We went to  see Ringo Starr July 14 at the Mystic Lakes Casino near Minneapolis. the trip was great and the concert was awesome. we made a bit of a long weekend out of the event. we bought the tickets actually before they went on sale (we're still not sure how that happened) and as soon as we had the tickets we made a reservation for a room at the casino for the night.  but then we went up a day early because we could and so we would be there and wouldn't have to rush.

on our way up we stopped at elk horn iowa to see the danish windmill

it was pretty cool. it's an actual authentic danish windmill.  the windmill was built in denmark in 1848. in the 1970s the people from elk horn bought the windmill in denmark ($11000 US) paid to have it dismantled and marked -- each piece was marked and a model was made so it could be reassembled here ($14000 US) then it was shipped to the states ($8000 US) and reassembled here based on the model and the markings on the pieces -- the reassembly here was all volunteer. today it costs $2 (US) to tour the mill and it's very neat. you can climb clear up to the top inside (that part was sort of scary) and walk around outside on the ground (free) or on the landing walkway (included in the tour price). i'd never seen a european windmill up close (or inside) so seeing the cog wheels and the mill stone was a special treat as well. the gift shop there is nice too and has tons of danish import stuff including food and they also sell wheat and rye flour that has been ground there at the windmill.  we bought a bottle of mead from the winery down the road.  there is also a danish smorgasbord restaurant next door, but we did not eat there.  we thought the little side trip off the interstate to elk horn was worth it.

we had a room at the casino the night of the concert, but we went up the day before so we'd already be there and we wouldn't have to rush.  we stayed at a comfort inn in Savage Sunday night and it was nice enough.  we've always had good luck at the comfort inns.  we had an adequate mexican meal near the hotel.  we tried to go to the movies, but we couldn't find the theatre in the nearby town of shakopee.  but gordi went out in the morning before i woke up to play a round of frisbee golf and he found the theatre and drove to the casino so we'd know where we were going.  but first we checked out a cool living history farm called murphy's landing. it's a recreated 1850s river town.  there are authentic houses from the time period that have been moved to the site. there are farm houses and "town" houses, a church, barns, a school house.  many of the buildings have authentic furnitings and there are people wandering around in period dress.  you can take a guided tour, but we just wandered around for about an hour before the movie.

then we went to see Hellboy 2 and the movie was awesome too! i blogged it on my movie blog.

then we checked in at the casino hotel.  Mystic lakes casino is huge! it's like a small town.  there's the hotel and casino and convention center and arena and there's a related smaller casino on the grounds and parking lots and they're building more. it's a whole compound.

we had a lovely room on the fifth floor overlooking the display lights and the hotel entrance.  there are 6 restaurants, and we had a lovely early dinner before the show at the restaurant on the golf course. i had an amazing red thai curry shrimp on pasta.  yumm.  the pool and spa area was very  nice with waterfalls and such.  you can also pay extra for a massage, but we didn't.  we walked all through the gaming floor and checked out the other restaurants -- the buffet looked great.  but the gaming floor was very smoky.  this is weird -- the casino was dry -- no alcohol anywhere. no bar, no wine with dinner -- they don't even let you take your own beer into the hotel rooms.  at the concert concessions they had sodas and o'douls non-alcoholic beer.  so no drinks, but everyone was smoking.  we walked briskly through the casino, didn't stop at all. didn't sit, didn't play a hand of blackjack, didn't put a dollar in the slots, but by the time we got back to the room we reeked.