On our way from the airport, we stopped at an old favorite restaurant from our college days: The Thorpedo! We took a red eye flight, so this was very early in the morning. And on a weekday no less. So it was basically us and a bunch of retiree regulars, which was a pretty great way to start the trip. Like, yep, we are definitely not in the city anymore.
Later that day, we had to stop for some other favorite hometown food: Taco Johns. Gotta love those potato ole's! I actually didn't know this until we moved away, but Taco Johns is not a thing that is everywhere. Sure, it's just fast food. But c'mon. POTATO OLES!!
Now this next thing is not strictly Wisconsin. I'm sure people smoke pipes pretty much everywhere. But it is an activity that Kevin and his dad both enjoy doing together. Especially while sitting in recliners under handmade blankets. What were we watching on TV that night you ask? Some kind of hunting show? Maybe some sort of show on how to distill your own whiskey? Nope. It was The Bachelor.
No trip to Wisconsin would be complete without a trip to the thrifts! We made several stops in a couple different cities, including the good 'ole Dime & Dollar. There were many pairs of mom jeans purchased by me (more on that later), an astonishingly large collection of clip-on ties at a church-run thrift, and this amazing vintage Eddie Bauer three piece snowsuit that I almost couldn't pass up. Unfortunately, the flare leg pants were a bit too teeny for my posterior.
Back at Kevin's Mom's house we did lots of lounging about (me especially, because GUESS WHAT: I got strep throat on basically the first day of our trip). The doggies were wonderful cuddle buddies. Although, I must say that I missed old mister Kit Kat, last surviving brother of a pair of perennial house cats that populated Kevin's childhood. He passed away last year at the ripe old age of.....I'm not exactly sure. Kevin says maybe 21? That's hella old.
Another can't miss stop is, of course, The Cheese Factory. This one is in Kevin's hometown. They've got basically every kind of cheese and then some. Also ice cream. Which a surprising amount of people were enjoying despite the fact that it was about 20 degrees outside. For our part, we loaded up on cheese curds, cheese strings, extra sharp cheddar, and about six other varieties to take back to Seattle for ourselves and friends. If you look behind the rows of cheese in this picture you can see the big glass windows that look into the actual cheese factory part. It's pretty rad.
Next we have another not-really-Wisconsin-only thing. Kevin's younger brother Scott taught us how how to play Boss Monster. Super fun! We spent many hours sitting around the big kitchen island, both playing this game and just chatting. Drinking coffee and sitting around the kitchen island is one of our main activities.
Here's Kevin enjoying a Spotted Cow! It's a beer brewed by New Glarus Brewing in New Glarus, WI. They only sell and distribute in Wisconsin (not even Minnesota!), so it's a given that we're going to buy one or two (or fifty) when we come back.
Here's another delicious thing: a hot steaming bowl of rabbit stew. Kevin and Scott did a fair amount of rabbit hunting in the field behind the house, and (eventually) came in with two rabbits. Did you know that the gestation period for a rabbit is only 31 days, and that typically they're mature at about six months old? Whoa. Seems like a pretty sustainable meat source. Not to mention tasty. The boys cooked up this delicious stew for lunch, and Kevin's mom finished if off with dumplings. Mmm hmmm.
And finally we have a terrible picture of a delicious meal. Friday night fish fry. I had already polished off my potato salad, coleslaw, and Spotted Cow by the time I remembered to take a (blurry) photo. It was so fun to go out for fish fry! Of course we have a ton of fish and chips in Seattle, but there's just something about a Friday night fish fry.
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