This posting is a little late, but the Last Night’s Pizza Box 2017 season ended in a memorable trip to the number one favorite on October 31, the last night of the regular season for A to Z Produce. This whole project and mission started with Robin and Gina, two friends trying to enjoy as many pizza farm experiences as they could, so it felt appropriate to be heading out to the season finale together. And since it was Halloween, I dressed up in my best Pizza shirt and my best Pizza hat and we hit the road.
The drive out to Stockholm went smooth. It was fairly cold and gray and there was a mix of barren trees and some fall color remaining. I was trying to take in all the familiar sights and turns in the road opening into beautiful views of the Mississippi, finding extra meaning in each moment knowing that in just over a week I would be moving away from Minneapolis to Chicago and all my future Pizza Farm excursions would be under different circumstances and as part of a new era in my life.
True to form, we pulled up to Stockholm Pie Shop just as they were trying to close. Stephen, the owner, talked to us a bit about the end of the season and didn’t seem too annoyed at our timing as he ushered us out with a beautiful full cherry pie and a slice of my favorite triple chocolate pecan.
We traveled up the hill with a little more daylight left to order our pizza. All the staff were dressed as farm animals in the holiday spirit and we were greeted as old friends with that bittersweet feeling you get when you are ready for the season to be over and at the same time you wish it would never end. There was a fair amount of folks taking their last opportunity to get Robbi and Ted’s creations, considering the time of year. We found some seats in the Coop and took our traditional walk through the grounds, bundled up as the temperature dropped with the setting sun.
Our pizza was delicious and I saved a few pieces as leftovers. We dug briefly into the pies. By 6:30pm it was completely dark and we went around to say our goodbyes for the winter. We packed up our car and our leftovers and headed back toward home.
It was truly the end of an era for me and there were many goodbyes. Goodbyes to the Pizza Farm season, goodbyes to Minneapolis, and one unexpected goodbye to my car of 14 years. On the drive home, a deer ran in front of us causing an accident and the car was totaled and not salvageable. We obviously survived, but not completely without injuries, although in retrospect and after seeing the damage of the car, I feel lucky to be able to have walked away, despite the loss of my car.
The 2017 Regular Season is over, but as we move into the off season there are many more Pizza adventures to have. You’ll be hearing from me when I come back to the Minnesota and Wisconsin and as I check out the many pizza options in my new home of Chicago.
