We got up around 8 and got things ready to pack on the bike to head to Highbanks. We walked down to the Sportsmans Lounge again for breakfast...supper the night before was good, so we figured breakfast would be equally as good. Best over-medium eggs we'd had in 1300+ miles this trip! While we were eating breakfast, we were entertained by the "locals"...I believe the source of all news was holding court. We heard more than we needed to, and we had no idea who anyone was...LOL. There was also an older couple there who were just worn out with life as some folks get. Their conversation consisted of pills, appointments, and disagreements on just about everything. As we were walking back to the room, we once again made a pact to grab all the gusto and, as Jimmy Buffett sings, "Die while we're living than live while we're dead."
We checked out, bid farewell for now to friendly little Shelbyville, and headed east. One stop we needed to make was in Effingham at Legacy H-D. Luckily we didn't try this yesterday since they're closed on Mondays--we're going to need to chart all these out, I'm thinkin'. LOL After a little look around and a poker chip and mini bumper sticker purchase (need to dress up the ol work laptop), we headed to the gas station for one last stop for the haul home.
On our way home we took a four-lane, which then changed to a two-lane, which then changed to a county road with no lines, which eventually lead to a chip and seal with the county adding some skip patches. At this point Tom stopped and asked about the road thinking our GPS lady had gone nuts. Nope; she was okay and the highway was just ahead. After some skillful dodging of the newly done patches, we arrived back on the highway. Before we knew it we were seeing the "Back Home Again in Indiana" sign outside of Vincennes. We rode ahead to Washington and had lunch at Mi Pueblo...always good. We've had good food this trip like we're accustomed to; like the one waitress said in Madison, WI, as she served us some deep-fried cheese curds, "We know good food and we like to eat good food, so we don't do the skinny-minny so much around here." Amen, sister!
We arrived home around 1:30. Stopped in to let our folks know we were home safe and sound, threw some laundry into the washer, took showers, and drank a g&t in celebration of a great trip. It's good to go, but it's good to come home.
photo stream: http://picasaweb.google.com/weisman.asai/20100727?authkey=Gv1sRgCK-l5cWYz-u2zgE&feat=directlink
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Day Ten: A Little Route 66, A Little Lincoln, A Lotta Sunshine
We got up this morning once again (thankfully ) to no rain; it’s going on all around us, but we’re missing it. Had our complimentary breakfast at the Best Western—the eggs even looked and tasted like eggs! We packed the bike and after talking for a bit to some fellow Hoosiers outside the hotel, we motored back to Main Street and took a look at the Norman Rockwell display at the Mark Twain Museum. I’d seen it several years ago and wanted Tom to see it. It was just as terrific as I remembered it. We looked at everything then we left Hannibal and headed to Springfield. It was an easy ride on I-72—the traffic was light and the roads were good. (Think I’ll need to re-read Innocents Abroad---this place just makes it all come alive once again.)
We headed across the Mississippi river (WOW are these rivers huge) and up the road to Quincy, IL to the H-D dealership. BUT…this wasn’t just ANY dealership…this one is TNT…yep…TNT…gotta love it! We had to have a salesman take our picture in front of this one! (I now have some photoshop work to do…LOL)
Once we arrived at Springfield we headed to the Dana-Thomas House that was designed and built by our guy Frank Lloyd Wright. Once again, if you like his stuff, it was amazing. We met some guy on the street and he struck up a conversation about what all we should see while in Springfield. Tom mentioned that we wouldn’t be able to take the Dana-Thomas interior tour since it was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays—he said it was no big loss. We laughed after he left us—you either love FLLW or REALLY dislike FLLW with not much space in between .
Once we looked around the perimeter and took a copious amount of photos, we journeyed up the street to The Lincoln Museum and Library. Our first interest was that there was a Subway inside the museum. We bought our tickets and headed for lunch. After that we watched the two movie presentations in the museum (done by Disney from our understanding)—they were worth the price of admission. It gave some excellent viewpoints that one never hears in history class; it made me re-think the way I taught it…never again the old way of thinking . We then took what time we had left and looked at a bazillion displays. We decided there was way more stuff there than we had time for, but it was enough for today.
Back on the bike, we headed to the Springfield H-D to get that poker chip or dealer dot…WHAT?!? Closed?!? Stopped and took a pic; guess that’s the second one we’re going to need to contact to collect on a technicality .
While in route to the H-D dealership, we found ourselves on Route 66—we immediately started figuring out that this would be a Miss Priss trip sometime down the road (no pun intended).
After this, we headed out of Springfield and went through a number of little towns on hwy 29. It’s always fun to see small towns and what they have to offer; pretty amazing small-town America we have . In particular, we were impressed with Shelbyville, where we ended up finding a little place The Shelby Inn http://www.theshelbyinn.com) to spend the last night on the road. We walked down to the Sportsman’s Restaurant and Lounge (http://sportsmansrestaurantandlounge.com) and had, for $5.25, all you can eat fried chicken, potatoes, and a huge salad bar. And, as an added bonus, the beer was very very cold. We walked back to the room and decided that this would be a great weekend ride destination. It’s surrounded by lakes, parks, and the town is just really cool in general. It’s one of those small towns that thrives for every 100 small towns that just survive.
Photo stream: (http://picasaweb.google.com/weisman.asai/DayTenWisconsinTrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCMDRvJG20KqYrgE&feat=directlink)
We headed across the Mississippi river (WOW are these rivers huge) and up the road to Quincy, IL to the H-D dealership. BUT…this wasn’t just ANY dealership…this one is TNT…yep…TNT…gotta love it! We had to have a salesman take our picture in front of this one! (I now have some photoshop work to do…LOL)
Once we arrived at Springfield we headed to the Dana-Thomas House that was designed and built by our guy Frank Lloyd Wright. Once again, if you like his stuff, it was amazing. We met some guy on the street and he struck up a conversation about what all we should see while in Springfield. Tom mentioned that we wouldn’t be able to take the Dana-Thomas interior tour since it was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays—he said it was no big loss. We laughed after he left us—you either love FLLW or REALLY dislike FLLW with not much space in between .
Once we looked around the perimeter and took a copious amount of photos, we journeyed up the street to The Lincoln Museum and Library. Our first interest was that there was a Subway inside the museum. We bought our tickets and headed for lunch. After that we watched the two movie presentations in the museum (done by Disney from our understanding)—they were worth the price of admission. It gave some excellent viewpoints that one never hears in history class; it made me re-think the way I taught it…never again the old way of thinking . We then took what time we had left and looked at a bazillion displays. We decided there was way more stuff there than we had time for, but it was enough for today.
Back on the bike, we headed to the Springfield H-D to get that poker chip or dealer dot…WHAT?!? Closed?!? Stopped and took a pic; guess that’s the second one we’re going to need to contact to collect on a technicality .
While in route to the H-D dealership, we found ourselves on Route 66—we immediately started figuring out that this would be a Miss Priss trip sometime down the road (no pun intended).
After this, we headed out of Springfield and went through a number of little towns on hwy 29. It’s always fun to see small towns and what they have to offer; pretty amazing small-town America we have . In particular, we were impressed with Shelbyville, where we ended up finding a little place The Shelby Inn http://www.theshelbyinn.com) to spend the last night on the road. We walked down to the Sportsman’s Restaurant and Lounge (http://sportsmansrestaurantandlounge.com) and had, for $5.25, all you can eat fried chicken, potatoes, and a huge salad bar. And, as an added bonus, the beer was very very cold. We walked back to the room and decided that this would be a great weekend ride destination. It’s surrounded by lakes, parks, and the town is just really cool in general. It’s one of those small towns that thrives for every 100 small towns that just survive.
Photo stream: (http://picasaweb.google.com/weisman.asai/DayTenWisconsinTrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCMDRvJG20KqYrgE&feat=directlink)
Day Nine: Let’s Ride! The Scenic Route from Muscatine to Hannibal
Day Nine: Let’s Ride! The Scenic Route from Muscatine to Hannibal
We woke up to blue skies this morning and, after doing our laundry (always a taxing duty on the road) we found a nice little riverside diner (called The Riverside Diner) and had a nice breakfast. We started out with smiles on our faces, knowing that today was going to be the kind of day all true motorcyclists love—the ride. Earlier we charted out the waypoints in order to end up at Hannibal, MO, hometown of Mark Twain and all the ghosts of Tom, Becky, Huck, and various other figments of the great man’s imagination.
We took off from Muscatine by way of the GPC plant that we had not yet seen. We did find it, although it was pretty slow being a Sunday morning and all . We stopped and took some pictures and then journeyed on down the road. Today’s goal was majority two-lane roads going through various river towns down the eastern edge of Iowa and Missouri.
The flooding is incredible that we saw today; the rivers are huge, the creek beds swollen out of their banks, and the corn fields almost hurt to look at. Not all fields are this way, but the vast majority in this area seem to have had or currently have degrees of flood damage. I took several pictures that are in the photo stream. Most of them are in Missouri, just crossing the Iowa border.
We’ve always been a sucker for a good old river town, so today was fun to see the various buildings and sites. Once we started down hwy 61 and passed through the towns of Grandview, Wapello, and Mediapolis, to our first waypoint in Burlington. We pulled into the H-D dealership there only to find the sign saying it was closed on Sunday…hhhmmm… It still got an “official” picture and I figure we can contact them for a dealer dot or poker chip to add to the collection .
We then wandered ahead down 61 and found the town of Fort Madison—what a neat little place. This town is the true definition of a river town. The old buildings still hug the edge of the street overlooking the river. There’s an old fort we looked around (not in the mood for the complete tour—you know—we rather ride), and then we headed down to the local watering hole for bikers and boaters. We found a cold beer, but unfortunately no food since they were crazy backed up. So with a few more pictures of the pretty riverside, off we headed toward our journey through Keokuk. We found a great little bar on the river’s edge that reminded us of The Dock at Leavenworth, so we stopped to find food. Once again, no luck—seems people like to come out on a picture perfect day and there were droves and a backed-up kitchen. We sat with a glass of iced tea, watched a bit of the Brickyard (it was Montoya’s race to lost at that point) and then journeyed on.
Once through Keokuk, we were immediately across the border and into Missouri. We stayed on 61, also known as the Highway of Saints and rode into Canton. It’s a nice burg as well and really nice once we found a Sonic to have a late lunch. We’re not much on the chain food places, but that Sonic burger and those tots tasted mighty fine! On our way out we took at look at the Locks and then headed on down toward the destination point of Hannibal.
Our good friend Greg told us about this highway; it is indeed an easy road to travel and you can pretty well pick your speed. We noticed only one state trooper that was correcting the “wrong pick” of a vehicle…but only one the whole day! Not bad!
We arrived in the Hannibal area and started looking for a place to stay. We didn’t find any mom and pops in the immediate vicinity. We had decided since Missouri had helmet laws and we couldn’t just hop on the bike and ride that we would park it and take to walking wherever we went. We ended up at a really nice Best Western on the river (sort of). Good accommodations, good price, and good location…suited us!
After we got all out stuff moved in, we changed into shorts and flip flops and off we went to explore. Several places were still open which was great and a little surprising on an early Sunday evening. We ended up enjoying a good cold gin and tonic along with a shared chef salad and catfish filet at Rumor’s, a locals’ bar on the main drag. It was a fun place; the kind where you’re more or less brought into the local conversation and bull session. After a good meal and drink, we started just looking around and ended up at a Wisconsin cheese shop (can you believe it) where this nice guy had some good chocolate/peanut butter ice cream pie. We sat and shot the breeze with him for awhile and then headed up the 244 steps to the lighthouse (we assured we sweat off the pie on that trip). Took some pictures and then headed down to look and click along the way back to the hotel.
We settled in, got that all-important shower, fired up the laptop and marveled at the best wi-fi we’d had the whole trip, and then smiled as we watched the Cardinals beat the Cubs in 11 innings …a nice way to end a great day. Ttyl
http://picasaweb.google.com/weisman.asai/DayNineWisconsinTrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCOrv7fbz99T0fQ&feat=directlink
We woke up to blue skies this morning and, after doing our laundry (always a taxing duty on the road) we found a nice little riverside diner (called The Riverside Diner) and had a nice breakfast. We started out with smiles on our faces, knowing that today was going to be the kind of day all true motorcyclists love—the ride. Earlier we charted out the waypoints in order to end up at Hannibal, MO, hometown of Mark Twain and all the ghosts of Tom, Becky, Huck, and various other figments of the great man’s imagination.
We took off from Muscatine by way of the GPC plant that we had not yet seen. We did find it, although it was pretty slow being a Sunday morning and all . We stopped and took some pictures and then journeyed on down the road. Today’s goal was majority two-lane roads going through various river towns down the eastern edge of Iowa and Missouri.
The flooding is incredible that we saw today; the rivers are huge, the creek beds swollen out of their banks, and the corn fields almost hurt to look at. Not all fields are this way, but the vast majority in this area seem to have had or currently have degrees of flood damage. I took several pictures that are in the photo stream. Most of them are in Missouri, just crossing the Iowa border.
We’ve always been a sucker for a good old river town, so today was fun to see the various buildings and sites. Once we started down hwy 61 and passed through the towns of Grandview, Wapello, and Mediapolis, to our first waypoint in Burlington. We pulled into the H-D dealership there only to find the sign saying it was closed on Sunday…hhhmmm… It still got an “official” picture and I figure we can contact them for a dealer dot or poker chip to add to the collection .
We then wandered ahead down 61 and found the town of Fort Madison—what a neat little place. This town is the true definition of a river town. The old buildings still hug the edge of the street overlooking the river. There’s an old fort we looked around (not in the mood for the complete tour—you know—we rather ride), and then we headed down to the local watering hole for bikers and boaters. We found a cold beer, but unfortunately no food since they were crazy backed up. So with a few more pictures of the pretty riverside, off we headed toward our journey through Keokuk. We found a great little bar on the river’s edge that reminded us of The Dock at Leavenworth, so we stopped to find food. Once again, no luck—seems people like to come out on a picture perfect day and there were droves and a backed-up kitchen. We sat with a glass of iced tea, watched a bit of the Brickyard (it was Montoya’s race to lost at that point) and then journeyed on.
Once through Keokuk, we were immediately across the border and into Missouri. We stayed on 61, also known as the Highway of Saints and rode into Canton. It’s a nice burg as well and really nice once we found a Sonic to have a late lunch. We’re not much on the chain food places, but that Sonic burger and those tots tasted mighty fine! On our way out we took at look at the Locks and then headed on down toward the destination point of Hannibal.
Our good friend Greg told us about this highway; it is indeed an easy road to travel and you can pretty well pick your speed. We noticed only one state trooper that was correcting the “wrong pick” of a vehicle…but only one the whole day! Not bad!
We arrived in the Hannibal area and started looking for a place to stay. We didn’t find any mom and pops in the immediate vicinity. We had decided since Missouri had helmet laws and we couldn’t just hop on the bike and ride that we would park it and take to walking wherever we went. We ended up at a really nice Best Western on the river (sort of). Good accommodations, good price, and good location…suited us!
After we got all out stuff moved in, we changed into shorts and flip flops and off we went to explore. Several places were still open which was great and a little surprising on an early Sunday evening. We ended up enjoying a good cold gin and tonic along with a shared chef salad and catfish filet at Rumor’s, a locals’ bar on the main drag. It was a fun place; the kind where you’re more or less brought into the local conversation and bull session. After a good meal and drink, we started just looking around and ended up at a Wisconsin cheese shop (can you believe it) where this nice guy had some good chocolate/peanut butter ice cream pie. We sat and shot the breeze with him for awhile and then headed up the 244 steps to the lighthouse (we assured we sweat off the pie on that trip). Took some pictures and then headed down to look and click along the way back to the hotel.
We settled in, got that all-important shower, fired up the laptop and marveled at the best wi-fi we’d had the whole trip, and then smiled as we watched the Cardinals beat the Cubs in 11 innings …a nice way to end a great day. Ttyl
http://picasaweb.google.com/weisman.asai/DayNineWisconsinTrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCOrv7fbz99T0fQ&feat=directlink
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Day Eight: Leaving Rainy Milwaukee and Finding Romeo the Killer Elephant
Tom woke up earlier than me, yet I noticed that when I woke up the second time he was waking up the second time as well…that usually means rain. Today was no exception. When I pulled back the drape, the window was speckled with raindrops. We decided to take our time, get things together, I did some online work, writing an earlier promised review of a motel where we stayed, and then we went to breakfast. The Library wasn’t open this morning, so we headed to Smyth to share another good omelet with roasted potatoes (must try to replicate those when we get home…mmm!) We drank our usual gallon of coffee, talked about our travel plans for the day, and when we did decide to go, it had mercifully stopped raining.
We took off on I-43 making our first stop at Delavan, searching for a statue of Romeo the Killer Elephant. It seems that this town at one time was the Mecca of circuses, housing as many as 26 at one time. And with all those animals roaming about, it only makes sense that one would go rogue—that would be Romeo. According to the information I read on Weird Wisconsin, Romeo was a serial killer of sorts, killing some 5 different people. That obviously deserved a statue and, right on the main drag, there is a huge, brightly painted concrete Romeo rared up into the air with a goofy clown standing in front of him, somewhat oblivious to the killer getting ready to put a sixth victim notch into his belt. Needless to say, this odd scene more than deserved some photo ops. After playing with the fiberglass animals, we headed out of Delavan and back onto I-43.
Once we got past Beloit, we continued on hwy 51 for a bit and then over to hwy 2, taking a break in Dixon, IL for some Benadryl gel at the local Walmart. (The Iron Horse was a “boutique hotel” that had some high-powered fragranced soap, lotion, etc. Although I’ve never had a reaction to anything like that, I have some interesting patterns of really itchy blotches where my clothes had landed juuuust right.) And, of course, Dixon isn’t known just for its life-saving Walmart; it’s wall to wall Ronald Reagan as well, being his birthplace and all. We didn’t stick around for the tour…LOL.
We stopped at four more H-D dealerships today and Tom is the proud owner of a dip dot and three poker chips, including his first pink one…ooo la la! I went crazy at the House of Harley and bought chap stick AND an ear cuff…I think all our souvenirs so far would fit into a deck of cards box…we’re travelin’ light .
Our final stop for the day found us at Muscatine, IA. After traveling by way of Clinton, IA on some interstates and some two lanes, Muscatine looks like a pretty place. We found our motel—The Muskie Motel nonetheless—and got settled in. A shower, an air-conditioner than gets cold, and pizza delivery made up our evening. Oh, that and the Benedryl…a temporary set-back, but tomorrow will be a new day with new adventures in exploring Muscatine, taking a scenic route along the Mississippi River, and ending up in Hannibal, MO. Ttyl
Photo stream: http://picasaweb.google.com/weisman.asai/DayEightWisconsinTrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCI2ayb-Bu4XmOQ&feat=directlink
We took off on I-43 making our first stop at Delavan, searching for a statue of Romeo the Killer Elephant. It seems that this town at one time was the Mecca of circuses, housing as many as 26 at one time. And with all those animals roaming about, it only makes sense that one would go rogue—that would be Romeo. According to the information I read on Weird Wisconsin, Romeo was a serial killer of sorts, killing some 5 different people. That obviously deserved a statue and, right on the main drag, there is a huge, brightly painted concrete Romeo rared up into the air with a goofy clown standing in front of him, somewhat oblivious to the killer getting ready to put a sixth victim notch into his belt. Needless to say, this odd scene more than deserved some photo ops. After playing with the fiberglass animals, we headed out of Delavan and back onto I-43.
Once we got past Beloit, we continued on hwy 51 for a bit and then over to hwy 2, taking a break in Dixon, IL for some Benadryl gel at the local Walmart. (The Iron Horse was a “boutique hotel” that had some high-powered fragranced soap, lotion, etc. Although I’ve never had a reaction to anything like that, I have some interesting patterns of really itchy blotches where my clothes had landed juuuust right.) And, of course, Dixon isn’t known just for its life-saving Walmart; it’s wall to wall Ronald Reagan as well, being his birthplace and all. We didn’t stick around for the tour…LOL.
We stopped at four more H-D dealerships today and Tom is the proud owner of a dip dot and three poker chips, including his first pink one…ooo la la! I went crazy at the House of Harley and bought chap stick AND an ear cuff…I think all our souvenirs so far would fit into a deck of cards box…we’re travelin’ light .
Our final stop for the day found us at Muscatine, IA. After traveling by way of Clinton, IA on some interstates and some two lanes, Muscatine looks like a pretty place. We found our motel—The Muskie Motel nonetheless—and got settled in. A shower, an air-conditioner than gets cold, and pizza delivery made up our evening. Oh, that and the Benedryl…a temporary set-back, but tomorrow will be a new day with new adventures in exploring Muscatine, taking a scenic route along the Mississippi River, and ending up in Hannibal, MO. Ttyl
Photo stream: http://picasaweb.google.com/weisman.asai/DayEightWisconsinTrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCI2ayb-Bu4XmOQ&feat=directlink
Friday, July 23, 2010
Day Seven: Steel Toes, More FLLW, and SUNSHINE!
We got up a bit earlier this morning in order to be at the Steel Toe Tour on time. We were to meet at the H-D Museum and from there a shuttle would take us to Menomonie to the H-D plant. We looked out the window first thing and HALLEUJAH NO RAIN…it was still cloudy, but not the first sprinkle. We happily walked down to the Library where they serve breakfast at the Iron Horse. Tom ordered an omelet and, by the time the waitress got through the laundry list of everything that was coming with it, it was quickly decided this could be a shared adventure. The food here is EXCELLENT. We’ve pretty well sampled a variety of items and they’ve all been very satisfying.
We walked out into the morning air, sans rain, and got on the bike to ride over to the H-D museum. A few minutes later we were on the shuttle in transit to the plant. Our guide gave us pre-tour information and then handed us a pair of steel toes connected to a bungee cord thing and had us slip them on. When we walked, we sounded like a bunch of horses. Add to this the adornment of a big pair of safety goggles and an earpiece attached to a small radio and you have our “look”…words can’t quite describe our grand looks…LOL.
We toured over a mile of factory floor and saw every piece of the engine construction from unmilled pieces of steel to meticulously milled parts. There were several ginormous robots that were incredibly fascinating to watch. If you ever happen to the H-D Museum, I’d strongly suggest you buy a ticket for this tour.
After the tour we returned our steel toes, our goggles, and our headsets. We boarded the bus and it took us back to the Museum.
We had a bit of lunch at Motor, the cool gigantic bar at the museum. From there we journeyed back to the Hotel and regrouped for a little afternoon ride…and STILL SUN!
Tom got the Zumo set up and we found some Frank Lloyd Wright sites including the Greek Orthodox Church…amazing. (http://www.annunciationwi.com/) His creations never cease to amaze us. We also found a house that, given the time and inclination, Tom and I would say it was “the one”…fantastic little house…definitely a “scale down” size, but a work of art nonetheless.
It’s always interesting to see the various neighborhoods any city has; Milwaukee is definitely rich in the old-style neighborhoods of different ethnic groups. Cool to see the various stores, shops, restaurants, and even signage.
We returned from our sunshiny ride…yippee! We headed to the Yard to have a beer and while there Tom asked about a good local place to eat. The bartenders sent us across the street to a little Mexican place that had really good food…all served on paper plates. A nice change from our fare of the past few days.
We settled in for the evening, got our plans set for tomorrow’s ride, packed our bags, and just reeelaxed. Tom said he heard thumps—we figured out after the fact that we probably could’ve been watching fireworks from Miller Park. Oh well, maybe next time.
Tomorrow, we’re hoping for sunny skies and we’re heading a bit south and then a bit west to Iowa. And guess what? There’s about a half dozen H-D dealerships between here and there…gotta love it! Ttyl
Photostream: http://picasaweb.google.com/weisman.asai/DaySevenMilwaukeeAndAbout?authkey=Gv1sRgCOnksqqj1cqe3AE&feat=directlink
We walked out into the morning air, sans rain, and got on the bike to ride over to the H-D museum. A few minutes later we were on the shuttle in transit to the plant. Our guide gave us pre-tour information and then handed us a pair of steel toes connected to a bungee cord thing and had us slip them on. When we walked, we sounded like a bunch of horses. Add to this the adornment of a big pair of safety goggles and an earpiece attached to a small radio and you have our “look”…words can’t quite describe our grand looks…LOL.
We toured over a mile of factory floor and saw every piece of the engine construction from unmilled pieces of steel to meticulously milled parts. There were several ginormous robots that were incredibly fascinating to watch. If you ever happen to the H-D Museum, I’d strongly suggest you buy a ticket for this tour.
After the tour we returned our steel toes, our goggles, and our headsets. We boarded the bus and it took us back to the Museum.
We had a bit of lunch at Motor, the cool gigantic bar at the museum. From there we journeyed back to the Hotel and regrouped for a little afternoon ride…and STILL SUN!
Tom got the Zumo set up and we found some Frank Lloyd Wright sites including the Greek Orthodox Church…amazing. (http://www.annunciationwi.com/) His creations never cease to amaze us. We also found a house that, given the time and inclination, Tom and I would say it was “the one”…fantastic little house…definitely a “scale down” size, but a work of art nonetheless.
It’s always interesting to see the various neighborhoods any city has; Milwaukee is definitely rich in the old-style neighborhoods of different ethnic groups. Cool to see the various stores, shops, restaurants, and even signage.
We returned from our sunshiny ride…yippee! We headed to the Yard to have a beer and while there Tom asked about a good local place to eat. The bartenders sent us across the street to a little Mexican place that had really good food…all served on paper plates. A nice change from our fare of the past few days.
We settled in for the evening, got our plans set for tomorrow’s ride, packed our bags, and just reeelaxed. Tom said he heard thumps—we figured out after the fact that we probably could’ve been watching fireworks from Miller Park. Oh well, maybe next time.
Tomorrow, we’re hoping for sunny skies and we’re heading a bit south and then a bit west to Iowa. And guess what? There’s about a half dozen H-D dealerships between here and there…gotta love it! Ttyl
Photostream: http://picasaweb.google.com/weisman.asai/DaySevenMilwaukeeAndAbout?authkey=Gv1sRgCOnksqqj1cqe3AE&feat=directlink
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Day Six: Wringing Water from the Socks and Kobe Beef
Day Six: Wringing Water from the Socks and Kobe Beef
Yep, it was one of those days. After lucking out entirely for the past five days, our day to set out for Milwaukee started out with a light shower that, by the time the evening was over, had developed into major flooding with several roads in Milwaukee being shut down temporarily.
We started out our day by finishing packing and getting Kurt up so he was ready to leave with Dotty, Lew, and Scott by 7:30. After bidding them farewell and safe travels, we returned to the party room and had one last visit with the cousins, aunts, and uncles. We all looked out the window and watched the Weather Channel and saw nothing but rain, rain, and more rain in our picture. So, Tom and I finally decided that it was time to just put on the rain suits, grit our teeth, and make the plunge, so to speak. After saying our good-byes, we suited up, got the Harley and took off in a steady rain toward Milwaukee. It rained on us the entire trip to varying degrees. Once we arrived around Waukesha, we were met with a deluge. I could feel my boots filling with water and could feel my fingers getting pruney. Not my favorite way to be, but we were almost there.
When we pulled into our destination, the Iron Horse Hotel, we were greeted by some very helpful and friendly staff that were able to get us into a room right away so we could get into some dry clothes. When we opened the door to our room we knew life was going to immediately look up for awhile. This hotel is beautiful and, at the same time, very biker friendly. The staff is also wonderful as well.
We got our belongings unpacked, I got my wet shoes stuffed with towels, rung the water out of my socks, and as luck would have it, the rain stopped. We revitalized ourselves with a lunch of beer cheese soup, seafood gumbo, and one of the best burgers we’d had in a long time. Then off to the “mothership” we went—the Harley Davidson Museum.
The museum is somewhat overwhelming and, although we saw the majority of it, we didn’t see everything—we noticed that the skies were getting darker, so we wrapped it up for this trip. As we got to the bike, the skies once again opened up and we found ourselves, soaked to the bone. This time when we got back to the hotel, it was certainly time for a hot shower, wrapping up for awhile in the wonderful plush robes supplied to us by the hotel, and just knocking back and having a beer while watching the storm continue outside our window and watching the reports of the tv. Apparently there was flash flooding all around us and a couple of tornados in the vicinity. We were snugged in, so we were just grateful for being dry.
After awhile of watching the weather get worse and worse, we decided to go down to the hotel bar and have a drink at least before the power went out. When we arrived downstairs, the bar was loaded with anyone but bikers…this place must be the hot spot these days. We loved it…people watching! We ordered our hard-earned gin and tonic and sat back and enjoyed our surroundings. Once we decided we were hungry, we checked the menu and I saw Kobe beef and fresh crab meat sliders…that won me over…Kobe beef! Tom ordered a great meat and cheese plate with lamb, salami, a couple of local artisanal cheeses and some great condiments and crostini. We topped it off with a green salad we shared. We enjoyed it immensely…all the food was incredibly done. We topped it off with a shared piece of rhubarb cheesecake and Tom wisely ordered us a cherry brandy to accompany it. We wandered over to the lobby sitting area and relived our good days in visiting with all the relatives, and I told Tom this was such a nice comfortable place to be, I felt that this was the “do-over” for our 25th wedding anniversary trip (to a less than savory location—25 years before it was great—who knew?) as well as my upcoming 50th birthday dinner. In other words…bliss J. We checked the weather and decided to ask if the room would be available for another evening so we wouldn’t have to pack our worldly belongings tomorrow before heading back to the museum for the steel toed tour. As luck would have it, we could have our room for another night…hoooooray!
With that good news, we headed back upstairs, placed our wake up call for tomorrow morning’s tour, hopped back into those plush robes, and just took it all in while the weather put on a sound and light show.
When you have Kobe beef, even wet socks can’t ruin your day...ttyl
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| Day Six: Wisconsin Trip |
Day Five: A Brewery Tour, a Concert on the Lawn, and Packing Up the Show
Day five found us once again basking in sunshine…amazing. The original weather forecast threatened rain every day, yet here we were in 82 degree weather with little humidity…a little piece of heaven.
We all headed on the hike to the Great Dane Brew Pub where we had about a bazillion beers from which to choose. Kurt, Tom and I got into a good habit of each buying a different type of beer so we could do the taste testing. Once again, the hops were “ick” and the wheats were the winners. We shared a nice lunch of calamari and Caesar salad.
After a filling lunch, we went back to the hotel and there we divvied up to head to the Capitol City Brewery. It was a great little microbrewery with an equally great guide. We sampled three different types of beers they brewed. All were excellent, but of course, I favored the malty darks. I just don’t get tired of them even if I really tired of beer in general.
Once we arrived back at the hotel, we had some free time before the evening concert on the lawn of the capitol. Tom and I took off down State Street in search of a Laundromat…it was time to get that chore out of the way. After an hour of watching the clothes dry, we started back up the street to be ready for the evening dinner.
Kurt took the opportunity to “disappear” a bit into the college population and had a ball checking out cd stores, tea shops, and Indian and sushi places. I think he was having a bit of B-town withdrawal…can’t blame him. Tom and I had a need for a good ice cream cone, so we wandered back to a shop we’d found earlier and then sat on a bench on State Street and watched the world go by. Wow at all the different types of humanity we’ve spawned over the centuries…someone for everyone surely.
The little concern on the lawn at the capitol turned out to be about 5 thousand people pouring into the square. Not being crowd people, Tom and I were happy to figure out that we could sit on the edge of perimeter and people watch and then head up to our 8th floor suite, open the window, and hear the concert clearly—perfect!
After the concert ended, we headed back to the party room for our last evening together. Earlier Tom and I found the infamous macaroni and cheese pizza and bought a couple of pieces. Kurt called dibs and was looking forward to a lovely breakfast the next morning of this concoction…awww the college-aged J. We were more than happy to partake of chocolate martinis graciously offered by Georgia. (I always owe a debt of gratitude since it was Georgia who introduced me to my first chocolate martini…I’ve been a big fan ever since.)
During the evening, we laughed, told stories, and made some loosely constructed plans for possible meet-ups in the next few years. What a delightful bunch of people. And even though I DID wear a t-shirt that said, “I should’ve checked a bit deeper into my husband’s family”, I believe I’ve been fortunate to no end. ttyl
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Day Four:Badgers and Beer Abound
Four days in a row of sunny skies…this is great! Today started off with a leisurely morning and then we walked over and took a tour of the Capital building. State capital buildings are, by nature, pretty much works of art with all the architecture, woodworking, metal working, etc. that goes into them. This one was no exception. It seemed that every turn offered an opportunity for a photographer who dearly loves angles. And, of course, badgers about…EVERYWHERE! Out of walls, on top of the lady’s head on top of the cupola, on flags, you name it…BADGERS.
After our tour, we decided we would head to State Street and eat our way through lunch. We started at an outdoor café and had our first deep fried cheese curds and local microbrews. We ranked them first, second, and third place. After this stop we continued on to the campus itself—primarily the student union. There, on the terrace that looks out on the beautiful lake, we found a brat stand and ordered up one with a courtesy round of beer from Scott. While sitting there and enjoying the view, the company, and the food, we called Lori to let her know we were thinking of her and perhaps more exciting, she now was the proud owner of a cheap plastic pitcher from the student union as her Madison souvenir. Through her laughter we could tell how impressed she was! Scott carried it back up through State Street; we were kind of hoping he could panhandle his way back up to the hotel, but to no avail J.
The afternoon allowed us a bit of a lull, so some took naps, some explored, and some of us battled the intermittent Internets to get yesterday’s blog published with patient success. (I need to clear my head so new stuff can take its place or otherwise, it’s going to be a jumble…as if anyone not here would know…thinking of that just put this timeliness concern pretty far down the food chain…hhhmmm J.)
Early evening found us getting dressed up a bit (as much as our laid-back states will allow) and headed to the capital steps for the traditional family pictures. What would any reunion be without those? (For those of you not in the family, the photostream might get a little tedious at that point; for those of you in the family that are unfortunately not with us this year, enjoy looking at how well we’ve all aged—wink wink.)
A jaunt down the street took us to our evening family meal at Essen Haus. Good German food for the Beumers. Sauerbraten, knockwurst and kraut, spaetzel, red cabbage, mashed potatoes, chicken, and apple strudel for dessert with gallons (or should I say boots) of good beer. It was good to sit down to a meal together and visit. After the meal we had a very quick family meeting where Uncle Del was crowned the reigning Mr. Beumer (complete with traveling crown that looks like it was seriously swiped from the Burger King), adopting Eddie into the family (now known as Egberg or “Eggo”), and Edie graciously inviting us all to Austin for Beumer Bash 2013—thoughtfully held in December 2012 for more mild weather.
After the family dinner broke up, we all headed out in small groups to do our own thing for awhile. A Skype call was set up and successful held with Toni and Steve; the 20’s bunch took off down town for dollar beer and bacon (could that be any better idea??), the younger ones gathered together to visit, and others headed to our local watering hold across the street from the hotel. Tom and I went in search of an iced coffee on State Street and enjoyed a little late-night people watching; we then headed back to the watering hole and enjoyed the night with a cognac. Then we headed back to the party headquarters and visited, laughed, and (of course) ate and drank at bit more.
Tomorrow is brewery tour day…surprise!! We’re doing something beer-oriented J. I think we’ll all feel right at home. ttyl
Photo stream: http://picasaweb.google.com/weisman.asai/20100721?authkey=Gv1sRgCL6ent7vr-6Z7AE&feat=directlink
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
A Window Full of Cupula...We have Arrived!
Day three found us awaking, thankfully, to sunny skies. Tom wiped down the bike, I finished packing our saddlebags, and after a winning continental breakfast of Trix cereal, biscuit, gravy, and about a gallon of coffee, we were off and running…all the way across the street to The Sauk Prairie H-D dealership. While there, we started chatting with a couple of the staff and found that there was a great alternative route that was more rider-friendly. So, a bit later, we started off with our dealer dot, a poker chip, and a scrap piece of paper with our route to Madison. If you’re ever in the area, be sure to stop at their dealership…BEST ONE ON OUR TRIP SO FAR!
The trip down to Madison was a smooth one with minimal traffic. Once we arrived in the city area, the traffic got a big more hectic, but still manageable. We followed the route the nice ladies at the H-D dealership have us and also followed our noses to the capital building. Before we knew it, were had arrived at the Best Western at Park Inn Capital. Our “valet parking” didn’t quite happen for obvious reasons, so Tom was led to a spot close to the door, but out of the path of traffic. We checked in, and then we started down toward the lake to get our bearings in Madison.
We checked into our hotel room, and, arriving on the 8th floor at our suite, we opened the curtains to our bedroom to find a window full of copula…beautiful! Looking forward to the challenge of getting some good night shots.
One spot we for sure wanted to take a look at was the Lake Monona where the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center is located. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Of course, it was a controversial build, but that’s pretty much the norm for any FLLW project. You just kind of have to look beyond it and recognize it for its aesthetic genius. We found out later that the interior has tours, so that’s on the agenda for some afternoon before we leave town.
We took off following the waterfront and found that we were getting hungry, so we started foraging for food, at first to no avail. Many of the restaurants tend to not open until 5 in the evening. We decided to start uphill away from the waterfront, and eventually found a place at a five-point intersection where we figured the people watching would be at a premium. We had a “feast” of nachos and a beer, oddly, at a very pretentious outdoor café. Nachos and beer—pretentiousness…that just didn’t seem right at all. But the presentation was a hoot! J
After our lunch, we started back toward the center of the city and then started back down State Street, the Kirkwood of B-town. Lots of places to eat, shop, and just enjoy humanity in general. That, of course, built up an appetite, so we journeyed closer to the hotel and found an Irish pub nearby. With a cold Guinness from the tap and some shared bread pudding made with fresh blueberries with a side of ice cream, we were well fortified to get back to the hotel and take a nap J. After that little respite, we got a call from #1 son who told us he, cousin Scott, G’ma and G’pa had arrived and were in the lobby. We went down to greet them and, while down there, several more of the extended family arrived. After a good deal of hugs and handshakes, we took Kurt up to the room to unload his stuff, and then we walked across the street to the first informal family gathering at an outside bar. We bought a beer and settled in for some catching up. (Now I’m beginning to understand the significance of Wisconsin being well associated with…beer.) There must be a bazillion microbreweries around here. The biggest challenge is finding one that’s not hoppy to no end…we does love that wheat.
After a bit, appetites hit again, so we broke ranks and headed back down State Street to find supper. We ended up at a place called Hawk’s and were able once again to people watch while eating. After a walk back to the hotel, we met in the family party room and played a quick game of “catch up” on our lives. Then we had a beer, some snacks, some chit chat, and when we’d run out of steam for the day, we called it a night. Tomorrow will be a new day with new tours, new eating opportunities, and new adventures. There will also be a few more Beumers to welcome once they get out of the Minneapolis storms and down to sunny Madison.
Photo stream: http://picasaweb.google.com/weisman.asai/DayThreeWisconsinTrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCNrrjbOF7aGyygE&feat=directlink
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