What we did, read, watched and thought about this month.

Todd R.: I finished John Grisham’s newest, Sparring Partners, on a Saturday evening turned Sunday morning. Different structure than a typical novel, but fortunately Jake Brigance was around for part of it. Next up is Bad City: Peril and Power in the City of Angels about the unusual power of the University of Southern California to bury sexual assault allegations. Knocked off We Own This City and the final season of Peaky Blinders on Netflix – both excellent. City on a Hill starting this Sunday, which I am certain has increased the work of the hosts of The Oracle of Bacon.

Can’t say enough good things about the rhubarb crumble ice cream at Selma’s Ice Cream Parlor. Get out to Afton this summer before the weather turns cold.

Rich: July felt like true summer in Minnesota. The weather was the big highlight, enabling lots of fun outdoors. Our month started with a family vacation in The Hamptons. Kari’s sister and spouse hosted us all in a beautiful home they have rented for the summer. The area is truly beautiful and filled with fun and charm.

The rest of the month focused on catching up with friends and family: Dinners outdoors, golf and cocktails in the back yard were all evidence of how great summer in Minnesota can be. 

Todd S.: My wife and I took our boys to St. Louis over the 4th of July weekend for a quick summer getaway. Kim and I both worked at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about a dozen years ago. Kim was a reporter covering the environment back then; I was the Business and Enterprise Editor. We spent one day at City Museum – don’t miss it if you’re in town. The dudes had no interest in going to the top of the Arch, but they enjoyed being close to it. We had a great time catching up with old friends and spent a few evenings watching the Alton River Dragons, a minor league baseball team that is based just north of St. Louis. We have a friend who owns the team. Minor league baseball is the best.

Sarah: This month brought the return of The Bachelorette, my competitive bracket and The Popcast with Knox and Jamie’s recaps. I also started the much talked about The Great on Hulu, an irreverent series based on Catherine the Great of Russia. Based only loosely on real events, I listened to the episode Catherine the Great and her Husband the Mediocre from Noble Blood before watching. We are also prepping for a trip to Norway in mid-August, so I’ve been doing plenty of research on things to do, places to see and great restaurants.

Sean: After an action-packed June, July was a necessary return to normal. Yard work, dog walks and lazy weekends around the house dominated the month. Our men’s league soccer team went undefeated, despite me being in horrendous shape getting back from my honeymoon. To make up for this, I decided it would be a good idea to sign up for the Twin Cities 10 mile … and immediately regretted it upon my first training run. The show of the month for us was FX’s The Bear, a fast paced drama about a family restaurant in Chicago. On the movie front, can’t give a stronger recommendation for RRR on Netflix, an incredibly fun and creative action/drama.

Anna: The month kicked off strong with a weekend of celebrations in Atlanta for the wedding of two of our friends. While there, we ate delicious meals at Ted’s Montana Grill and Thumbs Up Diner and stood in line to sample the melt-in-your-mouth peach slider donut from Revolution Doughnuts. We gaped at whale sharks, sea turtles, dolphins and sharks at the Georgia Aquarium and visited the impressive World of Coca-Cola Museum where we tried too many of their 60+ samples of Coke products. Another highlight was participating in a competitive scavenger hunt with our church group that included lots of Boll Weevil statues around Enterprise (our town’s claim to fame is having the only monument in the world dedicated to a pest. Trust me, it’s worth reading the backstory). In our downtime, Isaac and I revisited old favorites on Disney+, including Pollyanna and Kung Fu Panda.

Cullen: The highlight of my July was a weekend in Iron River, WI which featured fishing, a friendly golf tournament, the world-famous Blueberry Festival and some seriously yummy food at Superior Cubans and Deep Lake Lodge.

I was disappointed by The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, but was blown away by Circe. I’m surely in the minority, but I’d recommend it over The Song of Achilles any day. After being disappointed by the ending of season 4 of Stranger Things I figured it was time to give Breaking Bad a try (about 10 years too late) and am really enjoying it. My guilty pleasure movie of the month was Netflix’s The Gray Man, which you should watch if only for the stunt work and Ryan Gosling’s performance.

Kaylee: I neglected to share in last month’s Rundown that COVID finally caught up to me for the first time. While I needed the better portion of this month to get my stamina back, I filled my downtime with a few Netflix documentary series. Web of Make Believe was thought provoking and bizarre and, at times, provided some good laughs despite covering more serious subject matter. July also marked the first month after my move to Minneapolis where I was neither busy trying to furnish my apartment nor away traveling. So, once I was up to it, I officially kicked off exploring the city! Restaurants like Boludo and Northbound Smokehouse & Pub, and events like the Minneapolis Farmers Market and Minnehaha Falls Art Fair found themselves on my list.

Will: I started the month by celebrating the Fourth of July at my friend’s cabin in Wisconsin. It’s been a tradition among my friends for a few years, but this was the first year I was around and able to celebrate. I also spent some time visiting another friend and trying to learn how to wake surf, which was tricky but a lot of fun.

I’ve been branching out to find new podcasts this month. Strict Scrutiny has been a great guide through Supreme Court news in recent weeks. Mother Country Radicals is my new favorite – the son of prominent members of the Weather Underground recorded interviews with his parents and their friends about life in the 1960s and 1970s as underground radicals. If you liked Judas and the Black Messiah, you’ll find it fascinating.

Finally, I got myself an early housewarming gift ahead of moving into my apartment next month — a new TV. I’ve been testing it out with another playthrough of the insanely majestic Red Dead Redemption 2 and the somewhat terrifying Alone on Netflix.

Leah: This month I went to Lakefront Music Festival in Prior Lake and saw Alabama and Randy Houser; they were fun to see live! My sisters and I took my mom to afternoon tea at The LynHall in Edina for a very delayed Mother’s Day, even though it was late, it was worth it. Great food and tea - no complaints.

This month I have been watching Hulu’s second season of Only Murders in the Building starring Selena Gomez, it is a comedy/mystery show and I would recommend it. I also always love to go back and rewatch Schitt’s Creek when I need a good laugh. My next goal is to get around to Stranger Things season 4 volume 2, maybe I keep pushing it off because I don’t want it to be over.