Back from Wisconsin/Beer from Same

 

The hard thing to control when I head off to the wife's hometown of Oconomowoc in southeast Wisconsin, is the intake of food and the sampling of new beers...this weekend past was no exception to that old rule.  After dropping 12 pounds of the 20 I had gained back from th 35 pound loss when it was discovered I had the beginnings of Diabetes 2 back in September of 2009, I looked squarely in the face of a Wisconsin weekend. 

Those weekends usually bring about a weight gain, and this would be no exception.  That started out a couple hours after arriving, with the Fish Fry Friday at the Golden Mast....

http://www.weissgerbers.com/goldenmast/html/moreinfo.html

....a restaurant where Patricia had been a waitress during her high school days, and where we had our pre-wedding dinner back in mid-December of 1976....we have dined there on a dozen or more occasions since that day nearly 36 years ago, and for the past few years during our annual before Thanksgiving mini vacations, it has been our first activity.  The setting and the fish fry Friday meals have always been outstanding, and in no way lead themselves to losing any weight, or even in the hope of keeping off what you lost in the recent past.

There you are, Friday Night Fish Fry, then sitting around, watching football, drinking beer and some Winter Ale, snacking, sitting, and sleeping in....and bang!  4 pounds gained since Friday....lol!  So here I am back and back on track to lose the additional 20 pounds...my goal is 175, which would mark the same weight as I was when I returned from Vietnam as a 21 year old Air Force Sky Cop in 1970....I made it down to 183 at one point in 2010, right now I stand at 195...thus the 20 pounds.

Sure it's much harder to lose at 63 years....but what the Hell?  I plan on doing just that.  I had a nasty case of "Walking Pnemonia" back in 1973/74 and dropped down into the 150-155 pound range, but that was not planned...and certainly not welcome.  This time it is for health reasons, and the stubborn urge to prove I can do it, while still downing a few beers, and eating three meals a day.....time will tell.

The four days, despite the weight gain, got me away from the stupidity of politics and comments on same, so it was well worth it...Patricia, Anissa, and I got back to Celina yesterday afternoon, just in time for me to head off to Dartball, where, after being stomped at Mendon 13-0 in the first game, we won the last 2 by close scores of 4-3 in 12 innings, and 5-2...I ended up going 6 for 15 with a RBI to hold down the team leadership or share in both, despite not having a great early season...batting just .349 and tied in team leadership with 5 RBIs.  As a team, we stand at 4 wins and 5 loses....frankly, that is better than we should be.

Basketball Begins_____

Here it goes.....my first scrimmage of the season is set for tonight.  Less than 6 weeks out from my foot injury, sure I was supposed to take 6 to 8 weeks off, but I realized that I could not wait until my first regular season game on November 24th to see how the healing has went.  There still are some issues, but with Junior High scrimmages, four in number, over the next week or so, it will give me a chance to "test the waters" so to speak.  Tonight a girls JH scrimmage at Delphos St. John will be the first of those tests.  I am ready, I think!

Winter/Holiday Ales_____

In addition to my favorite brews, the dark stouts, I have become, over the past few cold weather  months and years, a big fan of Harvest Ale and especially Winter Ales, and have been on a constant search for new brews...Wisconsin offers a large selection of both, and despite being a high tax state to the Nth degree, the beer prices are among the lowest anywhere I have found in my travels.

On Saturday morning, I headed out to the local liquor establishment in one of the Oconomowoc mini malls...a place I had had stopped many times over the years, a place with a good supply and collection of various brews, cigars, and hard liquor.  When I stopped in this year, I came across a brew that I had serched for in Indiana last year, but came up empty....Snow Day from New Belgium, out of Fort Collins, Colorado.  A brew not yet available in Ohio...at least to my knowledge.  The price was right, just over $8 a six pack, a full 2 dollars less than it would have been across the state line in Indiana, if I could find it!

I grabbed a couple of six packs, and also a single six pack of Sierra Nevada "Celebration" Winter Ale....the later brew, was a bit bitter, and frankly not something I will buy again.  I like some of their brews, but this one, at least compared to "Snow Day" or my personal favorite,  "12 Dogs of Christmas Ale"  out of Thirsty Dog Brewing Company from Akron, Ohio.  So despite the cold weather to come, I can say beer/ale wise, this is my favorite time of year.  And it's always good to find a new adventure when it comes to that....

back later>>>>>

Photos-The "House" Winter Ale at the Golden Mast.....The View from our table on Friday Night last....Basketball begins tonight, at least on the scrimmage level....Snow Day is a good quality Winter Ale, but not quite as good, or does it pack as much "punch" at 12 Dogs of Christmas....but both are drinkable Winter Ale fare...