The simple pleasures of a great place to smoke...

Canadian Pacific Railway has me down in the Twin Cities for three weeks of classroom training in becoming a conductor so after an eight hour day of learning books and books of rules and procedures it's nice to be able to go somewhere and relax.

Over on Grand Avenue in St. Paul is a great cigar shop (along with some mid-grade pipes and a great selection of CAO pipes, if I only had the money) called Stogies on Grand. It's built in an old house and has the most wonderful atmosphere to go sit and enjoy a smoke. One room has giant leather chairs and a big screen TV, another room has some couches, and another section with tables for working.

I headed over there late this afternoon with my stack of conductor training manual, general code of operating rules, timetable, and safety book, picked out an "Illusione" from the walk-in-humidor and sat down at a table to start reading. After the cigar burned down to a nub I pulled out my Nording freehand and some Penzance and enjoyed a bowl.

It just made me realize how nice it is to have a place like this to go, with the atmosphere of a small coffee shop. It sure beats sitting at the AmericInn. I have the feeling this will become a nightly hangout for me as I make my way through the rigors of training. What a great place!
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-Lew
Lisbon, ND
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Flickr - Kind of Lew
Form 19

Age : 38 Joined : 02 Mar 2008 Posts : 84

yes, it is great to have a place to hang out... here in KC, they're slowly allowing each city to pass smoking bans, so we're having to find new areas to get together.

btw - great photos on your link. wish i had the time to do it for fun/pleasure and not work related.