The Big Red Wagon - Minneapolis, MN

My wife and I took a trip. We were going to spend a week on Lake Superior's North Shore. M H Stroh had a poetry reading - her great poems from the self published collection "Mouthful of Agates". Friends were there. Fans were there, too. I also had a show at one of Duluth's newest breweries, Ursa Minor. It was a great space, with delicious beer and fantastic merchandise. The sound system made it hard for me to hear what I was sounding like, but the folks in attendance seemed to enjoy it all right. So, it was a working vacation of sorts. Our cabin was situated 25 to 30 feet from Lake Superior so we were able to fall asleep, and wake up to, the sound of the waves crashing on the rock. Hiking through Tettegouche, Split Rock Light House, and Gooseberry Falls State Parks afforded some great views. The weather was mostly nice, save the over-night blizzard we endured. We lost power and rode out the storm playing board games by flashlight.  
 
Beans, Messerole. They're here for the beans.

Before making our trip up the shore, we spent a couple of days in the Twin Cities metropolitan area where we ate and drank to our content. One of the first stops we made was the highly touted Modist Brewing Company. They didn't have a kitchen, but were accompanied by a food truck. An increasingly common site among the plethora of tap rooms I've visited. The Big Red Wagon had a variety of foods to offer, but we settled in on an order of cheese curds and a cup of baked beans. Health food. The beans from The Big Red Wagon were served in a nice sized paper cup, and they even provided me with a spoon. Read about that in the last few posts. From what I could gather, there was a couple different types of beans in this mixture and they were cooked very well. There were no vegetables to be found in this offering, but there was  hearty amount of pulled pork thrown into the mix. That coupled with the well cooked beans made for a fantastic consistency in the dish. The meat and beans were served in a robust sauce that carried your taste buds off in a variety of directions. Left scattered like dandelion pappus in metaphorical fields of sweet, spicy, and smokey flavors. These baked beans were served up in a great bean-to-sauce ratio, as well. If I can find a downfall to this dish, it's that they were served borderline cold. That, certainly, doesn't make it impossible to eat, it's just not what I had expected. Hence the 3 point consistency rating. Otherwise, these were nearly perfect.

Ratings (On a scale of 1-5)
Appearance: 4
Flavor: 5
Mouthfeel: 3

Total Score: 12
Tied for the highest score yet. 

For what it's worth,
​Modist Brewing's Apiary Drip: 5