Monday, November 15, 2010

Oconomowoc, fish fry, 8 point bucks, and no Internet....back from Wisconsin

That is about it...the headline says it all.  Patricia, Anissa, and I, left for my wife's hometown of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, on Friday morning...traveling around Chicago, then through the Lake Geneva and Kettle Moraine area of Southeastern Wisconsin, on the way to her dad and step mom's Condo on Silver Lake.

I first visited Oconomowoc in 1974, when Patricia and I were dating, I have been there at least once a year, every year since.  I first went with Patricia for her sister Sue's wedding  At that time her Dad and his wife Bev, lived in a house between Delafield and Oconomowoc overlooking Lake Nashoda...they sold that place some 30 years later as they aged, and purchased a condo near Sliver Lake....over those 36 years the sleepy town of ten thousand and bloomed into an overflow community, with those bored or scared of life in the Milwaukee and Chicago bergs taking over...and like so often things happen, they, even though they hated what was happening to their area, turn their new surroundings into a sad replica of where they just left.  That is Oconomowoc of today.

Malls and traffic jams, Condos, and Medical Centers, now lie in what was once cornfields and woods, nestled along I-94 between Milwaukee and Madison, the twin leftist infested population centers of Wisconsin.

Usually on my once or twice visits per year, I hang around the condo, drink beer, and an occasional glass of Brandy....I walk the bike path and out to Silver Lake....and watch football when visiting in the fall.  It gets dark around 4pm in the north country in early to mid November, so I get some good sleep.  Patricia gets to visit her folks and siblings.....that in short is the weekend, usually highlighted by a famous Wisconsin Friday Night Fish Fry.....and trust me, Fish Fry Fridays in Wisconsin, are like no place else...they are something else.

I was first introduced to Fish Fry Friday when I visited Bill and Bev's back in the 1970s....and that is reason enough to return whenever you get the chance.  This Friday we headed to Okauchee Lake and the Golden Mast Restaurant.  Patricia worked as a waitress there when in high school, and we had our wedding rehearsal dinner there back on December 17, 1976, the day before we got married in Oconomowoc, so the town still hold a special place in my heart    I may have been back to the GM once since that night, but have participated in many Fish Fry's at other locations around the lake region since that time....The Golden Mast had changed, but the food was still outstanding.

Probably my favorite fish fry location over the past 35 or so years was a place called Bullocks, located just north of Wausau, Wisconsin,  where Patricia and I lived back in the late 1970s.  We would head there most Friday Nights and hang around the bar...then pig out on the sea food, chicken, and deep fried fish.  If I recall correctly, it was $4.95 for all you could handle, food wise....we usually spent more at the bar than for the food...by a long shot.  It was a great place, and we enjoyed it those Friday Nights, to say the least.

So Friday we got the fish fry treatment.....tomorrow I'll show some grainy photos of the 8 point buck on the bike path and write about the rest of the weekend......

back later>>>>

Photos-Inside of the Golden Mast(photo from Planet99.com)...the mainstay of a Wisconsin Friday Fish Fry, and Okauchee Lake, one of the many "great' lakes in Lake Country, southeast Wisconsin.

3 comments:

Home on the Range said...

Welcome home!

Fish Fry Milwaukee said...

There are a number of places in the Lake Country that have a great Friday night fish fry. It borders on religion in Wisconsin and everyone has their favorite place but are always looking for new places to try.

To find every fish fry in the 6 county area, check out http://milwaukeefishfrylist.com. You can search by county, city, type of fish and the favorite: All-You-Can-Eat.

PRH said...

Thanks Brigid...and thanks for stopping by FFM...over the years I have probably been to a few dozen Friday Fish Fry locations...never had a bad one yet...but the ones 30 years or more ago at Bullocks outside Wausau ranks up near the top....

The all-you-can eat, was much different back 3 decades ago, only because I could eat more, and not gain the weight... :)

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