It has been a cool and rainy August so far in Minneapolis and it has taken a little more dedication and determination to follow through on some of these Pizza Farm nights. Yesterday required some flexibility and a little stubbornness to achieve Last Night’s Pizza Box ultimate goal of capping off a successful day with some pizza.
Our original plan was to canoe from Taylors Falls to Marine on St Croix and finish our trip with St Croix Chocolate Co.’s weekend Pizza Night. But with forecasts of rain and thunderstorms and someone inexperienced with canoes (me), we decided it would be safer to stay ashore. Instead of putting in our canoe at Taylors Falls, we planned to cross the bridge and hike on the Wisconsin side of Interstate State Park. We stopped at Franconia Sculpture Park on the way and
admired the fields of wild flowers and the various sculptures. When we made it to Interstate State Park, we hiked along the Pothole Trail where we enjoyed views of the St. Croix River, Taylors Falls, and learned about the 
potholes and other glacial formations along that portion of the Ice Age Scientific Reserve. After that we visited the FAWN DOE ROSA wildlife educational park and were amazed at all the cuteness. We still had a couple hours before Pizza Night started so we stopped and had a snack in Taylors Falls and visited the Dresser Village Library.
We arrived back in Marine on St Croix, still quite early for dinner. What I didn’t realize was that such a small town would have so many interesting things to explore. First we did a drive through of the strange and intriguing Jackson Meadow neighborhood. This isolated neighborhood within Marine on St Croix is apparently something that architecture and landscape students learn about in school. All the houses are built in a Scandinavian style using only white with an occasional black shed within the developmoent. Most of the lawns are prairie grasses growing free. Only one road leads 
in and out. It is beautiful and striking, if not a bit creepy. Back along the main strip, we did a self-guided History of Marine on St Croix tour by checking out the old Lumber Company and walking around the Early Settler’s Cabin. A Marine local noticing our interest let us know that the descendants of the original cabin builder, Sven Anderson, still come and open it to the public every Sunday afternoon.
After spending the entire day being outdoors without a single drop of rain, we finally went to St Croix Chocolate Co for pizza dinner. The Pizza Chef was still prepping the oven so we started with an appetizer of beer and chocolate and read our books on the patio while the sun came in and out. A few other folks showed up around 5pm and the way the staff seemed to know them, it seemed like they might be Pizza Night regulars. We ordered the Artichoke, Olive, Tomato Pizza and the Bacon, Bleu Cheese, Arugula Pizza. The pizzas aren’t very large, so half and half accommodations aren’t really an option. I can respect the no variation policy. It reminds me of the business my dad wanted to start to called, “That’s All, Really.” He planned to serve one thing and one thing only – an ice cream cookie sundae – and when people would ask for any variation, his response would be, “You can get this. That’s all. Really.” That’s essentially the response I got when I asked if they could leave bacon off one half of the Bacon, Bleu, Arugula Pizza.
The pizza tasted great. The crust made from scratch was delicious. We took the Pizza Chef’s tip and waited until after 5:15pm so it wouldn’t be overly crisp. The toppings tasted great. We managed to eat most of our two pizzas and I enjoyed my leftovers for breakfast today. And the most surprising part of the day was that it didn’t rain on us even once!
