Summer Adventure #1

In order to start the summer off right, Simmons and I planned a get together with the boys in Milwaukee. Simmons and I are great friends from grad school; we spent just about every day together during the two years that we were at Marquette. As we have joined the working world, we have kept in loose contact, very loose contact. We hadn't seen each other since my graduation from Marquette (about two and a half years) and because of this I was excited about our little road trip for a good few weeks. So, I am thinking that this petite blog post will be devoted to this weekend's Milwaukee adventure.

Pat and I started off early Saturday morning. For June, it was an extremely wet and chilly day and our drive was a bit tedious.... that is until lunch. We stopped a the Norske Nook, the pride of Osseo, Wisconsin. The Norske Nook has a good reason to be the pride of Osseo, it has won 16 National Pie Awards over the years. Our plan was to have a light lunch and gorge ourselves on award winning pies; although I think Pat may have gorged himself throughout the meal.

The first step of the process was to choose a pie. As shown here, there was a listing of over 50 pies. It was rather daunting, but I quickly selected the chocolate peanut butter pie.

(Delightful!)

It took Pat a bit longer to select his choice of pie, but he ended up with an excellent choice.... white chocolate raspberry. I think Pat was a bit intimidated by his pie in this photo but he quickly got over it and inhaled his pie. We decided that the Norske Nook has the best pies.

The rest of our road trip was uneventful; therefore, we have no photos to document the remaining endless hours in the car (seriously, the total trip took 7 hours long). We arrived on the east side of Milwaukee at four pm... just in time to check into the old Park East hotel to meet Simmons and Dan for cocktail hour. After a few bottles of vino, we headed down to the hotel bar. When we were living in Milwaukee this bar was call 'Aqua' and everything was blue... the lighting, seats, curtains... everything. It was pretty lame then. Things have changed, the hotel bar is now called 'Aura' and everything is now red; however, it is still pretty lame. Nonetheless, Pat and Simmons had a blast dancing with the pole.

After Aura, we headed to the Nomad. We started with the Milwaukee classic... the Prefix. I am pretty sure that most reading this blog do not know what the Prefix is, so I must share. The Prefix is a shot of Jameson, a can of PBR, and a cigarette, and really all this for only five dollars (gotta love the Milwaukee bars). Simmons and I valiantly attempted the PBR, but we had to switch to lady beverages.

Not long after we arrived at the Nomad we met up with Nora, another great friend from grad school. Although it was very brief, it was great to have some time to catch up.

The night continued at the Hi-Hat. This bar holds some great memories for me, and this visit did not disappoint. We ate mac and cheese and drank martinis... favorites all around. Pat ended up tat'ing Dan. Pat did admit that he was was concerned about mis-spelling 'Daniel' on Dan's arm.

No worries though, it turned out alright!

The night continued at Jo Cat's where we quickly noticed what a skuzzy bar it is and headed next door to The Garage. After a few beverages and a bit of dancing, Simmon's responsibly realized that it was way, way too late and headed back to the hotel.

The next morning was a slow start. After watching portions of the French open (and the wonders of Roger Federer), we headed to Simmon's favorite coffee shop, Starbucks. I will say it was interesting heading to Starbucks in Milwaukee, but totally worth it. After some time chatting, I suppose we realized that no matter how terrible we are about keeping in contact we are 'those friends'... those friends where you just pick up where you left off. It was great to catch up, all together super fun, and a bit hard to leave.

From there, Pat and I met up with Mark and Ellen. Pat was looking forward to 'grease-tastic' burgers at Sobleman's; however, upon realizing that the flagship Sobleman's restaurant was closed on Sunday and the new restaurant does not serve Bloody Mary's, we headed to The Comet Cafe. I was completely satisfied, as the Comet Cafe is one of my favorite restaurants. It was great to see Mark and Ellen; although the visit was way too short... they are just too much fun. Pat and I almost took their suggestion of calling in sick and spending another day in Milwaukee, but unfortunately... we didn't and hit the road.

The drive home was not quite as tedious as the drive down and fairly uneventful (other than one speeding ticket on 94, eeps)! We made it back safely and just in time to prepare for the upcoming week and summer season. If this trip reveals anything about our summer, its that it will prove to be crazy and fun... just the way we like it. We will have to see!