Bet'cha didn't know I just went on a trip to Wisconsin, did'ja? No, you didn't. Unless you did. Anyway, I'm back now, with all the juicy details. Or something. Oh, and if you read my topic at the PA!Forums, it's just the same thing as over there. I'm lazy. So sue me.
Day One: A LaCrosse By Any Other Name
We, uhhh, got on the road. And drove. About halfway between Minneapolis and LaCrosse, I turned on my MP3 player. And then we got to LaCrosse. We explored the area around our hotel by foot (seeing how we got the best parking spot at the hotel and didn't want to give it up), and then my mom and sister parted ways with me and my dad to go to the O-Town concert. I played Nintendo 64 in the hotel for an hour (mostly Mario Tennis, which rocks, and Super Smash Brothers, which sucks). We then ordered the Internet (they had a WebTV type setup), but, alas, it didn't work. So I grabbed a magazine about the LaCrosse area, and found a zoo about six or so blocks from the hotel. We go down the elevator, and I hear my sister and her loud voice carrying down the hall. A few seconds later, there she and my mom are. We discuss our plans for the evening, they discuss O-Town, we leave. Off we walk. And walk. And walk. We come across a cemetary. That lasts six blocks. Before breaking for a county road. And then continues. At that point, we had walked enough, and turned back. Once we finally get to the block our hotel is on, there's my sister and mom again, fresh off eating dinner. We part ways quicker this time, because me and my dad are starving. We were going to eat at Buffalo Bill's Flying Carp Cafe, but there was a 30 minute wait. We went across the street to The Ringside. Ate. After that, we saw the LaCrosse trolley coming down the street, so we hopped on. We saw the sights (what few there are) of LaCrosse for only a dollar. We then ate ice cream (I had the very odd cotton candy ice cream in a waffle cone, while I think my dad had vanilla or chocolate or something), and went back to the hotel. In the hotel room, we had a sock fight until my mom and sister came back. Then we slept. Oh. And of the signs and what have you in LaCrosse, more of them said LaCrosse rather than La Crosse, although it was close.
Day Two: Boring, Nothing Day
We checked out of the hotel and went to a resturant, where, upon getting out of the van, I slammed the door on my sister's face. Good times.
Anyway, we drove the van the exact route we took when we walked to the zoo. 7.2 miles. In 50 minutes. Not bad, no? We then actually went to the zoo, which was pretty nice. We then headed out of town for Milwaukee. Got there around 6:30. Got to our friends' house. Promptly learned their computer was on the fritz. Oh well. Turned on the Twins/Brewers game. Twins lost, alas. Went out to get custard, the Milwaukee specialty. Very good, 'cept my first cone broke and got all over my pants and my dad's back (I shouldn't have tried to save it, but, rather, let it drop). Sleep. On the floor. So not really sleep.
Day Three: Exploring Milwaukee, Miller Park
Woke up. Breakfast, cooked by my parents' friend, Mike, on their deck outside. Nice scrambled egg/hamburger/onion/cheese thing. And rolls. We then went to the Milwaukee Art Festival down by Lake Michigan, which was nice except it rained the night before so the ground was all mud. The art was meh. Back to the house to regroup. My dad and Mike went out to buy food for the tailgating party before the game. Steaks. Big, fifteen dollar steaks. And corn on the cob. And chicken salad. And coleslaw. And pasta salad. All of it was excellent. We ate and ate and then went from the parking lot to the stadium. There were probably more Twins fans than Brewer fans at the game, which meant more people went home happy as the Twins won. And the stadium? A beauty. Puts the Metrodome to shame. And when they opened the roof? Pure baseball ecstacy. Does Minnesota need an outdoor stadium? God yes.
Day Four: Baseball, Redux and Leaving Milwaukee
I wanted to go back to Miller Park. I had to. I offered to pay for the tickets myself. I got my way. Just me and my dad this time. I bought the best seats in the house. $35 a ticket, but well worth every penny. We sat in section 115, row 14 (which is like row one at the Dome). 115 is like looking right down the left field line. Great seats. Dome open. Wonderful day for baseball. Twins won, making them 2-1 in the series (and, thus, winning the series). In the last half inning, it started to rain. After the game, we (and most every Twins fan, but no Brewers fans) watched the dome close, which was cooler than it sounds. All the Brewers fans walked to their cars in the rain. When we got out of the stadium, the rain had passed. Oh. And I got a Olympian Ben Sheets Bobblehead, which is very cool.
We got back to the house, packed up and left for Madison, Wisconsin, where we'd stay the night. In Madison, we ate at a place called Ella's Deli. This place was amazing. It was covered from head to toe with toys that'd move and do all kinds of things. Our table had a train inside of it that ran around it's track. And the food was good too. Found a hotel. Sleep.
Day Five: Home Again
Checked out of the hotel, onto the highway. Drove to the Wisconsin Dells, our final stop on our magical mystery Wisconsin tour (or something). Went to the Wax Museum of the Stars!, which we had skipped on a previous Dells trip a couple years back. It should have stayed skipped. Most of the wax sculptures were bad. We then went over to a Go-Kart racing place and did some Go-Kart racing. Good times.
And then we drove home. Yeah. That's about it. Not a great trip, certainly not our best ever, but fun none the less. And the Twins won. So it's all good.
