be an American Pale Ale (APA) brewed just for the north(woods). It is curious though that its flavor is described as, in part, like citrus. I didn’t know they had that kind of fruit grown way up north.
— Longtime luminary GB Leighton makes his way back to Hudson with a winter tent party on Saturday night, to cheer on ten years of business at Pier 500, rockin’ the First Street end of the downtown in the nextdoor municipal lot.