We chose a quick weekend in Milwaukee, Jamieson's beloved college town. Remarkably, we decided to go somewhere, picked a destination and made the journey all within a week's time. That's as impulsive as things get around here.
Every time a journey requires a stay of more than three hours, I need to pack the troops like we're going on an epic, cross-country adventure. No one respects this, of course, until someone needs something that, most of the time I have, remembered: favorite pillow, spare socks, flashlight, emergency snack, etc. Usually, I pack too many clothes but this family attracts stains as if we were filming a laundry commercial at all times. Salsa, ketchup and mud puddles see our white clothes and fly toward our fibers. Sure, I could dress everyone in all black, but the Pink Princess, Erik the Red and their grandparents would not be pleased by the gloomy look, so heavy suitcases it is.
So, with children and pup happily left with grandparents, Mom and Dad fled north to eat our way up the Interstate. First stop: Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha. Sadly, the grungy, old 1947 building has recently been replaced by a shiny, new store. They've gone crazy with the castle theme -- arches! turrets! knights! -- so it's more castle than ever, but it's not the roadside stop everyone has been making for lo these many decades. Oh, well, it's all about the cheese and the curds were yummy as ever. No time to have lunch there because Jamieson was set on dining at Kopp's Frozen Custard. On what was the most beautiful day of the year so far, we enjoyed their enormous burgers sitting outside in the subterranean oasis created for happy diners. Custard flavor o' the day: a mint and chocolate chip grasshopper concoction. Joy! Fortunately, dinner reservations were set for 8, so we had time to relax a bit.
After a nap and a stroll around the newest Marquette buildings, we headed out for dinner at Karl Ratzsch's. Perhaps it's ironic that my sister, brother and their families were finishing up dinner just as we came in for ours, but it is quite possibly the best German food in North America and we are all, quite possibly, the best eaters in North America, so the real question is: Why didn't I see more relations there? Jamieson feasted on the Rouladen. I made my way through their Black Forest Schnitzel. Our hotel room did not have a fridge so we had no choice but to clean our plates! No one will ever accuse a German restaurant of being a health-conscious choice, but in terms of the pure joy of eating what better choice could we make?
Even though I declared I would never eat again, breakfast time found us happily stuffing our faces again. Miss Katie's Diner, just off of Marquette's campus, was a perfect place to start the day. Not to loose the German eating theme, pictures of Helmut Kohl's visit there are featured all over the restaurant. From there, we perused Old World Third Street, not eating anything this time, but doing a bit of shopping at Usingers, Spice House and the Wisconsin Cheese Mart. Our trip ended by wandering up and down Brady Street and stopping in for cookies and bread ("lunch") at Peter Sciortino's Bakery. By this time, the skies were threatening rain and we were full, so it was time to bid farewell to Wisconsin. A few miles down the road, we made another rest stop at the cheese castle, picking up Sprecher sodas for the ride home.
Back in the flatlands, we found children who had been equally well fed by Grandma and Grandpa and no clear answer as to how it is that there are any skinny people in Wisconsin. The menus for our week here at home? Salads and fruit!
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A rare non-food Milwaukee moment: visiting the Bronze Fonz!
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