Beer and Buffett
A quick recap of last weekend...been meaning to post this for some time, but it's been crazy.
The plan was to take off at noon on last Friday to head down to Milwaukee. I realized (to my chagrin) that we really ought to stop and water the garden on the way out of town... Which meant a chat session with the Carruthers grandparents. Marie was worried that we were taking a trip (that whole being outside the house thing is scary for her) and made me promise to call her as soon as we got back into town.
The garden is coming along OK, although a few things (the basil, for some reason) are getting off to a slow start. The hot peppers and the bell peppers are doing especially well. I need to thin the radishes this weekend.
The plan was pretty simple- we were not trying to do a ton of stuff while we were down, taking our time, not hurrying. Drove down listening to podcasts (Ethan's a huge fan of the NPR news quiz "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me") and Buffett. Got mired in construction on 94, so the trip took about two hours longer than I'd anticipated.
We stayed in a Courtyard Marriott in Brookfield- not so close to the city, easy to get back from the concert and get out of town on Sunday. Pretty nice place, actually; good free coffee service, free high-speed wireless, free printing(!). Ethan was a little peeved that he didn't bring the laptop, but it worked out fine. We'd gotten it for a super-cheap rate through Priceline, so you had the happy-budget vibe going as well.
Once we settled in, changed into nicer clothing we drove into Milwaukee via Bluemound Rd/Milwaukee Ave to have dinner at Karl Ratzsch's.
Karl Ratzsch's, for those who don't know Milwaukee, is one of the old German restaurants in town. Excellent food. Ethan had the European sampler platter- goose, veal schnitzel, German red cabbage, and the octoberfest pastry (flaky crust around cheese, sausage, and sauerkraut). I had the sausage sampler. We both had a mug of dark German imported beer. We both waddled out of there and came back to the hotel to crash.
The nicest thing about the hotel was that they don't have the icky polyester comforters that are never cleaned... All-cotton duvets covered with crisp white covers and matching sheets. High thread counts, too. It was a wonderful bed to sleep in. I'm tempted to try to set our bed up with similar linens.
Slept in. Talked briefly with Andy as Ethan was struggling to get up- because of the cold weather, we pushed the tailgating time up a hour to avoid being stuck out in the cold for longer than necessary.
Yes, it was damned cold. Didn't get above 60, in fact. I had brought a tie-dyed sundress to wear, and wore a long-sleeved shirt under it. Still was pretty chilly. Ethan brought a fair amount of warm clothing, including two jackets, which saved my ass.
Once Ethan emerged from the tangle of covers, we leisurely made out way up to Glendale to take the Sprecher Brewery tour. It was surprisingly crowded, with a handful of other apparent Buffett fans (decked out in tropical gear). Short and sweet tour with a funny loudmouth of a guide; afterwards we were presented with small tasting glasses and four tickets for beer in their little beer garden.
Finally got down to the concert area and promptly ran into the folks from the Sprecher tour. Through a strange cosmic glitch, we ended up on the friggin opposite side of the parking areas from Andy, and meeting up to tailgate was a bit of a trek. After eating, we walked back to return the cooler and the chairs to the car (sigh... up and down two hills...) and then I staked out a spot on the lawn while Andy and E. went to scalp Andy's spare ticket.
It was a good show, although the weather toned it down somewhat. Andy was also a little preoccupied with his new-found companion, so E. and I just backed off and gave them some space. :) We danced and sang along and had a bitchin good time.
And the trip home was uneventful. I may come back and add more details to the concert, but it's late and I'm tired.
The plan was to take off at noon on last Friday to head down to Milwaukee. I realized (to my chagrin) that we really ought to stop and water the garden on the way out of town... Which meant a chat session with the Carruthers grandparents. Marie was worried that we were taking a trip (that whole being outside the house thing is scary for her) and made me promise to call her as soon as we got back into town.
The garden is coming along OK, although a few things (the basil, for some reason) are getting off to a slow start. The hot peppers and the bell peppers are doing especially well. I need to thin the radishes this weekend.
The plan was pretty simple- we were not trying to do a ton of stuff while we were down, taking our time, not hurrying. Drove down listening to podcasts (Ethan's a huge fan of the NPR news quiz "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me") and Buffett. Got mired in construction on 94, so the trip took about two hours longer than I'd anticipated.
We stayed in a Courtyard Marriott in Brookfield- not so close to the city, easy to get back from the concert and get out of town on Sunday. Pretty nice place, actually; good free coffee service, free high-speed wireless, free printing(!). Ethan was a little peeved that he didn't bring the laptop, but it worked out fine. We'd gotten it for a super-cheap rate through Priceline, so you had the happy-budget vibe going as well.
Once we settled in, changed into nicer clothing we drove into Milwaukee via Bluemound Rd/Milwaukee Ave to have dinner at Karl Ratzsch's.
Karl Ratzsch's, for those who don't know Milwaukee, is one of the old German restaurants in town. Excellent food. Ethan had the European sampler platter- goose, veal schnitzel, German red cabbage, and the octoberfest pastry (flaky crust around cheese, sausage, and sauerkraut). I had the sausage sampler. We both had a mug of dark German imported beer. We both waddled out of there and came back to the hotel to crash.
The nicest thing about the hotel was that they don't have the icky polyester comforters that are never cleaned... All-cotton duvets covered with crisp white covers and matching sheets. High thread counts, too. It was a wonderful bed to sleep in. I'm tempted to try to set our bed up with similar linens.
Slept in. Talked briefly with Andy as Ethan was struggling to get up- because of the cold weather, we pushed the tailgating time up a hour to avoid being stuck out in the cold for longer than necessary.
Yes, it was damned cold. Didn't get above 60, in fact. I had brought a tie-dyed sundress to wear, and wore a long-sleeved shirt under it. Still was pretty chilly. Ethan brought a fair amount of warm clothing, including two jackets, which saved my ass.
Once Ethan emerged from the tangle of covers, we leisurely made out way up to Glendale to take the Sprecher Brewery tour. It was surprisingly crowded, with a handful of other apparent Buffett fans (decked out in tropical gear). Short and sweet tour with a funny loudmouth of a guide; afterwards we were presented with small tasting glasses and four tickets for beer in their little beer garden.
Finally got down to the concert area and promptly ran into the folks from the Sprecher tour. Through a strange cosmic glitch, we ended up on the friggin opposite side of the parking areas from Andy, and meeting up to tailgate was a bit of a trek. After eating, we walked back to return the cooler and the chairs to the car (sigh... up and down two hills...) and then I staked out a spot on the lawn while Andy and E. went to scalp Andy's spare ticket.
It was a good show, although the weather toned it down somewhat. Andy was also a little preoccupied with his new-found companion, so E. and I just backed off and gave them some space. :) We danced and sang along and had a bitchin good time.
And the trip home was uneventful. I may come back and add more details to the concert, but it's late and I'm tired.