Still Waitin'....Wisconsin, Fish Fries, Beer, and Thunderstorms....

Patricia, Anissa, and I, headed north and west towards Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, on Friday, Veterans Day....the trip was pretty uneventful, and the traffic on our new route was light to moderate....avoiding the I-94 mess around Wisconsin's very own craphole, known as Milwaukee is a must, and doable by taking a combination back roads.  After 35 plus years of making this trip, I think I've finally got down a route that is less stressful than any in the past.  Of course there really is no good way to get around Chicago, but this route, if driven at the right time of day, isn't bad....plus no issues with the Nitro this trip, made the trip that much more pleasant...at least going up...coming back?  Will talk about that later in this posting.

Pre-Thanksgiving in Wisconsin____

 With still no baby news  from Centerville, Ohio, we figured it was safe to head to Patricia's home town of Oconomowoc, a growing but old city of 16,000, which has turned into a version of "Yuppieville" on it's own, with the help of an influx of move ins from the bergs of Milwaukee and Chicago.   It's still a nice area, but the 50 Cent millionaire types have changed Oconomowoc forever, and in my eyes, not for the better.

Patricia and I were married there 35 years ago next month....and for years, even while living in Northern Wisconsin, we rotated Christmas and Thanksgivings there and in Celina...that was until about 5 years ago, when we decided the winter driving through Chicagoland was just no longer feasible or safe...so we started to spend the second weekend before Thanksgiving with her parents...and it seems to have worked out well.

After arriving Friday afternoon, the first order of business was to head The Golden Mast on Lake Okauchee, for a fish fry.  If you've never had a Wisconsin "Fish Fry", I guess they would be pretty hard to describe.  Wisconsin Friday Night Fish Fry's are like nothing you'll find anywhere else.  The Golden Mast is where Patricia and I had our pre-wedding meal back in December 1976...and where she was a waitress back in her high school days in the late 60s and early 70s.  The Weissgerber Family who owned the restaurant at that time, are still in control, although I believe the sons now run the daily operation.  Once done we returned to Bill and Bev's condo, and after that meal, along with a dark draft beer of generous portions, combined with the 7 hour drive, was ready for an early sack time.

{here is the link to the menu and facilities of the Golden Mast}
http://www.weissgerbers.com/goldenmast/html/banquets.html 

Fast forward to the rest of the quick moving 4 days "weekend":

We had Bev's Turkey meal, our "Pre Thanksgiving Dinner" on Saturday, and ate well throughout the visit. Over the weekend I did get a couple of long walks in, also drank plenty of beer, along with watching too much football{including a pathetic loss by Ohio State to a bad Purdue team, thanks to no offense and a blocked extra point}.  On Monday morning, after breakfast at the "Around the Lake" restaurant in Oconomowoc, with Patricia's parents and sister Sue....we headed towards home and the "Eye of the Storm".

The rain started as a few sprinkles on the toll roads outside Chicago...but by the time we were 100 miles out from Celina, near Warsaw, Indiana, the temperatures jumped from the mid 40s to the 50s, and lightning and heavy rain accompanied us through Fort Wayne...and by that time the temps had soared to 68, and after a call from Hal, telling us that Tornado warnings and watches were out in the area, we switched the car radio from the Satellite to WOWO Fort Wayne, and followed the progress of the mess.  We made it into Ohio, outracing the front, for a short while...but by the time we arrived home, the heavy rain, lighting, and winds, joined us, although the did weaken somewhat as the night progressed, with no damage in our area.


Dartball~Week #2

I'm not sure if it was the long rain/storm filled drive or just a bad night, but I stunk up the darts and board last night....going without a hit the first 8 at bats, before connecting on 2 in a row, and finishing the night a paltry 2 of 11, which dropped by second in the league batting average from .636 down to a more "normal" .409.  Regardless, the team, after losing the opening game, came back to defeat Rockford Methodist in the final two games.  So we sit at 4 wins and 2 loses on the season, as we head for Mendon next Monday.


So, that was the last 4 or 5 days in a nutshell...lots of miles, lots of food, lots of rain, lots of beer, but no grandson just yet....so we will continue to wait.

back later>>>> 

Photos-Bill Callies, the 88 year old World War II Veteran of the Pacific Theater,  with his daughter Patricia. on Veterans Day 11-11-11 at the Golden Mast for a Friday Fish Fry.  The main items, at least for me, a plate full of breaded Cod and other fish, along with a tankard of in house Oktoberfest Beer on Tap.  The view from out table next to the fireplace of Okauchee Lake in Southeast Wisconsin, and one of the new beers that I tasted for the first time, Murphy's is a dark Irish Stout in the Guinness tradition, but with more of a "Kick"...after just 1 pint and part of a second, I could feel the effects of the alcohol.