Fabulous Fern's fries with honey mustard are a St. Paul must have

Any veteran of the U.S. Championships can tell you that checking out the local attractions around the arena and hotel can be one of the highlights of the event. But in a big city like St. Paul, what are the best placed to check out?

A St. Paul native who is making his senior national debut in St. Paul, eeigning U.S. Junior Men's Champion Eliot Halverson knows better than anyone. Halverson sat down with Figure Skaters Online to give his lists of things to do, see and of course, eat while visiting his hometown.

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Close proximity to the "X"
"X" is short for the Xcel Energy Center. If you don't want to sound like a tourist say "Is it close to the X?"

● Science Museum of Minnesota
120 Kellogg Blvd W
St. Paul, Minn. 55102
Phone: (651) 221-9444
Right across from the X... a great place to take the kids! My favorite is the musical stairs. Each stair step plays a note so you can make up your own crazy melodies. Warning to skaters: Don't break a leg!

● Cossetta’s Italian Market and Pizzaria
211 Seventh St W
St Paul, Minn. 55102-2520
Phone: (651) 222-3476
Kitty corner to the X, next to The Holiday Inn. Cafeteria style, ready-made Italian dishes, long lines, really good pizza, tiramisu and Italian ice cream.

● The Downtowner Woodfire Grill
253 West 7th Street
St. Paul, Minn. 55102
Phone: (651) 228-9500
A few minute walk from the X, the restaurant servers moderately priced American food with a Persian touch. And you can make reservations.

Cathedral Hill Area
Just a hop, skip and a jump (up the hill) from the X

● The Cathedral of Saint Paul
239 Selby Ave.
Saint Paul, Minn. 55102
Phone: (651) 228-1766
The Cathedral of St. Paul is a little over a mile from the X. On every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, at 1 p.m., there is a free tour of the Cathedral, which was designed in 1905 by Emmanuel Louis Masqueray, a French architect trained at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris.

● W. A. Frost Cathedral Hill
374 Selby Ave.
St Paul, Minn. 55102
Phone: (651) 224-5715
Named the "Best Restaurant in St. Paul" by the Best of the Twin Cities in 2004, the W. A. Frost is a fine dining restaurant that accepts reservations online. Their Web site has some cool info on the area at the turn of the century. F. Scott Fitzgerald lived at The Commodore Hotel, just a few blocks away.

● Fabulous Fern’s
400 Selby Ave.
St. Paul, Minn.
Phone: (651) 225.9414
Fabulous Fern's is about a six minute ride from the X. I think their country seasoned chicken strips and fabulous fries are incredible. There is another must: Honey mustard on the side to dip your fries in! Or check out pecan crusted walleye served with lemon aioli. Fabulous Fern's full menu is served until midnight.

● La Grolla
452 Selby Ave.
St. Paul, Minn. 55102-1727
Phone: (651) 221-1061
La Grolla is down the parking lot from Fabulous Ferns—where my mom will be. "Walk into La Grolla and you'll feel ass though you've stumbled upon a family-owned restaurant in the Tuscan hills..." Great aroma, great ambience!

● Moscow on the Hill
371 Selby Ave.
St. Paul, Minn. 55102
Phone: (651) 291-1236
Moscow on the Hill was voted the best martini by City Pages 2007 for all the Russians—just kidding. The restaurant serves authentic Russian food only a couple miles from the X.

Grand Avenue Area

● Grand Ole Creamery
750 Grand Ave
St Paul, Minn. 55105
Phone: (651) 293-1655
The Grand Ole Creamery is sort of a "divine hole-in-the-wall ice cream place" about a mile from the X. My favorite is the birthday cake ice cream. They also have great homemade waffle cones!

● Café’ Latte
850 Grand Ave.
St. Paul, Minn. 55105
Phone: (651) 224-5687
Great late-night dining when downtown St. Paul rolls up the streets! It's open until 10 p.m. Sunday-Wednesday, 11 p.m. Thursday and midnight Friday and Saturday, so you can check it out after the late skating events.

● The Bibelot Shoppe
1082 Grand Ave
St. Paul, Minn. 55105-3001
Phone: (651) 222-0321
The Bibelot Shoppe on Grand Avenue is the best gift shop around. My mom works here but at another location. It's open Monday-Friday until 9 p.m., Saturday until 8 p.m. and Sunday until 6 p.m.

● Bravo! Cafe & Bakery
1106 Grand Ave.
Saint Paul, Minn. 55105
Phone: (651) 287-9118
IT is home to my favorite beverage—BubbleTea. My pick is Bravo's Bubble Tea because it's creamy, fruity, frozen tea with tapioca balls on the bottom!

● Casper & Runyon's Nook
492 Hamline Ave S
St. Paul, Minn. 55116-1613
Phone: (651) 698-43478
My neighborhood hamburger place... Casper & Runyon's Nook is an eight minute car ride from the X. It's a small, hole-in-the wall neighborhood bar and grill and home of the Juicy Lucy! Yummy! Barbara Streisand even stopped here when she performed at the Xcel.

● James J. Hill House
240 Summit Ave.
St. Paul, Minn.
My mom made me include something "historic" on my list. The James J. Hill House is one half block west of Cathedral of St. Paul on Summit Ave. There are guided tours of the house every 30 minutes.

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For more information on Eliot Halverson, visit his official Web site Eliot Halverson Online at www.figureskatersonline.com/eliothalverson/.

Figure Skaters Online's Guide to the 2008 U.S. Championships is
written and produced by Figure Skaters Online in cooperation with the athletes and staff.

Photographs are courtesy of Leah Adams unless otherwise noted.
Restaurant photos courtesy of the restaurant Web sites.