There’s nothing better than a clear summer night, when the stars shine clear in the dark sky. I often stop and stare on my way back inside after closing up the chicken coop. It’s a reminder of the vastness of the world—of opportunity, of human experience and of life. As our team put this issue together, the cosmos became a clear theme tying the stories together. This is most obvious in our Tastemakers section, where I connected with Meteor and Stargazer owner and founder Robb Jones, an innovative Minneapolis bartender who grew up in White Bear Lake. Jones has focused the past five years on creating bars that fill a gap in the Minneapolis bar scene. His newest project is a response to unjustifiable cocktail prices—at Stargazer, fancy cocktails are worth every penny. Elite trail runner Rachel Drake has spent many nights racing through moonlit mountain forests. We connected with Drake, a
White Bear Lake Area High School graduate, to learn about her journey from high school track phenom to a world-class ultramara
