Milwaukee Weekend

Jason and his coworker Jaime had to head up to the UW-Milwaukee experiment station in Saukville, WI, for a class on identifying grasses and sedges. And Kelly got to come along! We stayed at a very old farmhouse on the property because our plans to camp were foiled by a massive thunderstorm.

On the way up we stopped at a restaurant just off the highway called "Little Europe", it was terrible! Never go there, trust us. They have dolls nailed to the walls, slow and unfriendly service, and food not too good. It had loads of character, though, and that was fun.

The next morning before class began we ran into town to a local coffee shop. There we met up with local color. An extremely talkative local dude was regailing the entire shop with his jokes and stories. He regailed us with tales of flying turkeys, and joked around with a cop about the massive gun he was packing, and how it must be for all the scary wild turkeys in their dangerous town or maybe he should go bust up that suspicious group of red hat ladies that look like they're up to something.

While Jason and Jamie studied, Kelly got to play. She went for some walks up and down the road, then crashed the class after lunch when the teacher took everyone into Cedarburg Bog.

Later that night we went to a winery and walked around the cute historic town of Cedarburg, Wisconsin. We stopped into a candy shop, checked out bridges and old buildings, and ducked into a bookstore. That night we drank wine and hung out with some interesting folks from the class back at the farmhouse.

On Saturday Jason finished up his class while Kelly finished reading the awesome book of short stories Jason recommended, The Interpreter of Maladies. Susie and Tony drove up and met us, and we headed into Milwaukee.

Delicious frozen custard was to be had at ultra-modern Kopp's, with a line of white cow statues looking on. After checking into our hotel, we went to German Fest where Kelly actually drank an enitre Sprecher German Fest beer to try and show her support of her German boyfriend. We saw some German dancers, a life-size Glochenspiel, a blacksmith, and we took the skyway across the park. Then we saw some awesome fireworks! So close that ash was raining down on us, and all the explosions echoed very loudly.

The next day after a big breakfast, we headed over to the Boerner Botanic Garden. Then we took a tour of the Sprecher Brewery that ended with tons of free beer and their specialty soft drinks. Then we had butter burgers just down the street at Solly's Grille. A full day, but we loved it. Milwaukee is awesome!