La Crosse Oktoberfest: Beer and Car Flipping

La Crosse Oktoberfest: Beer and Car Flipping

La Crosse’s Oktoberfest is a big deal. There’s music, a parade, carnival games, brats, and fried cheese curds along with beer, drinking games, a golden keg, debauchery, and destruction. Destruction? Yes. Cars get flipped. It’s a tradition. There seems to be some agreement that the 

This Is How You Taco

This Is How You Taco

We’ve had an awesome run of Mexican food lately. We even returned to Eau Claire, Wisconsin to get some of our favorite tacos from our trip. All this good food has made us wonder: Why do some places serve terrible tacos when great ones are 

“Direct” Flight to London

“Direct” Flight to London

We wanted a direct flight when flying to London, didn’t want to transfer. Of course, no flight is truly direct. Here’s what we went through to get from A (Lake Geneva, WI, USA) to B (London, England, UK). Drive to Harvard, IL (40 minutes) Our 

Fueling up for London

Fueling up for London

We had just under three weeks between our last day in the mountains and our flight to London. We spent it all, seemingly, eating. Here’s where we ended up: The Best Lunch Deal in Kansas City at Extra Virgin Happy Hour at Extra Virgin in 

Wisconsin Drinks a lot of Korbel Brandy

Wisconsin Drinks a lot of Korbel Brandy

Fun fact: Wisconsin drinks 1/3 of all the brandy Korbel makes: “Wisconsin is our number one state,” says Margie Healy, director of public relations for the California-based Korbel. “We export 385,000 cases a year, and 139,000 go directly to Wisconsin. That’s one-third of our total 

Spicy Snot Wings at Red Rock Saloon, Milwaukee

Spicy Snot Wings at Red Rock Saloon, Milwaukee

We’re at Red Rock Saloon in Milwaukee with our friends Archibald and Bunny and two other friends (names have been changed to protect the innocent). Archibald and Bunny like spicy food.  They like it so much that they grew habanero peppers this summer and have 

Queen Jennie Sorghum Whiskey | Old Sugar Distillery, Madison, Wisconsin

Queen Jennie Sorghum Whiskey | Old Sugar Distillery, Madison, Wisconsin

Sorghum whiskey … um. Well. I’ve had sorghum beer – don’t really like it. I have gluten-free friends – like them OK. Sorghum whiskey? I’m impressed. First, it’s different. Distill booze to uber-proof, age it in an oak barrel, and water it down to selling-strength 

Goodbye Wisconsin, Hello Again Chicago

Goodbye Wisconsin, Hello Again Chicago

Last week we learned that people in Northern Wisconsin call people from Illinois FIBs — F*&#ing Illinois Bastards. Last night I was working on a post about the Angry Minnow, a brewery in Hayward, WI, when I inadvertently discovered that their website is infected by 

The Concrete Park in Wisconsin

The Concrete Park in Wisconsin

The Concrete Park in Wisconsin is bizarre.  Here’s the brief, brief history (long version here): In the 1950s, ex-lumberjack, Fred Smith, creates a shit-load of sculptures over 14 years in his 60s and 70s. They’re concrete, decorated with glass bottles, shells, and other objects. In 

Our Watery Tour of Northern Wisconsin

Our Watery Tour of Northern Wisconsin

Winter came down to join us the other day at Sara Balbin and Gary Crandall’s place in the north woods of Wisconsin. Sara is an artist who works in many media – metal, oil, leather, fabric – but the theme that runs throughout her work 

Chasing a North Woods Sunset

Chasing a North Woods Sunset

As we’ve mentioned, it’s not fall anymore in northern Wisconsin.  It’s winter, and there was some weather moving in across Lake Superior a couple nights ago.  And some from somewhere else too.  There were maybe 10 layers of clouds overlapping for the sunset.  It was 

Winter Threatens Along Lake Superior

Winter Threatens Along Lake Superior

After a bonus week of fall weather in the 70s, we thought we’d be able to loop up to Lake Superior and rough it a few days, but temps have droped into the 40s and we can’t hang at that level. We’ll be here a