Archive
Day 34: Cheeseheadedness
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Miles Driven: 85
Total Miles: 6,646
On Thursday I received a call from my friend Kelly’s sister, Christie, inviting me up to Milwaukee. I had met Christie before, and their friend Julie (who would also be visiting). Knowing these two fun people would be there, and having never visited Wisconsin, I said I would go (didn’t hurt that Milwaukee is only 1.5 hrs north of Chicago).
So I left Tanya and Alberto’s place as they headed out to work. Took a break on the way to get some exercise at a rest stop (I have been eating far too well lately). Mix that in with a quick nap and some construction, I arrived at Christie’s place in Milwaukee shortly after 11AM.
After I got myself cleaned up and organized, Julie, Christie, and I took a drive out to Madison, the capital of Wisconsin. It wasn’t very far…I think another 1.5 hrs. Added bonus, I was a passenger, so I got to relax in the backseat and take a break from driving. Madison is a beautiful place and a very walkable city. It is also the home of the University of Wisconsin (Badgers) in a picturesque setting. Our first destination after parking was the capitol building.
The inside of the dome
Beautiful building. It was soon time for lunch, and the three of us had a lot of choices as Madison was full of different kinds of restaurants – Tibetan, Indian, American, Japanese, etc. We settled on a Nepalese restaurant with outdoor seating, and I absolutely loved the food. I have tentative plans to visit Nepal this October, so if the food cooked here is anything like the food in Nepal, I will certainly enjoy the trip.
Julie and Christie
My order: a tasty tofu and vegetables dish
So delicious
On the hunt for some famous Wisconsin cheese curds, we came across a cupcakery with all kinds of great looking cupcakes.
Sometimes you have to combat all the frosting by just taking a huge bite
We wandered over to the University of Wisconsin area which sits on the shore of Lake Mendota. Thanks to Julie for taking over camera responsibilities for a while – she got some great shots.
A campus admin. building (or castle)
view of Lake Mendota
campus building
We walked around the downtown Madison area a bit more, and then it was time to head back to Milwaukee. Before going back to Christie’s, she drove us through scenic parts of downtown as well as along the shore of Lake Michigan. What a city.
Art museum. The sails go down at nighttime. Pretty cool
So I just happened to come to Milwaukee at the time of Summerfest, which I think is 10 days of food and big name concerts. So after a break back home, the three of us headed down to Summerfest along with Christie’s boyfriend, Mario. It was an absolute zoo, but I got to try some famous Milwaukee bratwurst and we all were able to settle our hunger for cheese curds (little fried balls of cheese). Pretty good.
A view of the craziness that is Summerfest from my phone
After a couple hours of Summerfesting, it was late and we were all pretty beat. On Saturday, the plan is to head out to breakfast and do some walking around, and then I’ll hit the road and head south in the early afternoon.
Wisconsin is a beautiful place, and I’m glad I had the chance to come up here.
joe
Day 33
Location: Chicago, IL
I arrived at Tanya and Alberto’s home in Northern Chicago around 8:30 last night. With Tanya away for the night on business, Alberto took me out to grab a bite. It wasn’t long after that I was ready to crash, as my body was still on east coast time. Had an amazing night of rest. I didn’t get much sleep in Indiana and I think it caught up with me.
For the majority of the day I was, effectively, a bum. Slept in a bit, did some work on the computer, read a little bit (Stephen Colbert is hilarious), and played some wii. Although Tanya and Alberto thought I might go a little stir-crazy, I enjoyed the break from the driving and doing nothing at all is pretty relaxing at times.
Eventually both Tanya and Alberto were home and they took me out to get some authentic deep-dish pizza. I guess Pizzeria Uno’s does not count, so this was my first time having deep dish. Absolutely delicious…it’s a shame that one slice will fill you up.
Returned home for some video games (Grand Slam Tennis on the wii is great), some fun conversation, and then eventually got to sleep. On Friday, I’ll make the quick 1.5 hr drive north to Milwaukee. After that, the journey turns South for a bit as I make my way to Texas.
Thanks Tanya and Alberto! (And looking forward to little Julian being born this September!)
Tanya and Alberto
joe
Day 32: Dramatic license, and friends
Location: Chicago, IL
Miles Driven: 310
Total Miles: 6,561
Milan, Indiana might seem like it is in the middle of nowhere, and perhaps you are wondering why I was drawn to it. Does this picture ring a bell?
Ok if that doesn’t help, how about this picture?
Now you might have been able to make the connection. The 1986 film “Hoosiers”, one of my favorite movies ever, was loosely based on the state championship Milan High School boys basketball team. All I knew about the present-day Milan was that this water tower still stood, so I figured it’d be cool to get a shot of it. In the past, I’ve read up about the Indiana state basketball tournament. Up until the late 90’s, Indiana was one of a few states left, I think, that had an open format basketball tournament where a small school, like Milan, could potentially face large schools. Since then, it has adopted a class system based on school size (like NY), and schools of only like-sizes would play each other in the postseason. A lot of people felt the tournament lost some potential for small school magic when that happened.
While reading on that, I have also research over the years what was factually represented in the movie; unfortunately, not a lot. In the movie, an embattled coach in his 50’s takes over as coach of a team with very low expectations. In reality, however, the team was expected to make a deep run into the postseason as it made it to the state semifinals the season before, and the coach was a 24 year-old former Butler University player. They won the state championship at Hinkle Field House (home of the 2010 National runner-up Butler Bulldogs) with a shot by Bobby Plump (character “Jimmy Chitwood”). In the movie, Jimmy hits a shot near the buzzer to win by two. In real life, Bobby did the same thing, but after holding the ball on the court for over four minutes (keep in mind no shot clock was used then).
In any case, I still love the movie, and can understand the use of some dramatic license. And to be able to visit the place that inspired the movie was fun. I must have seen the movie now at least a dozen times. Here’s the climatic ending to the championship game: (SPOILER ALERT) But who hasn’t seen Hoosiers, really?
I left Milan in the early morning and made my way Northwest. My plan was to get to South Bend around noon to meet up with a family friend, Tim. Around 11AM I arrived at Tim’s house. I’ve been to Tim’s current house once before, having attended a Notre Dame football game with Tim, my brother Brendan, and friends. Also, almost exactly five years ago, I visited Tim at his old place in South Bend as I was wrapping up my cross-country trip. If interested, you can read about that here.
Hung out with Tim for a bit at the house, saw his two cute girls, and also met his dogs. I knew the dog Fletcher from before, but now there’s Henry, also (Fletcher’s kid). Great dogs.
Fletcher (in back) and his son Henry
Grabbed some lunch with Tim and caught up with what’s been going on over the past couple years. Tim, who was in my brother Mike’s class, has been a friend of the family’s for as long as I can remember. Great visit. Congrats to Tim on his nice home and beautful family. Unfortunately, Tim’s wife, Marsa, was at work when I dropped by. Hi Marsa!
Tim and me in front of his house
Kira and Tim
From Tim’s, I headed to Notre Dame to meet up with Marissa, who was a student at Seton when I was a teacher there. Marissa was in the business club that I moderated, and now a grad student. She teaches in Louisiana during the school year, so I got some great recommendations from her back early on in this trip (and she chided me for my wastefulness with crawfish).
I had been to Notre Dame two times prior for football games, but this time was different as the campus wasn’t a zoo. Enjoyed walking around and catching up with Marissa, and grabbed a few shots of the campus. Beautiful place. Good luck to Marissa as she returns to her teaching gig in Louisiana this fall.
football stadium
As I was due for another oil change, I headed over to a nearby quick lube place that Tim recommended, Drive and Shine. Got an oil change and car wash in about a total of 30 minutes. Funny thing, in the car bay next to me was a woman from Binghamton. Go figure.
From there I hit up a McDonald’s to take advantage of their free wi-fi, and eventually got on the road towards Chicago. I didn’t realize how quick of a drive it was from South Bend to Chicago. By an hour into the drive, I was already within Chicago city limits. In Chicago, I’ll visit with my friends Tanya and Alberto who I haven’t seen since their wedding a few years back.
This entire trip I've wondered if there are any toll booths in the nation that take credit cards. Finally, I found one (of course, when I have cash on me)
Approaching the Windy City
joe
Trip route – Summer 2010
Joe's Roadtrip 
Recent Comments