Summer vacation

We just got back from a little jaunt to Missouri and hit some local joints along the way.

Our lodging of choice was Dogwood Acres Resort in Sunrise Beach, MO. We had a little one bedroom cabin with a balcony overlooking the lake, and spent some nice time sitting there visiting and watching the boats.
A short walk around the property took us to their boat launch, where we let our dog play in the water. She had a blast.

Our first night, we hit Ozark BBQ in Sunrise Beach for dinner. I had a margarita, which I think might have been a little heavy on the sweet and sour, but had a nice neon fish in it for fun garnish.
We decided to sit inside in the back dining room, where the atmosphere was OK, but it was terribly humid and hot outside and we were looking forward to some A/C.
I ordered the BBQ chicken, which was a half chicken, smoked and topped with a hearty helping of their dark BBQ sauce. I also ordered some green beans and baked beans for my two sides.
StfRon chose a full rack of ribs, half wet, half dry. He envisioned getting two half racks so he could judge the merits of each, but instead the meal came out with one full rack, half being doused in sauce.
The meats had a nice smoked flavor and everything was good, and the employees we ran across were very nice and friendly.

On our way back to Dogwood, we stopped at a bar called Neighbor's Landing in Sunrise Beach for a drink. The interior was clean with walls lined with diagonal tongue in groove wood and Keno was being broadcast on the bar TV. The four patrons at the bar were having a bit of a heated discussion about a neighborhood snafu in which the police had been called on one of the customers, who now was apparently on the outs with his neighbor, who he used to be friendly with.
So that night, at least, Neighbor's was the place to grouse about your neighbor. We quickly finished our drink and headed back to our cabin.

The next day we set off in search of Dog Days Inn in Kaiser, MO to drop off our pooch for the day.
After winding down some country roads, we found the place, and were greeted by a nice lady who was holding down the fort for the owner.
We found a large room filled with dogs happily ensconced in cubicles. We leaned over one and played with Ladybug, a happy yellow lab mix.
We decided to leave our dog at Dog Days until the end of the day, which was a bargain, plus kept her out of the heat for the day. We waved at her out the front window as we headed to the car.

We then were off to look for On the Rise Bakery, which StfRon had seen in a travel guide in our cabin.
We drove by it a few times but finally noticed the bakery in Osage Beach.
Looking at the menu in the bistro, there were so many things I wanted to try, but I settled on a breakfast flatbread, topped with eggs, Parmesan cheese and sausage, served with a small cup of fruit. It was delicious.
StfRon ordered biscuits and gravy and upon sampling a bite, I found the biscuits to be fluffy and wonderful, and the gravy quite good.
I really wanted to come back for another breakfast or at least some dessert, but it was not meant to be for this trip.

Our next stop: the Bagnell Dam area and the strip in Lake Ozark. We walked through the arcade and tried our hand at the mystery maze, then toured Crazy Cousin's Cabin.
We drove over the dam, and then headed back to Osage Beach for a while.

We went to pick up our GPS at the cabin, then stopped at Bambooze in Sunrise Beach to check out their menu for dinner possibilities. It looked like a winner, but the music was a bit loud for us in the bar, especially for early afternoon. We figured the outside "Tiki" bar would be an option.
Strangely enough, our bartender at Bambooze knew Peoria well and used to play for the Peoria Chiefs about three years ago.

The oppressive heat during much of the trip kept our hunger at bay, but we decided to stop by the Topsider and hit the Poopdeck in Osage Beach. We had some fruity drinks and appetizers, then changed into our suits and headed up to their deck pool to cool off. Shortly we were the only ones in the pool, which was nice and relaxing.

Next we headed off to pick up our dog a bit early. On the way back to our cabin, we stopped by Paradise Tropical Restaurant and Bar in Sunrise Beach, again to check dinner menus. This place seemed pretty laid back and more our speed, so we decided it would be the place.
When we got back later, the dining room had filled up, but we still got a table near the expansive windows where we could enjoy the view and the breeze.
We both went for the buffalo chicken tender sandwich, which was good enough, and I had the black bean salad, which was just black beans, corn and peppers.
We had some trouble getting our bill when we were ready to go, due to our waitress being pretty busy, but all worked out well in the end.

The next morning, we set out for Camdenton and breakfast at the Wee Chef. The exterior of the place has seen better days, but inside is tidy, if a hair dated.
The breakfast was good, scrambled egg for me with hash browns, bacon and a biscuit with a side of gravy. Normally I don't eat biscuits and gravy, but someone had complimented them on the web, so I wanted to check them out. StfRon had eggs over medium with biscuits and gravy, sausage and toast.
The bacon was pretty ordinary, but everything else was very good. I had covered my scrambled egg in pepper, used to the lame pepper most restaurants offer, only to find that the pepper used there had some kick to it, which was a nice surprise.
The meal was also a great bargain and the service was good.

Next stop, Ha Ha Tonka State Park in Camdenton. We did some hiking and checked out the ruins of a castle built in the early 1900s.

After that, we headed back to Lake Ozark in search of a banana split, which we vowed we were going to share on this trip.
We found one at the shop next to Peace Frogs. The chocolate ice cream tasted good to me, but the rest fell flat. I really think that the heat messed with my appetite and taste buds on this trip.

For dinner, we decided to try JB Hook's in Lake Ozark. The menu looked interesting, and they also allowed cigar smoking in their lounge.
We were told there would be a 30 minute wait for a table, which sounded great. After about 15, we were called to be seated.
Upon walking past the hostess station, I was stunned by the expanse of windows surrounding the dining room, giving a great view of the lake.
We were seated and made our selections; prime rib for StfRon and pork tenderloin for me, with portobella mushrooms in a Cabernet reduction.
For sides, I chose green beans and salmon bisque and StfRon had the twice baked potato.
The bisque was slightly sweet and tasty, but I didn't finish it all. I was initially torn between that and the French onion, and was wondering if the French onion would have been better.
The pork was tender and juicy, but I think my taste buds were still off and the reduction just seemed so so. I never really worked up any appetite on this whole trip.
Our service was not the greatest in the dining room, as our server kept disappearing for long stretches of time or taking quite a while to bring by some horseradish that had been ordered with our meal.
The bartender in the lounge, though, was courteous and prompt, and we enjoyed a glass of wine there before heading back to our cabin for the night.

On our way home the next day, we tried to stop at Super Smokers in Eureka, MO. They were closed, but right down the road a bit we saw Phil's Bar B Que. We stepped in and ordered some carryout: a spicy brisket sandwich and a pulled pork sandwich topped with cole slaw and a side of baked beans to go. We chatted with owner Phil while we waited, and found him to be a friendly chap.
The food was good and soon we were back on the road headed for home sweet home.

I think it was a little difficult for us to slow down the pace a bit on our trip. We toyed with leaving a night early because we didn't feel like there was enough to do. We normally go go go on trips. But taking it easy on the balcony and enjoying the pool at the resort and the Poopdeck made for a nice addition to the rest of the things we got to do.

Round up

Last weekend we stopped by Water Street Wines in Peoria to try the cheese fondue. It took about half an hour to heat up the cheese at our table, but since we were sharing a bottle of wine with good company, the time passed pretty quickly. A couple of us were set on trying the Aztec style dessert fondue, but a while after ordering it we were told there was no cayenne in the house, so we decided to go with caramel instead.
This was our second visit to the café, and they were doing a pretty good business on a Friday night.

I've also heard that the River Station in Peoria is going to start serving fondue. I'll have to check that one out, too.
Speaking of the River Station, looks like we're on again for Mother's Day brunch. I'm glad, because I've been looking forward to trying the brunch for a long time.

Recently I had occasion to do some traveling and had a top notch meal at the Great Waters Brewing Co. in St. Paul, MN.
I have been to many brewpubs since they started gaining popularity sometime in the 1990s, and recall how creative the menus would be at the pubs. It seems like over the last five years or so, the popularity and the food selection has worn a bit thin, but Great Waters gets high marks from me.
There were numerous specials available that night, rattled off without a glance at any notes by our waitress. I was going to just get a sandwich of the menu, a grilled chicken with green apples and brie, but the roasted pork tenderloin with a portobello mushroom reduction special sounded too good to pass up.
The dish was wonderful: tender, juicy pork topped with a rich, thick mushroom sauce I can only wish had topped my last Schnitzel I had at a German restaurant. The meal was accompanied by two rounded scoops of wonderful spicy herbed mashed potatoes and some crisp, colorful fresh vegetables.
The brewing company also features some cask conditioned ales to compliment your meals. The process is popular in England, and the beers are served pulled from the cellar and served at around 52 degrees.

Today I have some local lunch plans, and this weekend we're off to our home away from home in Wisconsin. If I can squeeze it in before we go, I'd like to hit the Perfect Pear boutique in Peoria Heights as I know they're having a sale starting today (through Saturday) and I would love to pick up a new shirt, pair or pants or some shorts.

Quad Cities getaway

On the best spring weekend we've seen so far this year, we were enjoying a weekend in the Quad Cities with some friends.
Saturday StfRon and I made it into East Davenport mid afternoon and caught sight of the quaint business district, so we turned off to check it out.

Once I recognized where we were, I knew the Bier Stube would be right around the corner.
We stopped in at Avatar Books, Estate Wines and Calla then headed over to the Bier Stube. I had been there several years ago with my mom and dad, but StfRon had never had the pleasure.
This location of the Bier Stube is a cozy establishment with a couple of handfuls of tables and some wooden stools lining the bar. They serve some German drafts along with other beers, and sandwiches, sausages and Schnitzels. Someone was eating some red cabbage or sauerkraut that smelled divine, but we were in between meals. We'll have to come back with an empty stomach next time!

After checking in to our hotel and getting a free upgrade to a suite (sweeeeeet!) we met up with our friends and did some shopping near the hotel.

Then, on to the Blue Cat Brew Pub in Rock Island for some hoppiness.

Next stop: Moline for dinner. Our tour guide for the weekend Minney has an aunt who lives in the Quad Cities, and she recommended Pasteur as a favorite for dinner.
Celebrating almost 20 years in business, Pasteur serves Vietnamese cuisine prepared with fresh, local ingredients.
The owner was very friendly and seemed to remember all of his customers. He was welcoming and delighted to see us.
He told us that the location has recently been remodeled. The decor in the tidy restaurant was light and airy.
We all started with some of their golden egg rolls (vegetarian for one of us) and they were excellent. We also had an order of chicken wontons. These were delicious as well, as were the sauces accompanying these appetizers. We were surprised to find that one of the sauces we loved was a fish sauce.
For my entreé, I chose some pad Thai, wild rice noodles, served with beef. A couple of us had pork entreés and one had Minney's aunt's fave, the cashew chicken. Another tried the shrimp with almonds.
The freshness of the produce was noticeable with my meal, especially the onions in my noodles, which were crisp, sweet and spicy. The flavor of the sauce in the dish was wonderful. So much so that I stuffed myself silly.
The service during our meal was great as well.

After this pig out, we were so close to Whitey's Ice Cream that a few of us were game for dessert. There was quite a line of people inside. I made my way to the counter and ordered the cake batter ice cream on a sugar cone.
Upon receiving it, I was surprised to see ribbons of chocolate in the creamy yellow concoction. Sampling them, I found them to be like fudgy cake batter.
StfRon had a chocolate malt with extra malt. Whitey's, unlike some malt makers, apparently knows what extra malt means, as the malt had crispy crystals of malty magnificence throughout.

After this and the filling meal, I found myself starting to feel sluggish. We made it over to the Bent River Brewing Company, but I was never able to snap out of it. StfRon apparently had the same problem, because when I brought up geocaching (thinking that some walking might give me a second wind, and we could meet up with the group and go to the hotel bar or the casino bar later) he turned me down. StfRon turning down geocaching is unheard of!
So, party animals that we are, we were in bed by about 10:30.

The next morning, we couldn't find any notable local breakfast joints online, so we headed to the Iowa Machine Shed, established in 1978. It's a little corporate, but the location we hit, the Davenport restaurant, is the original location.
Our service was great and the food portions were huge. In the restaurant shop, I thought it was neat that they had a selection of "green" items, including household cleaners and bamboo plates, bowls and tableware, and I also saw some cookware made in the USA in the shop.

With stomachs full, we headed off for some geocaching at Vander Veer Botanical Park. We found one quickly, but spent probably forty minutes searching for another, only to find that it was M.I.A. Oh, well. It was a nice day, we saw lots of dogs and got to check out the botanical gardens.
After spending so much time looking for that last cache, we decided it was time to head home.

I enjoyed seeing Davenport and taking in some of the sights. This is a town that has tons of historic buildings still standing, making use of many of them while rehabbing many others. It's a great thing to see.

New blog venture

I think I have officially been bitten with the supper club bug recently, and hope to visit a lot of historic, unusual and fun restaurants and lounges in the near future.
I think we'll be heading off the beaten path a lot more in our travels, searching for interesting shops and offbeat places to experience, so I figured I would break out into another blog for any travels not dealing with central Illinois, and also feature locally owned central Illinois businesses with a lot of history.
The first few posts have been featured in some form on this blog and might be familiar to those of you who follow this blog, but, as time and travels allow, I'll document more Roadside Trail Mix on my new blog.

Returning to Illinois

We had another whirlwind trip over the past few days, enjoying some nice temps in the mid 60s, only to return home to a big snowstorm, and the news that Sullivan's has been sold. We had heard rumors that someone was trying to buy the place, so it wasn't a huge surprise, but we've made the place a new hangout of ours as of late, and change is threatening.

On the travel front, we had a very difficult time finding nice local places to dine on our trip. I told StfRon that the next time we plan a big trip, we're going to have to do some serious research before we go.
We did find some gems, and some stinkers on this journey.
Our first memorable local meal was lunch in the burg of Sainte Genevieve, Missouri, which dubs itself as Missouri's most historic town. We saw a billboard on the highway that drew us in with the promise of the historic town, so we pulled off in search of food.
We had to drive a bit to find the historic district, and once we arrived, we found some of the restaurants closed. We did find one open, Stella and Me, so we went in for a bite.
The dining room was tiny and brightly colored, with a chalkboard along one wall listing the menu. I decided to have a 1/2 cranberry walnut feta salad, and a cup of clam chowder, most certainly the healthiest meal I had on this trip.
StfRon went with a ham sandwich served with chips, and a great orange garlicky chip dip.
Everything was very good, and our meal was about $13.
Sainte Genevieve was neat, and reminded me of Bishop Hill. If we lived closer, I would definitely visit on a Saturday, poking around in the shops and trying the restaurants.

Our next memorable meal was that night, at Rendezvous in Memphis. We did plan to visit this place, so we used our GPS to get us to the street, parked and got out to look for the restaurant.
As we were waiting for the crosswalk signal, a jolly gent bopped up and asked "Where y'all headed?" We told him we were looking for Rendezvous, and he said "I'll show ya where it is. This is what I do." Turns out he was apparently quite the Memphis "ambassador" and was just jonesing for a tip. Having just received some holiday money, the smallest thing I had was $100, which I didn't want to flash on the streets of Memphis (or give to the ambassador for walking us a half block to an alley), and we had just plugged all of our silver change into the parking meter, so he didn't get much in the way of a tip from us.
Rendezvous has been serving up charcoal ribs since 1948. The basement restaurant was interesting, with room after room of tables and a mosaic tile floor, which we saw repeatedly during our travels this trip.
I had a chicken breast, and StfRon went for the famous ribs. Both meals came with cole slaw and baked beans. The chicken was OK, the beans were great, and the slaw was unusual, with lots of curry mixed in. StfRon liked the ribs, prepared with just a dry rub.

We hit the road the next morning, and went in search of some local southern breakfast along th way. We struck out in several towns, and finally pulled into a place in Grenada, Mississippi that said breakfast on the front.
If we had not been so frustrated after driving around so much, we might have turned away when we noticed that the place was also a bait shop, but we forged ahead.
I have no idea what the restaurant name was, but it will forever be known to us as Pro Lures Tackle Yard, as that's what came up on our credit card statement.
Some granny was smoking in the dining room, watching TV with the grandkids. Several people wandered in while we were there, most roaming back behind the counter. One even came in sporting some PJs.
The server asked us if we wanted breakfast or burgers, as she was picking up some menus. We said breakfast, and she stopped to put the menus back and said, "Let me just tell you what I've got left". I had some toast, grits, bacon and a glass of milk, since she said they had no orange juice. StfRon had toast, the last biscuit and gravy and a piece of smoked sausage.
The food hit the spot, and didn't hit the wallet, at $7.35.

Our next memorable dining experience was McGuire's Irish Pub in Pensacola, Florida. I had seen the restaurant on the web, and at least wanted to stop there for drinks to check the place out.
McGuire's is dubbed one of Florida's great restaurants, and opened in 1977. This restaurant, too, was room after room of tables packed with diners. One of the coolest rooms was the wine cellar, with room for 8,000 bottles of wine. The wine list features a huge selection of Chateau Mouton Rothschild Artist Series, pick your vintage year and they probably have it. We could have ordered a bottle of wine from the year of my birth for a mere $2,000.
The bar and lobby ceiling, plus parts of the restaurant are covered with dollar bills bearing names and messages from patrons of Irish descent. There are well over half a million dollar bills hanging in this place.
For dinner, I ordered yellowfin tuna with a side of asparagus. StfRon decided to try the hickory smoked prime rib. Our meal was preceded by a delicious loaf of warm brown bread drizzled with honey, and some great garden salads. The tuna was excellent, as was the prime rib. We also split a bottle of wine, a $25 Pinot, instead of the $2,000 bottle. Our meal with tip was about $90.
Our enjoyment continued when an Irish chap took the corner stage and played some tunes, so we hung out for a bit longer.

The next morning, with our hotel coffee failing to hit the spot, we went in search of a good local coffee shop. We asked a jogger where we could find a coffee shop, who pointed us to Crema Coffee and Baking Co. in Pensacola (but not until after he mentioned Starbucks).
Crema says they roast their coffee in small batches. The coffee was very good, and the servers were friendly. They also had some glass cases filled with great looking pastries, but I had already taken advantage of the continental breakfast at our hotel.

We went exploring along the coast, and when we saw Flora-Bama, we decided to stop for a drink.
Flora-Bama is a roadhouse/package store near the Florida/Alabama state line.
Walking into the place was like walking into a hillbilly house party gone awry. We had a drink, had our picture taken and hit the road.

That night, after checking into a couple of seafood places that didn't seem very enticing, we ended up back at McGuire's Irish Pub.
This time I had the hickory smoked prime rib, again with asparagus and a great salad, and StfRon tried the ribs. These ribs were covered in thick meatiness. There was no way to finish this rack. My prime rib was excellent.
For dessert, we split some bread pudding, which was delicious.

After dinner, we decided to try Seville Quarter, a complex of bars we had noticed on the web.
The building is an old brick structure, with wrought iron decorative balconies, reminiscent of New Orleans.
All of the bars/restaurants are attached inside, so you can wander from place to place to see what's going on.
We found deuling pianos in one location, 80s music and aviator's decor in another, a live rock band in one, and a nice outdoor courtyard with gas heaters in back. There was a small oyster bar location as well, which seemed to be our speed, but the place was full up.
There was a place to play billiards and video games, and all of the locations allowed smoking, which was something we had not seen anywhere on our trip.
Seville Quarter really is a sight to see, with gates from the governor's mansion in New Orleans, chandeliers from England, French doors also from New Orleans, brick flooring from a theater in Pensacola, old train station benches, bar stools from an 1870s café, ship's doors, the list goes on and on. It's really quite stunning, and seemed to be the place to be as the night wore on, more and more people piled in.

The next morning, StfRon said he could go for a good everything bagel. Remembering our search for restaurants the night before, I had seen a place called Bagelheads. We found our way there and each ordered a bagel with veggie cream cheese. The coffee of choice was Seattle's Best. The counter staff warms and butters up the bagels, then delivers them to the tables. These bagels were slathered with about an inch of cream cheese. There was so much, we went in search of knives to scrape some off. The bagels were good, but not quite as good as our local coffee shop's offering.

Another dining place of note was in Louisiana, Ponchatoula, to be exact, called Hi-Ho #2. The restaurant touted burgers and BBQ.
Don't go, unless you like really weird BBQ pork sandwiches. I don't know what the deal was with the BBQ, but it was odd. Watery, thin sliced pork without a hint of sweetness or vinegar. The only thing I can come up with is that it might have just been some creole seasoning, and not a typical barbecue base. After a couple of bites, I started to wonder if it was gator and not pork.

Our last meal in Memphis was at Coletta's Restaurant.
I saw Coletta's listed on the Food Network's web site, and it is also Memphis' oldest restaurant. They also claim to be the home to Elvis' favorite pizza, the BBQ pizza.
There are two locations, but we chose the original 1923 location. The restaurant was probably quite nice in it's heyday, however the floors and ceiling could use some real work now.
We both decided to try pizza, but not the Elvis special. I had an Italian spinach pizza and StfRon went with sausage.
The pizzas were very good, with a nice crisp crust and salty, buttery browned cheese on top. The spinach pizza was covered with tons of spinach, so much so that I started pulling it off after a while.

On the road again, we drove through Osceola, Arkansas looking for a place to have some breakfast. We ended up going back to the first place we had driven by, after passing through the rest of town and finding nothing interesting open, the Cotton Inn. It wasn't much to look at from the outside. The inside was sort of 1980s style, but clean.
Our friendly waitress greeted us, and I ordered grits, toast, bacon and a scrambled egg, plus a cup of coffee. StfRon went for biscuits and gravy and toast with eggs over easy.
The coffee was good, which is always a plus in my book. The bacon strips were some of the longest strips of bacon I've ever seen, and were very savory.
This meal set us back about $14 before tip.

After all of this, it's nice to be home. Right now we've vowed not to travel anywhere new for quite some time, but it seems like our memory usually fades, so who knows. In any case, it's always an experience.

Road trip

We recently went to Milwaukee for a short getaway. We try to make it up there a few times a year, and one of our traditions while in town is to hit the Alterra Coffee, on Lincoln Memorial Drive along the lakefront.
Alterra is a local coffee roaster, and this location utilizes an old river flushing station to house a neat coffee shop and storefront.
Alterra roasts some varieties of Fair Trade Certified coffee, on top of working in an eco-friendly manner. Using recycled materials, geothermal climate control, and renewable energy, Alterra stands out for its conservation efforts. They have also recently become part of a local business alliance, which you can find out more about here.
I've enjoyed things like baked oatmeal, granola, breakfast burritos and fresh squeezed orange juice here, in addition to great coffee.
This time I was thinking they needed to speed up the coffee serving production line, but when I was served this artistic cuppa joe, I changed my mind. Very nice.

On our way back through Illinois, we stopped to look for some lunch. We took an exit into Rochelle and passed up the Iron Skillet. We ended up stopping at an older place called The Country School restaurant, which featured a red school house sign. The food was standard fast food fare, and our server informed us that they are known for the chicken and cole slaw, but we had already ordered burgers and onion rings.
The burgers were good, and as I sat and enjoyed mine, I started out the window at the new McDonalds next door and was pleased to see several cars drive in to The Country School drive-thru lane, even at 2:30 in the afternoon on a week day.

On our way back to the Interstate, I spotted Vince the chef of Vince's Pizza, and we drove by to check him out. Old Vince looked a little scared on this cloudy day, but looks like he serves up a big pizza pie.

Live blogging Iowa City

This weekend took us to Iowa City, and right now we are sitting in the Hamburg Inn No. 2, Iowa City's oldest family restaurant, recommended to us by our friend Minney.
The little place was packed when we got here, so we are sitting at the counter, starting at boards listing menu items. The shakes & malts board caught my attention, with the choice of vanilla, chocolate, coffee, butterscotch, strawberry, blueberry, cherry, pineapple, orange, lemon and maple. We placed our order for a butterscotch malt.
The back wall of the Hamburg Inn, established in 1948, is covered with political advertisements and memorabilia.
For lunch, I had to try the sweet potato pancakes, so I ordered just one, and a California burger, topped with cheese, avacado and pico de gallo.
StfRon went with a bacon cheeseburger, fries and chips. The chips are homemade, toasty brown, and pretty good. The burgers served here are 1/2 pounders.
The sweet potato pancake is huge, enough to almost cover a dinner plate. The sweet potato and spice flavor is subtle, at first I thought it was an ordinary pancake, but it's very good.
This butterscotch malt is awesome. I might have to make several more trips here to to get my fill!
OK, gotta finish my meal. Although, a bonus is, blogging while eating means I'm eating more slowly, and will probably get full before I finish my meal. Hmm, live blogging = diet strategy?

'Burbs dining round up

This week we had the opportunity for a little travel to the suburbs, so we sampled some local fare in the Chicago area.
On the evening we arrived, we headed for the Fondue Stube, 2717 W. Peterson Avenue in Chicago. We had dined there almost 7 years ago when we first started dating.
I remembered the decor being a little different, kind of 1980s living room with silk plants, sponge paint and the addition of red and green lights lining archways in the room. The theme is also classical, including the music, some of the artwork and the names of the menu selections, like Sinfonia Eroica.
The last time we were in, I think we went with the Sinfonia Eroica, a three-part meal including a cheese fondue served with bread cubes and apple chunks; beef fondue with vegetables and dipping sauces; and a fudge fondue for dessert, served with fruit and cake. The thing I remember from that visit was that we were not overly impressed with the fudge fondue, but we had a nice time.
Several years later finds us more the fondue aficionados (we have swiss fondue about once a month at home), so this time we went straight for the cheese: one order of cheddar fondue and one order of swiss, with the promise of a dessert fondue as well. Each pot of cheese fondue was $17, with dessert priced at $9 each. The cheese fondues are also available in half orders.
We were surprised when salads were served to us, as we didn't realize we would get them. The salads were well above most garden salads served to us at home, filled with dark leafy greens, a large carrot slice, a tomato wedge and a cucumber wedge and some red cabbage, accompanied by garlic bread and a dressing caddy at the table with Bleu cheese, creamy Italian and white French dressing.
Next came our pots of cheese fondue, set on their own flame in front of us, and each of us received our own basket of bread cubes and a nicely-arranged set of apple chunks. The fondue was a little mild for our cheesy palates, and also seemed a bit oily. Both had a nice garlic flavor. I was surprised to find that I preferred the cheddar to the swiss, so much so that I finished the whole pot, with a little help from StfRon.
After all of that, and after waiting a few minutes for our server to have a chance to come back, we decided to pass on trying the caramel dessert fondue.
Our server was pleasant and the other gentleman working was johnny on the spot with the water pitcher.
The Fondue Stube is a small, local restaurant, a bit off the beaten path. It's not the best food we've ever had, but we have enjoyed our visit each time we've been in.
Tuesdays and Thursdays they feature scallops, fish and chicken for your fondue enjoyment.
The also seem to believe in advertising and coupons, so be sure to check online if you decide to go. We've saved money with coupons and offers each time.

The next morning, we were in search of a local place to have some breakfast near Elk Grove Village. We settled on the Rose Garden Café, 111 E. Higgins Road in Elk Grove Village. There were several cars in the parking lot, even at almost 9 a.m. on a weekday, so we thought it might be a good choice.
There were some nice plants and rose bushes landscaping the front of the restaurant.
Stepping inside, I was pleased to see that the decor was not outdated, like many local family restaurants can tend to be. This restaurant had some nice wall treatments and a pleasant atmosphere. Which was broken shortly by some moron who had a missed call ringtone bleating out of his phone every two minutes. Everyone in the dining room, including the hostess, who was busily rolling silverware in cloth napkins, kept looking around each time this blast would go off, but no one seemed to be acting responsible for the noise. Finally, after about six instances of this missed call sounder, our hostess seemed to have narrowed the culprit down and walked over to a booth. She said something the man sitting there about his phone, and he said "Oh, yeah," and turned the phone off. Thank goodness for her boldness. Now we could enjoy our dining experience!
I perused the breakfast menu, hoping for something like granola or some similarly healthy dish, but nothing jumped out at me. I was pleased to see they offered crepes, and what a selection they had! There must have been eight types of crepes available, along with specialties like cinnamon roll French toast, pancakes and other goodies.
I decided to have a cafe latte, a bowl of oatmeal and a side of corned beef hash. I love a good plate of corned beef hash, with the edges cooked until they are nice and crispy. Plus, the meaty dish has a little more staying power than a sugary breakfast.
StfRon likes breakfast with eggs over medium and toast to dip them in, plus potatoes and corned beef hash, so he found a special that included all of this for one price.
Our food came out very quickly. The oatmeal was served with little containers of milk, cinnamon, raisins and brown sugar, which was great. We both loved the corned beef hash.
Our waitress was friendly and efficient, and the hostess was also very nice when we cashed out.
I noticed while we were paying that the Rose Garden Cafe also does banquets and catering.

After this filling meal, which tided me over 'til after 2 p.m., I did some shopping, and ended up at Oakbrook Center. I struck out on early Christmas gifts, but I was surprised to see the Christkindlmarket setting up in the mall courtyard. These German Christmas market booths will be at Oakbrook Center from October 26-November 11. November 23 the market will open in Daley Plaza. StfRon and I have begun a tradition of trying to go every year or two, and we always have a good time.

We didn't make it to any local shops, unfortunately, but before we made it all the way home, we did hit another local restaurant for a late lunch.
This place was dubbed the Doggie Diner, 457 N. Weber Road in Romeoville, chosen because StfRon was in da mood for some dawgs. And also because our GPS said it was called Peepers dogs, so we thought it would be funny to take a picture of a Peepers sign for my blog. Alas, there was no sign of Peepers once we got there.
The restaurant had a large selection of specials on the board. I was a little overwhelmed by the choices. What was a chicken wrap? Did they have Chicago dogs? Rather than stand and grill the guy all day, I asked what a pizza puff was. He said it was like a hot pocket, so I went with the two pizza puff special, served with fries. StfRon ordered chili dogs and onion rings.
The chili dogs were OK, but the chili was not as meaty as he would have liked.
The pizza puffs were almost exactly like a toaster strudel filled with pizza sauce and sausage, with some cheese thrown in. They were actually quite tasty. One of them even made it home and survived being in the car with our dog. It should make a nice lunch.

Labor Day weekend road trip

Over Labor Day weekend, we decided to head to Michigan City, IN. One of the big draws to the area is the Lighthouse Place outlets, and the other is lovely Lake Michigan, with Michigan City being home to a couple of lighthouses.

As far as businesses local to Michigan City, we hit the quaint, wooden shotgun house area of 4th-7th streets near the outlet mall for the Golden Leaf Cigar Shop and Lange's Old Fashion Meat Market.
The cigar shop has a room in back where three men were sitting on leather couches smoking and watching TV. Made me wonder if Peoria would soon have establishments of the same sort.
The brothers at Lange's meat market were quite the characters...one of them actually claims to have dated a girl from Chillicothe and spent time in Chillicothe, but never Peoria. The shop has sawdust on the floor, and great smoked-on-site meats sitting uncovered in dishes along the top of the meat case. Ahh...Indiana knows how to do things the old fashioned way! There is even a side of bacon hanging on the back wall that one of the brothers claims is three years old.
Alas, when we were in, they were out of bacon to sell, so we ended up with a couple of smoked pork chops. They made an excellent dinner Monday night, with some white acorn squash we picked up from the Third Sunday Market in Bloomington.
We also stopped into the Banyan Tree boutique, which was filled with brightly-colored clothing and some gift items. The lady working in the shop was chatting with us and asking how our summer was and what we had done, so I told her we had gotten married. She nicely insisted on giving me a packet of bubble bath from Germany to celebrate the wedding. It was a nice surprise! She also said this shop closes in September, and reopens in May and that the proprietor buys a lot of merchandise from Italy, in small numbers, so that you won't likely see someone with the same shirt or bag as you walking around.

After the outlet mall and downtown area, we headed to Washington Park in Michigan City to check out the lighthouse. The place was packed with their Labor Dayz Festival. We paid our $6 to get in to the park, then walked the long, sandy walk to the beach. Once we hit the shore, we rolled up our pants and took off our shoes and walked in the surf along the shore toward the lighthouse.
After cleaning the sand from our feet and putting our shoes back on, we headed into the arts and crafts/carnival area of the festival. Nothing too exciting there.

On our way out of town, we took US 20 so we could pass by a BBQ joint we had seen on our way into town, Smokey's Southern Barbecue. The neon pig in the window beckoned us in.
The place is small, holding only about six retro formica tables, but the decor is quaint and cozy. I actually loved the way this place was decorated. For a wainscoting, they had used corrugated metal, and had touches of wood throughout, including wood floors. The bathroom was sort of half an outhouse built against one wall of the restaurant. StfRon didn't believe it was real, and had to pull the door open and check it out.
We both ordered pulled pork sandwiches and cole slaw. The slaw wasn't the best I've ever had. The pork was good and juicy, but probably not as good as some we've tried in Memphis. After staring at the dessert board and pie stand while we ate, we tried the desserts, peach cobbler and chocolate pecan pie. Again, not the best we've ever had, but the place was neat, service was good and we were glad we made the stop.
After we went outside, we got out the camera for some pictures, and an older couple came out of Smokey's with their carryout. The wife said, incredulously, "You're taking pictures of SMOKEY'S???" Hey, lady, this place is coooool.

This trip made us want to spend more time in Michigan City, since we only had the day. We want to check out more of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, the zoo, and much more. We hope to make it back soon.

Ohio and Indiana

We mostly blew through Ohio, but did stop to see the house where some filming for A Christmas Story was completed. It was fun. I'll have to see what I recognize next time I watch the movie.

We made it right across the border into Indiana to stay Sunday night. We arrived at 9 p.m. and saw the sign for our hotel lounge, which looked promising, and was noted to be open until 11 p.m. Wrong. The clerk told us they had just closed.
We decided to go buy a bottle of wine and stay in. We hit Kroger and picked one out just as they were closing. We stood in line behind a couple buying some stuff and cigarettes, and they had to debate which cigarettes to buy. Once they were satisfied and told the total, then they starting writing out their check. There were about 10 people behind us at this point, and of course this was the only checkout lane open.
Finally, our turn. Wrong. Apparently in Indiana you cannot purchase booze on Sundays. So we got our ibuprofen and gum and slunk back to our hotel.

Pennsylvania

On the way to Pennsylvania, we stopped for lunch at a diner along the Interstate, the Blue Colony Diner in CT. This huge building is a newer diner. I tried the spinach pie here, but it was no match for the Quay Street Brewing Company. I also had a cup of lemon chicken soup with orzo. This was different, and very lemony.

We were shocked by the beauty of Pennsylvania. The hills, mountains and trees are just stunning along the Interstate.
We stopped in Scranton and thought we might see the welcome sign from the beginning of The Office TV show, but no go. We went to the mall, and it was pretty heavy with teenagers.
We were hungry and thought we wouldn't be able to wait to get to Williamsport, where we would spend the night, so we hit a place called Blackbeard's Cove in Bloomgsburg, a slightly nautical themed restaurant. I guess they're known for seafood in the area. I had the flounder dipped in egg and prepared with lemon and white wine. It was quite good. The sides were OK.
StfRon chose the prime rib. The place was pretty desolate on a Saturday night at 6 p.m., and this may be normal, as we later found out that on Saturdays the prime rib is cooked ahead and cooled, then warmed when someone orders it. StfRon had ordered it medium rare, and the steak came out with no pink visible. He asked if there was a more rare piece, and the cook came out and explained the situation. He said he would do his best, and did send out a piece that had a hint of pink, but it was not as tender as most prime ribs are served.
They obviously don't have a lot of call for prime rib Saturdays, so they are trying to keep food costs down.
Our waitress was friendly and prompt. And the cook did check back to make sure we were doing OK.

After checking into our hotel at Williamsport, we were given a recommendation to visit Franco's Lounge for cocktails. This small restaurant/lounge was retro and fun. And they also said they allow smoking after 9:30 p.m., something missing from our trip thus far. No one had allowed smoking anywhere else we had been, and StfRon likes to smoke a cigar now and then.
Franco's had a decent selection of wines, and at 9:30 they broke out several hookahs, strange smoking contraptions filled with sweet smelling tobacco. A few people tried them, but no one was going to town. The smoke did smell nice.
We also talked to a gent sitting at the bar who told us a bit about the area. The lumber trade in the area in the early 1900s made a large number of people in Williamsport millionaires. There is a five block stretch of beautiful millionaire homes downtown. Actually, the whole downtown is quite neat, having preserved many old buildings for new uses. There's even a nightclub in an old stone prison, appropriately dubbed the Cell Block.
Williamsport is also apparently the founding area of the Little League, and they host the world championship each year.

New Hampshire and Maine

Our first night, we took a recommendation from our hotel and had dinner at the Barley House in Concord, NH.
Our waiter started us out with some crispy breadsticks and pretzel sticks and a small dish of hummus to dip them in. Interesting, and good.
For dinner I tried the parmesan crusted chicken with marsala marinara. Awesome and cheesy.
After a debate with the waiter, StfRon braved the ribs. Being a picky rib gourmand, he proclaimed them very good.
During conversation with the waiter, it had come up that we were in the area on our honeymoon. Near the end of our dinner, he delivered us a small bottle of champagne and two toasting glasses. It was a nice, appreciated touch.

The next morning, we headed a bit outside of Portsmouth to see the lighthouse. We could actually see three from here.
We then drove into Maine. We stopped in York to see Nubble lighthouse. The weather was gorgeous while we were there. The lighthouse was majestic upon it's rocky perch.
We hit The Pilot House restaurant in Kennebunk for lunch and StfRon finally tried some fish. He had the haddock, blackened. I had crab cakes, which were very good. I thought tarter sauce sounded a little lame to top them with, but this was the best tartar sauce I've ever had; not the same old Illinois tarter.

For dinner, we were able to hit another restaurant I have been to before: The Common Man. There are several of these in New Hampshire, the first opened in 1971, and both times I have eaten there (at the Concord location) I have been fully impressed.
The restaurant is in a large, barn-style building.
We were told there was a half hour wait, so we headed upstairs to the lounge. The bartender there was a friendly chap, and encouraged us to go ahead and eat at the bar if we liked. We decided "why not"?
We started with the brie portabella, a large mushroom stuffed with brie and topped with apple glaze and candied walnuts, then warmed. Excellent.
For dinner, I was torn between a special of prime rib topped with two shrimp scampi, or the pork tenderloin, with honey bacon vinaigrette served on a bed of beet greens and topped with salsa. I asked the bartender, and he recommended the pork, which was also $6 less than the special. The pork was succulent and juicy and I enjoyed every bite. It was also served with orzo.
StfRon chose the regular prime rib, sans scampi. He pronounced it perfectly prepared and delicious.
We did partake in dessert, StfRon the creme brulee duo: white chocolate and regular, and I the white chocolate bread pudding.
On our way out, I also noticed the crackers and dips by the front entrance, which we had missed. What a great treat to offer people while they wait! I had to snag a sample of at least one. It was a dip made from cottage cheese and some type of vinegar and oil with herbs. Very nice.
The staff was wonderful. Each time we considered a new wine, they would offer us a sample, and StfRon got to sample the port as well.

New York State & Massachusetts

We've had a lot of road time the past few days.
New York state provided us with free Wi-Fi along the thruway, which was great. Why can't Illinois do this? Tack on a small tax for all items purchased at Illinois Interstate oases and pay for public Wi-Fi.

Wednesday afternoon we hit Rochester, NY and went in search of the Highland Park Diner, an original 1948 art-deco styled diner. The place was cool, the service friendly and the food was good. We even tried the apple pie because apparently Conde Nast voted in best apple pie a few years back. It was good, but I won't say it was the best apple pie I've ever had.
We then searched out the Old Toad in town, an English pub where all the employees speak with British accents. That, combined with the decor, really makes you feel like you stepped out of the US.

Wednesday night we stayed in East Greenbush, NY. We went in search of dinner rather late. Due to a recommendation from our hotel, we ended up at Moscatiello's in Troy, NY.
Mama mia! We enjoyed a bottle of Cigarzin wine with our dinner and ordered a Neopolitan pizza, my half with basil and garlic and StfRon's half with homemade sausage and onions. This pie was wonderful!
They also ployed us with homemade bread loaves and we chose to try the bruschetta, which was good, but not the best we've ever had.
We stuffed ourselves silly on this pizza pie.
The decor reminded me a bit of 1980's style or Florida style, but the food and service was great.

On to Massachusetts, and we had to hit one of my chains, Legal Seafoods. We arrived around lunchtime, and I was dismayed to see that the grilled everything tuna was not on the menu. I tried the salmon instead, and it was very good. I've not had salmon in a long time, due to some bad salmon samplings, but this was primo.

Our next foray is into New Hampshire.

Michigan and Canada

We made it through Michigan and into Canada.
Sunday night we hit Mackinaw City, and Monday took the ferry to Mackinac Island. It really does smell like horse manure and fudge all over this island.
We managed to find a geocache after much walking, and we were kicking ourselves for not renting bikes.
We then hit the Pink Pony for lunch, recommended by some friends. I had the BBQ pork sandwich, with a mustard-based sauce, accompanied by the cucumber salad. The pork was good but the salad was a little watery. I also had a creme brulee martini to wash things down with.
While waiting for our food, which took a while, we found out that a regatta race was headed to the island, which would pack the place, so we grabbed a slice of fudge from Ryba's and hit the ferry.
On the ride back, we got a better view of the Round Island lighthouse. What a pretty day!

Monday night we spent in Port Huron. Our hotel recommended the Quay Street Brewing Company, so we headed down there. We were seated on the deck, and enjoyed dinner there. I ordered the spinach pie, wrapped in phyllo dough. It was wonderful, filled with feta and ricotta cheese. StfRon ordered the fish and chips, two huge planks of fish. He could only eat part of one.
Nearby, we noticed a place called the Vintage Tavern. We went inside, and found a new bar, with an emphasis on wine. They feature flights of wine, small glasses of four wines set in a nice tiered rack for $7. The wine features change from time-to-time. I tried the red wine flight. All the wines were excellent. The food menu here also looked very interesting, but the kitchen was closed, and we had also just eaten.
We spoke to a guy seated at the bar who worked at the Coney Island in Port Huron. He said they have a great breakfast, so we checked it out Tuesday morning. StfRon liked the idea of hot dogs for breakfast. He had the coney dogs. I tried a bite, and it was very good, with a nice snap to the skin of the dog. I had a combo breakfast with eggs, sausage, ham, bacon, toast and potatoes. The prices were great and while we were there, the place really started bustling. The one waitress and cook were doing a bang up job.

After that, it was off to Ontario. A quick pass through at the border, and we were off.
We found a geocache near a park & ride parking lot to dump off the Canadian Jeep travel bug.
Lunch was crappy, Harvey's burgers. I'll have to check into them. Their slogan is It's a Beautiful Thing, which suspiciously reminded me of Blimpie. I did not like the meat in this burger at all.
Once we hit Niagara Falls in Ontario, StfRon was hooked. The falls were beautiful. And the tourist area abounds with haunted houses and wax museums and arcades and more (oh, my!). So, we decided to spend the night. We booked a room and noticed a cool looking German restaurant across from our hotel, the Happy Wanderer. We headed there for dinner. Our service was rather slow, and we were disappointed to see that they did not have a bar, though they did have alcohol. Our food was plentiful, good and hot.
After that, we went looking for someplace to have a drink near the hotel. This brought us into the casino attached to the Renaissance/Hilton. We walked through the casino, and StfRon said he had never been in a casino before. I said, "What about the Par-a-Dice" and he said that didn't count.
This casino was crystal clear — no smoking here. You can see from wall to wall with no haze blocking your view. I also noticed a hint of vanilla in the air, which I had heard will make you want to spend more money. We weren't interested in gambling, though. We headed to the 365 lounge in the back, and had a drink there.
The next morning, we went in search of breakfast. Our hotel had a restaurant that was advertising a $7.99 buffet, so we headed there. There was a line out the door.
Outside, we saw a restaurant with a banner for a $6.99 buffet. The buffet was outdoors and seagulls were flying around. The steam tables were covered, but StfRon balked at the idea that a seagull could crap on the food.
Across the street, we saw a Perkins advertising $5.99 breakfasts. We headed there, and sat outdoors. We found no sign of the $5.99 breakfasts, and ended up not even asking about it. The cheapest breakfast on the menu was close to $8. We ended up having eggs benedict and French toast with two tiny orange juices that cost us $35 before tip! WTF?? For that price, there'd better be some champagne in the OJ.
That pretty much cashed out Canada. New York, here we come!

We pulled it off!

Yes, we're hitched! The Big Fun Wisconsin Wedding is behind us. As StfRon's brother-in-law put it, we pulled it off!
Despite some bumps along the way, everything went wonderfully. The weather cooperated beautifully.
We hightailed it north to the UP Sunday afternoon. Along the way, we decided to stop for some take out, and what could be more appropriate than pasties? We found a restaurant called Rosies At Tylenes along our route and ordered two pasties and two iced teas.
It took probably 15 minutes for the pasties to be prepared. And man, were they huge! The nice, flaky pastry was filled with beef, carrots, potatoes and rootabagas and was piping hot, served with a side of brown gravy and creamy cole slaw. We ended up sharing one since they were so large.
The service was very friendly and the restaurant had older decor, a nice hangout for the locals or a quick bite. Plus, the free Wi-Fi was a great bonus.

Wisconsin adventures

Last weekend sent us to the Milwaukee area on a quest to get a marriage license so we can get hitched next month. We love the area and always have a good time.
On our way up Saturday night, we were too hungry to make it to Janesville (StfRon's choice for Shakey's) or Milwaukee for dinner, so we got off the Interstate in what looked to be promising, Beloit. We soon realized we have made this mistake before. We drove and drove, looking for something other than Dairy Queens, Arby's and the like, and finally ended up down by the river.
Just as we were about to turn around and go back to the Interstate, I spotted a place called Domenico's Italian Restaurant. We wheeled in to give it a try.
The decor was pleasantly surprising; not your average family restaurant, which is kind of the appearance the place gives from outside, but a more Tuscan feel.
Since we wanted to get back on the road quickly, we chose the buffet. There was a good variety of food on the buffet. I partook of the olive bar with two more upscale types of olives than your average olives; beef stroganoff and noodles; pizza with green olives, sausage and onion; Hawaiian pizza; and salad including a nice tomato and onion salad topped with vinegar and herbs.
Once I tried the stroganoff, one of my favorites from childhood, I wished that was all I had filled my plate with. It was very good. But, the Hawaiian pizza was also very good, topped with a quality Italian cheese.
We also split a tiramisu for dessert, good, but not very boozy. Hey, I like boozy!

After we checked into our hotel, we moseyed out to see what was going on. Apparently a lot of exposure. At first we skipped the Miller Time bar, which was closest. There was some chick at the bar wearing a dress, and she had her bare feet up on the bar stool she was sitting on. Imagine a frog-type pose. It was a little disconcerting.
We stopped in to a place called Mo's Irish Pub. There was a band playing rather loudly, but it was decent music. We settled in at the bar, and after we'd had a drink, some guy came in and took off his shirt and belt, and appeared to be contemplating taking off his jeans as well. Time to go back to Miller Time. The crotch-bearing chick was gone, so we took a seat and had some drinks.

Sunday, we went to one of our favorite spots, Alterra by the Lake for coffee and pastries. I had an espresso cookie that was awesome. StfRon opted for a sour cream muffin, and we got a raspberry scone to go. I noticed that they had t-shirts made in the USA (by none other than the American Apparel Store) for sale, however, the sizes we wanted were a little out of stock, and there was a line out the door by the time I was interested in buying one. Have to hit it next time.
Not only do they carry made in USA clothing, they also use sustainable energy, which is a neat thing.
We later went to the public market in the historic third ward for some shopping. StfRon tried some cave-aged cheddar at the West Allis Cheese & Sausage Shoppe and had to have some. At $25/pound, it's a luxury.
We went to the Wicked Hop to meet our wedding photographers. Nice people. I finally got to try the bloody mary. These things are stocked with a beef stick, a huge green olive stuffed with bleu cheese (yuck), and lots of yummy string cheese curls. I also tried an eggs benedict made with crab cakes. Very good, but the hollandaise sauce tasted more like butter than hollandaise.

Sunday night, we decided to try Miss Katie's Diner for dinner. Rachael Ray did $40 a Day here once, but that's not why we came. We headed to the bar area to work up an appetite, and there were several Italian guys and a couple of gals hanging out there smoking stogies and talking about their family. It was interesting to watch.
We headed back to the dining room and ordered the ribs, cole slaw and hash browns, all of which the waitress said they are known for. The hash browns were very crispy and good. The ribs were tender, but I prefer a sweeter sauce, myself. The slaw was slaw. I still can't get past the slaw from Stuart Anderson's from a visit several years ago, and the slaw from Jim Neeley's Interstate BBQ in Memphis.
The diner is neat, though. The bartender said it is only about 20 years old, but you would guess it has been around since at least the 50s.

We then went in search of the Landmark 1850, the oldest tavern in Milwaukee. This place was neat; lots of history here. We also noticed some newer touches, but overall it was great to see.
Since we were here, we asked where the Port of Hamburg was, a German bar StfRon had read about. The waitress pointed out the window to a blue and white house next door. We headed there next.
They had a buffet set out for Father's Day, and several times people told us to help ourselves. I went for some fruit. Then, the bartender said there was Rouladen. We had to try it, so we got a couple of pieces. Now, I suppose maybe Rouladen means roll of meat or something, but traditionally you find it stuffed with pickles and carrots. This was filled with a white cheese and basil. Surprising, but not bad. Still, I didn't feel like I had really had Rouladen.
This bar had many, many German beers on tap. The decor is not much to write about, but if you're up for German draft beer, you might want to check it out.

We also checked out the new Hofbrauhaus Munich bar, the Old German Beer Hall. It's pretty neat, and did remind us somewhat of Germany, with a Munich-inspired beer garden out front and the long bench tables inside for dining. I had a big mug of the Hofbrau Original, which turned out to be a little bitter for my liking, but not intolerable.

Monday, we made our normal stop at the Pick 'n Save Metro Market to fill our cooler with fresh sausages and fresh-squeezed orange juice (why does no one in Peoria sell fresh-squeezed OJ?). The chalkboard count of fresh produce for the day was 719.
Sucking down a bottle of OJ, we headed to the Racine County Courthouse to apply for our marriage license. The courthouse is old, and unattended. We didn't have to pass a metal detector, or any security guards to get it. We were wandering around on our own trying to find our way.
The lady who helped with our application was very nice. And we passed!!
Next, off to find Frank's Diner in Kenosha. We had seen this place on Diner's, Drive-Ins and Dives. Frank's Diner, a true dining car, was pulled into place by six horses in 1926.
There are several signs and notices in Frank's warning you that service can be slow. I don't think slow quite covered it for the day we were in. I didn't consider it to be terribly busy. We waited probably 30 minutes for a chocolate malt, about 30 more for StfRon's burger (which was actually meant for someone else who apparently walked out) and about 15 more for someone to dish up some sloppy joe and cole slaw for me. I had also ordered the Hungarian mushroom soup, but they ran out before we got our order. The food was good, and it was neat to see this institution. We're glad we visited now, rather than our original plan of having people meet us the day after the wedding for breakfast at Frank's. Not only would they not have had seating for our group, I think some people would have been upset by how long it would take to eat, when they would probably rather be on the road heading home. BTW, they also gave us part of our food for free and apologized for things, even though we did not complain. Other people were complaining loudly, so we kept our mouths shut.

All in all, another fun trip to the Milwaukee area. And we saw a bimbo, to boot (it seemed to be a Mexican bread truck)!