Missouri Family In America’s Dairy Land
We don’t get a lot of visitors on our travels, but we always love having them join us on our adventures. Being able to share our experiences and make memories with the people we love makes it all that much better. Recently, we were treated to back-to-back trips from Amity’s family to Wisconsin for some cheese curds, microbrews, and good times! It started with meeting Mike and friends in New Glarus before touring him all over Wisconsin and down to Chicago. The very next weekend, we drove down to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, to spend a long weekend with Julie, Jeff, Asa, Kelsey, and little baby Segar. I hope they all like cheese!
Mile: 67,988
Quote of the Blog: “Vacations with family are a time to create lasting memories, to laugh and to simply be together.” - John Wooden
Song of the Blog: “Don’t Stop Me Now” - Queen
We had initially planned to meet up with Mike as well as his brother Rick, his wife Lisa, their cousin Susy, and her husband Ray in New Glarus. Rick and Lisa have been coming up for years and absolutely love it there. Unfortunately, right before they were set to go, Rick came down with an illness and had to cancel. So, we headed down to New Glarus while Mike caught a ride up with Susy and Ray. None of us had been to New Glarus, and we were all basing our understanding of the town on stories Rick and Lisa had told us. What we knew going into the weekend was that New Glarus has a famous brewery in town that only sells its beer in Wisconsin. We knew the town had a Bavarian theme, and we knew that we were in Wisconsin—which means people like to have fun, drink beer, and eat cheese!
We all got hotel rooms at the Chalet Landhaus Inn. This hotel fit the bill! It was a large Bavarian-style inn with all the Swiss memorabilia one could think of. It even had a chunk of the Matterhorn mountain on display in the hotel. The hotel was not far from the downtown area of New Glarus, which worked out great for our time there. We were able to walk downtown for food, drinks, entertainment, and some shopping. Our favorite spot was the Dirty Dog Taphouse, where we had to teach Mike how to use a payment system in which you were given a card to pay per ounce of beer at self-service stations. Pretty fun—and funny—teaching an old dog new tricks at the Dirty Dog Taphouse. They also had good music both nights we were there.
The second day, we did a little more exploring around town, where they were having an art festival. We were able to see traditional Swiss yodelers and horn-blowing. Pretty cool to see something I have always associated with European ski culture. Following this, we all headed down to the New Glarus Brewery. This is the heart and soul of the town. People from across the country had told us to go there when they found out we were headed to Wisconsin. It was right on par with the Bavarian theme of the town. We enjoyed a couple of beers, got a few free beer glasses to go along with them, and picked up some beer for Rick and Lisa. When I say “some,” I actually mean tons! I think it was something around 11 or 12 cases of beer. They like to keep it stocked up in the bar at their house. We can guarantee you that we’ll be enjoying many Spotted Cow beers the next time we’re down in Kirksville at their place! We wrapped the day up with dinner at Sugar River Pizza before catching more live music and self-served beers at the Dirty Dog Taphouse. The night ended at the end of a hallway in the hotel with our own personal hallway party. We all wished we’d had Rick and Lisa in town with us, but it was still great to spend some time with Susy and Ray! The next morning those two headed back south to Missouri, while Amity, Mike, and I headed “up north” to Fond du Lac for the week.
Mike’s game plan was to spend the next week with us before heading down to Chicago to take the train back to Kirksville mid-day Saturday. While Amity had to work, Mike and I got to spend some time together exploring Fondy, Green Bay, and a few spots in between. One of my favorite spots I showed him is called The Cellar District. It’s an old church that has been renovated into a restaurant and bar. Mike and I had some good laughs in there. Another awesome spot I took him was up to Green Bay so we could see Lambeau Field. We’re both indifferent about the Green Bay Packers, but we enjoyed the nostalgia and respect that comes with a sports stadium like Lambeau. Lots of history there. We had lunch inside the stadium, but we were in a place where we couldn’t see completely into the field. We caught as many close views as we could before continuing on our adventure. During the day, Mike and I would find some random bar or town to check out while Amity worked, and at night we’d all go for walks along the shore of Lake Winnebago or around town. On the last night he was with us in Fond du Lac, we went to a free concert in downtown Fondy. It was a cover band playing Beatles music. They were pretty good, and we had a lot more fun there than we expected to. The band had been playing together since the 1980s, so that was pretty cool!
The last day we spent with Mike, we headed down to Chicago. He was planning on taking the train from Chicago back to Missouri, so we made a night of it. We had already planned to be in Chicago that night, as the New York Yankees were in town playing the Chicago White Sox. Before the game, we had one mission: get Chicago-style deep-dish pizza! We ended up at Giordano’s Pizza. Not as good as Lou Malnati’s, but still amazing! We then made our way to the game, where the parking situation was such a maze that we eventually just went to the next lot we found and called it good. Once inside, we had a great time watching the game. The Yankees put a beating on the White Sox, 10–2, but if you were to judge by the crowd, you’d never have known it. It was Puerto Rican Heritage Night at the ballpark, which hit home for me as my grandfather on my dad’s side was full-blood Puerto Rican. I quietly celebrated along with my people all night long, and boy did they celebrate. As I said, no one cared that the White Sox were getting boat-raced. People were just at the park having fun, partying, and enjoying themselves. It was something to see.
The weirdest moment came at the end of the game. With two outs and down by 8 runs, the stadium was still packed. The last out was a lazy fly ball to the shortstop. I got up to walk out before the catch was made, but no one else in the stadium moved. They all just continued to party and carry on with the fun. We quickly learned they were all staying around for the fireworks show after the game. Again, GO YANKEES! Big win, but so bizarre to see a fanbase not care at all about the actual result! The Puerto Rican in me understood—it’s not about the results, it’s about the community and having something fun to celebrate! The next morning we got Mike down to Union Station in Chicago and onto his train back to Missouri. We were so happy to have him in Wisconsin for nine straight days! We filled him full of cheese, beer, and brats before he left. He filled us with good laughs, memories, and the kind of spirit only Mike Sparks can provide. Thanks, Mike, for coming “up north” to Wisconsin with us!
After Mike set off on his journey back home, we spent the rest of the day and night hanging out with our Chicago family—Mallory, Jackie, and “David” Sabian. We enjoyed a nice long city walk with Mallory. She and Amity got to catch up while we strolled along the Lake Michigan shoreline and eventually wandered into the Chicago Zoo. That was a lot more exciting than we expected. I personally had a staring contest with a snow leopard that could have easily eaten me if not for the fence between us. Pretty wild! We also saw some cute monkeys cuddling and grooming each other. That evening, we went up to Jackie and David’s condo in downtown Chicago. They have a beautiful place, and we are always so grateful for their open door and willingness to feed us and drink wine with us! They’re such a fun couple that it’s hard to call them Mallory’s parents because they’re more like friends to us too! Our hearts go out to Ziggy the dog for his late-night vet adventure, and we were so happy to eventually hear he was okay. Hopefully, he’ll watch what he eats off the Chicago streets from now on! The following morning, we lounged around the pool at Mallory’s building before making the short drive back up to Fond du Lac. She spoils us, and we’re always grateful for her company. We had many laughs and great conversations with her the entire time. Thanks, Mal! See you next time we’re back in Chi-Town!
We had a four-day reprieve to rest and recuperate before the next wave of visitors made their way up to the Dairyland. The following Friday, we packed up and headed down to Lake Geneva for a long weekend with the rest of the Sparks and the Smiths. Lake Geneva is a cute tourist town set along a pretty but densely populated lake. One of the first things we did as a group was go to the Lake Geneva Safari. This is a drive-through “safari” where you’re given cups of food and drive through an animal enclosure. The best part is the car is your cage, and with the windows open we were given a face-to-face experience with everything from African antelopes to massive bulls and one frisky ostrich that will forever be burned into our memories. That guy’s long neck allowed him to reach his head into the car. He nearly ate Julie while we all died laughing. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a long time! Segar was slightly confused but still had a good time. He especially liked seeing the giraffe through the sunroof. This was an activity we didn’t expect to be so much fun, but it ended up being the highlight of the trip!
We followed that up with some exploration of downtown Lake Geneva. While the ladies shopped, Jeff and I sampled the local watering holes. We eventually all met back up at another old church that had been remodeled into a brewery, called Topsy Turvy Brewery. Segar was pumped about the giant pretzels they had there. That night we had dinner at Lake Side Social. Since it was Friday night, it was the perfect opportunity for everyone to enjoy the Wisconsin tradition of a Friday Fish Fry. We spent the rest of the night back at the rental lounging and catching up.
The next morning, we started the day down at the lake to take a tour of the lakeshore on an old-school steamboat propelled by wooden paddles. The shoreline is covered in amazing buildings ranging from Victorian to Colonial to even a few European castle-style houses. We learned this lake and most of these houses were first built by the ultra-rich from Chicago and New York City during the Gilded Age of the early 1900s. Pretty amazing buildings. One of the craziest things is that there’s a trail that goes around the whole lake for anyone to walk or run on, which passes right through the backyards of these houses. Amity took full advantage of it one morning during one of her training runs.
We had a nice lunch by the lake following the boat tour. One of the funniest parts of lunch was when Segar made a new friend with a random guy who was walking by. Segar offered him a French fry, and when the man gave him attention, Segar jumped out of his chair, ran over, and gave him the fry. It was too cute! We all laughed quietly when the man actually ate the French fry, as Segar had been sick lately and passing it on to everyone. Godspeed to that random person’s stomach! Segar has such a bright and personable personality. After a little more shopping, we went back to the rental for an afternoon and evening of college football. Missouri was on, and we all enjoyed watching them put another win together. For dinner, we sampled some of the cheeses we had found in town, did a little BBQ on the grill, and wrapped it up with time around the fire pit. At one point, we gave Segar a new bubble gun. The dude LOVED it! He nearly lost his mind blasting bubbles nonstop everywhere in the house. He only stopped when he was too tired to squeeze the trigger anymore. He blasted right through the bubble canister. I think he might have a new favorite toy!
We never want to say goodbye to family when they come to visit! The good thing is, these are Midwesterners, which means they take forever to say goodbye. We finally said farewell and headed our separate ways when our rental time was up. We didn’t want to offend the owner, as they had more rules and security cameras than any other rental I’ve been in. Glad to know Julie eventually let him know our sentiment. We had a blast with them. Amity’s family is always good for some adventure time! Thank you all for coming up to enjoy Wisconsin with us! Next time we get together will be back down in Kirksville for Amity’s 20th high school reunion. Until then, it’s back to cheese curds, work, and continuing to Live Rad!