Contact us
Back to All Posts

For those last-minute V-Day wonderful gifts, (and days beyond), take the words of that ultimate romantic, Beevis, and go ‘fire,fire,fire …’

The firepower you can invoke for this festive holiday involves both fireworks and firing a rifle, all for fun:
— Pop goes the fireworks? Also, pop goes the rockin’ tunes. To that end, the band PopROCKS plays the Smilin’ Moose this Friday night, and they definitely come recommended, since they were prominently listed in the online ranking that is Music Mates musicians megabase. Two the point that among the dozens of bands that got at least one vote, this dance music crew garnered the most among perhaps any group that regularly plays the Hudson area.

And with that said, the rest of this previously existing community calendar department lists V-Day offerings that in most cases go beyond Wednesday itself:

— What says Valentine’s Day more than guns? Such as the AR-15 Oracle ($399) and the Sniper 370 compound crossbow package ($199) on special this week at Gregerson Ace Hardware in Baldwin. Be aware that they only take cash and paper checks, not debit or credit cards. And while you are at it, you can try the gonzo target shooting experience at the Bill’s Gun Shop range up on The Hill in Hudson.
— And if things go really sour, you can check out the following ad in the rest room at Next Stop Bar in Houlton, (yes, I’m in the business of getting you in the door of such businesses, hence the tease). Its for a fireworks display company, and says among the many occasions you might want to use their services, to set some major stuff off, is having a divorce party. And along the lines of teasing, without giving away my secrets, such as they are, you might consider (among the many venues that are offering the ultimate V-Day experience as far as food and more amenities), the completely over the top lovers special at The Postmark Grille. It even includes the possibility of an hour or two having dinner in the old postal vault, complete with chocolates and flowers, courtesy of the staff.

— But V-Day can become V-week and more. The steak and seafood special dinners for the holiday, or holi-week, such as it is, are served weekend to weekend, Feb. 9-18, at the Bungalow Inn in Lakeland. That’s a full ten days of great food.

— So Lent is just around the corner, and since you’ve been waiting for your best seafood dinner for all these months, why not change it up and have something different from that flourish of fish fries on Fridays? (And, if you can’t wait, why not celebrate more creatively the bounty of the sea, while still conforming with the season(s), on Ash Wednesday/Valentine’s Day?)
Enter Paddy Ryan’s, in the town of Hudson, for entrees you’ll have trouble finding elsewhere in western Wisconsin. Namely these: Clarenbridge calamari, breaded with the local touch of house seafood sauce; Belfast seafood chowder in a rich cream stock with fresh herbs and a splash of sherry; and finally, glazed salmon fillet topped with a maple, Dijon and bacon glaze (OK, we can cut you some slack with that last ingredient).

— I normally don’t include Stillwater in my mix, but this is just totally out there, to the point of being tropically oriented. On Wednesday, the Tilted Tiki across the river there has a dozen or more of their own takes on old standards, and the creativity just might impress your significant other. And, a few blocks away, the Gasthaus, with Bavarian style, is offering Valentinstag, (I’m 100 percent German, ouch, and I still don’t know what that means, but it sounds cool as it rolls off the tongue, and there is always their strolling accordian player on the weekends to make it even more authentic). And as for any of these last-minute salvations, make reservations guys. And don’t wait any longer!

Share the Post:

Related Posts

  • He says, and goes fishing with the boys. She says, then goes to the middle of Texas, inviting her mates to a ranch/villa built for the ages. The bachelor and bachelorette parties were on the same night, but though very different, they had some things in common … like the snakes, at least three kinds, to avoid. (None with exotic dancer.) But while away, they did not avoid each other, completely. He made a phone call. —– Just added, last call included a Carolina cowpoke.
What do fishing, maybe in the dark, thus a Texas ranch, snakes of various types and do they come or stay out after dusk, eating either and only fine food or snacks, and a game of cards — likely just one each — have in common. And no strippers or Chippendales. And an only half or quarter, not full Monty. (Who is Monty anyway?) Or cowboy or cowgirl hats. Although there was some dress-up. More Barbie than boots on, I think. It’s an easy answer, connected and conflicting, but not in all or dirty ways, bachelor and bachelorette parties. One of each...
Read More
  • Full metal jacket? Hey, I wasn’t exactly to the point of going Rob Halford. But tastes aside, there must be some reason why after 26 years I was shunned, like going Bob Daisley by Ozzy at his reunion? OK, I know, my style may not have fit with the packed crowd. And the last couple of times for this, I tried to do too much with ad-libbing. So yeah, I get that this time around, I was the somewhat unusual choice to be the one left off the set list, with singers clamoring to get up there. But seriously, just being analytical of strengths and weaknesses as a singer here, no hard feelings. I’m not Dio. (Or Traveling Wilburys, a when jumping inside, inside joke.)
It was clear to me at the most recent Jeff Loven music show in Hudson, for Memorial Day weekend, that there has been a changing of the guard. The sword has been passed. New blood, like Yungblud, has been brought in. And, I must say, loyalty — amongst the devotees who travel frequently and all across the two-state area to virtually all of Jeff’s shows — has been rewarded. They are the royalty, in what just makes good business sense that I can appreciate. In a significant but not unprecedented altering of course, I was not one of those asked...
Read More
  • Songs by Napalm Death? A fire swept down my very street today, where the babies were burned. (But alas, a new A/C unit is on its way up the freeway.) The Stones did not leave these themes unturned, either, or should I say unrolled. Oh wait, this all was my cooker of an apartment, and we are not talking the kitchen. But all these matters will become more pressing, a pressure point, as the new normal especially in southern climes is temp well into the triple digits. It is these people, the third world, and their heat stroke not mine, that most concern me. (Another example of hellfire temps just added. Sin after Sin.)
Trial by fire. My broiling heart in my efficiency flat still beats a bit, in concern over those boiling over in worse apartments in a Chicago tenancy, or on an ocean island instantly-burn-your-feet beach or dessert, or forced to endure ice baths just to keep cool — or simply be offered no way to maintain an ice-dripping body other than also read a non-cookbook at the library, or select not a big steak you can’t afford but a 73/27 burger from a freezer and slap it on your forehead. Just not too hard. All these things are ones where you especially today either burn or...
Read More
  • I had a dream … And out of it (re)sprouted an ancient spring fertility rite to save the world, or at least my apartment building, or at least my second story window, from a giant lizard peering in, out at T-Rex days of yore. This ritual requires copious amounts of consumption and goes from there to hobbits and lords who are not yet a-leaping, for reasons to be retold in this fanciful, twisted tale (of fiction?) Just watch the use of Why! The letter, that is. And try to catch on to the inside jokes. (Psst. Another tale inside. Or two.)
This is a truly awfuI, twisted tale of villains and heroes, powerful ale if used carefully, giant beasties and smaller hobbyts, but also renewal and redemption. I will ascrybe to an ancient rytual, back to when the tyme gyant lyzyrds peered into second story wyndows of apartment byldings and no amount of walls could keep them out of such urban non-placated places, save this practice that annually, about this tyme of three-day holiday, would save humanity for another year.  So in this spryng fertility ryte, go consume copious quantities of hunhy grhym cr’krz and jinjer biyr, deprived of its alcohol as worshippers need to be sober-headed...
Read More
  • And musings moreover —– A full list of the trios of triumph. The power of threes. A full dozen of these triads, oh make that 13 as we linger, that you will see listed as shopping promptings in three long blocks of store windows of downtown Hudson. Three’s company? Get it? Third time’s the charm. And this is a truism, the words, some of them three letters, chosen to depict their offerings show the diversity of, dare I say it, a Super WalMart.
Here goes the ultimate list of lingo, even if it languishes, in no particular long order, as we go at length into the different kinds of businesses you will find in this locale, starting the list and at its last, two of the many art galleries in our downtown: — Feminist power, love and generosity, and to double your fun, framing, art tchotchkes and earrings, all at the biggest little art and collectables gallery you will see mid-block. — Community, commerce and tourism, touted at the Hudson Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau, in a blatant suck up to...
Read More
  • And musings moreover —– To skate or not to skate? Not on most Hudson streets and sidewalks, you don’t. Even though most users I’ve encountered have been courteous and safe — saying ‘on right’ as they go by on a fairly busy sidewalk, and not just barely edging past you — the city council in essance banned the usage last fall. I think this goes too far in what amounts to dare I say it, big brother-type stringency. I prefer a more ‘urban’ style ambiance, with a Twin Cities type of bustle. (For what of that is to be found, come Friday, ‘jump’ inside. That post now updated, for more weekend options.) I now start with a joke.
As far as, for starters, the old announcement, “passing on the right,” this was said to me just now by a beautifully tanked woman in a bikini, owning the downtown sidewalk. She was slightly gasping and moaning as she almost carressed my side going by. I ABSOLUTELY REFUSE to read anything into that … Spring has past sprung, we’ve finally had some really hotter weather, and a young man’s heart turns to thoughts of … e-cycling and skateboarders going past. In the last couple of weeks, you can see them again all around our sidewalks and byways, busy and not...
Read More
Scroll to Top