The Big Cheese

Saturday passed by in a bevy of trip planning, preparing posts, laundry, cooking and golf watching.

Sunday John was glued to the golf and I headed out to Harbourfront for Word on the Street.got ready to head out but had a scratchy throat and decided against it. Ended up helping a friend with her laptop. She had paid someone to install Chrome and then called in a panic because she thought she had lost everything. She had spoken to a Bell (our internet provider) and he said she needed a technician.  She was resigned to taking it in somewhere and paying to get it fixed. Seems the installer had told her she had  hold down the Ctrl key and then click the + or - key to increase or decrease the text size. She had enlarged the font so much doing this that she couldn't do anything. I showed her how to increase and decrease using the zoom. She doesn't like using the touchpad or her screen to do anything.


Monday a very rainy day. I definitely had the start of a cold. We get ready for our road trip.




Tuesday we head out to Kalamazoo on our way to Minneapolis for the Ryder Cup. Click here for the highlights.

Yup, having a great time coughing all day.

Institute of Art has a Chihuly hanging in the entrance!

Bronson Park had these cute topiaries.

Monkey see, monkey do!

Kalamazoo House Bed and Breakfast, what a great place to stay.

Our room, we lacked for nothing!

Tuesday steps - 9,941 4.23 miles not bad considering we spent over 6 hours driving here.


After a cooked to order breakfast on Wednesday we left Kalamazoo and headed to Milwaukee for two days.

Now coughing, ribs hurting, energy sapping kind of day.

It was a cold and wet drive most of the way.

Starbucks stop. Chili mocha!

Getting around Chicago took the better part of an hour. Lucky we had gained an hour when we entered Indiana.

Click here to hear about our fabulous historic hotel and see some sights of Milwaukee.




From the Ghost Walks website (we were in room 206):
This hotel, in the historic 1886 Loyalty Building, has a stunning interior complete with a huge skylight and majestic central staircase. The Hilton Garden Inn is built on the site of a famous 19th Century hotel called the Newhall House, which burned to the ground in 1883, taking almost 100 souls with it. The fire made national news at the time and there are Newhall House memorials in both Forest Home and Calvary cemeteries. In the Loyalty Building, waitresses at a former restaurant housed there, often reported being bothered by streaks of white light in their peripheral vision, especially when they were carrying heavy trays of food and drink. Now hotel staff report ghostly experiences in Rooms 201 and 326. Two employees witnessed the bathroom door in 201 open and close by itself. Maids report the feeling of being watched and occasionally experience their hair being pulled. Others report ghostly voices and temperature drops in the room.

We head out to explore the Riverwalk.

First stop, a visit with the Fonz.

Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli was originally a bit player in the sitcom Happy Days, set in Milwaukee during the 1950s. The Fonz was a tough greaser hood, menacing if you crossed him. He originally wore a zip-up golf jacket, because network executives feared a leather jacket would make him look like a criminal. But Fonzie quickly became the show's star, and was given more airtime, more humanity, started wearing leather jackets, and eventually moved in with the main characters, The Cunningham Family. Happy Days ran from 1974-1984, and Fonzie's trademark thumbs-up gesture and catch-sound, "Aayyyy!" became a generation's lingua franca. One of his leather jackets made its way to the Smithsonian even before the show went off the air. 

Lots of sculpture along the Riverwalk.

A thirsty stop at the Ale Asylum.

Over the the historic Old World 3rd St.

Wisconsin Cheese Mart - they definitely earn the name Cheeseheads.

We decide on room service for dinner. John couldn't believe how good this steak was.

My ginormous club!

Wednesday steps 6,017 steps 3 miles another 5 hour day of driving as well.


Thursday we explored Milwaukee.

We had breakfast at Cafe Benelux in the Third Ward.

So amazing to see BMO (Bank of Montreal) all over Milwaukee.

Dating to 1893, this opulent Victorian hotel is 0.5 miles from the Milwaukee Art Museum - Pfister Hotel.

Bloody Mary - a buffet in a glass and I didn't even want the pickled items, mushrooms, carrots, asparagus and a side shot of beer.

Out to dinner at Stack'd in the Third Ward. A burger joint that has gluten free buns at a cost.

We both ordered burgers but they use Udi GF buns that really fall apart, upon comment to our server, she removed the extra cost. Customer service, it really does work.

Thursday 20,832 steps or 8.87 miles!


Friday breakfast at the hotel. Last night we realized that housekeeping had taken our travel wine glasses which I reported to the desk. Chris said he would investigate. On our way out we spoke to him and he said he was following up. When we came back from dinner he said they couldn't find them so would give us a $50 credit. Cool!

When checking out this morning I asked if the credit was there, nope, Greg said he would process it against our bill of $93 (dinner. breakfast and valet parking) he made a mistake and said there you go a full $93 credit. Works for me.

It is raining and grey as we head out to see Black Cat Alley ( I didn't want to do the walk yesterday).
Just a teaser, saving it for Monday Mural.

Another teaser,  St. Josaphat Basilica.

Back in the car to Minneapolis a rainy drive.

Lunch was fabulous cheese curds.

We hit St. Paul's - Minneapolis and it is rush hour. Finally out of the traffic.

The Hilton is busy, as is every hotel, with Ryder Cup attendees.


John immediately turns on the golf. We had planned to go to Hell's Kitchen but the desk clerk said it is best for breakfast. Perhaps on Sunday??

Instead we head to Nicollet Mall which is lined with bars and restaurants. We happen upon The News Room which was on my list of restaurants and have an excellent meal with rather spotty service.

The News Room is essentially a themed restaurant and bar. From the minute you walk in, you may think why this place has what looks like newspapers plastered everywhere. And one might wonder why this is until they realize that this is, as the name suggests (whoda thunk it, no?), essentially a newsroom, minus the reporters (except for the possible Star Trib writers off-the-clock), plus a full bar. Each dining room is essentially devoted to individual sections of a newspaper (think Sports section, Entertainment section, etc).

  BEEF AND BROCCOLINI STIR FRY
SOY AND GINGER MARINATED GRILLED SKIRT STEAK, GRILLED BROCCOLINI,
WATER CHESTNUT, ONION, CARROT, PORToBELLA MUSHROOM, SCALLION,
ASIAN DEMI GLACE, JASMINE RICE

  HONOLULU AHI TUNA
SCALLION AND SESAME ENCRUSTED SEARED SASHIMI GRADE HAWAIIAN AHI TUNA, CITRUS PLUM SAUCE, PORK AND BROCCOLINI FORBIDDEN BLACK FRIED RICE, MICRO CILANTRO

And another Chihuly spotted!

DINNER

Still working on fridge and freezer contents, slowly getting to the end.

Saturday - lamb shepherd's pie (frozen lamb) with corn and carrot mashed potatoes with a golden cheese topping
Sunday - leftover shepherd's pie
Monday - chicken thighs (frozen)
Tuesday - Kalamazoo
Wednesday - Milwaukee hotel
Thursday - Milwaukee burgers
Friday - Minneapolis