Another week that started early. This time instead of Jazz in the Park being the culprit it was one of Rock Bottom’s Mug Club events. Rock Bottom Brewery holds tapping events every month where members of the Mug Club can go to RB and try the month’s new beer for free. J and I went to the Oktoberfest celebration. They had a polka band and waitresses in durndels. We had our fair share of free beers then went inside and had one at the bar. After that we went to Jazz in the Park but didn’t stay. We decided to go to My Office “for one”. We ran into some interesting Irishmen and spent a couple hours talking to them. They were both unbelievably drunk. The one was almost unconscious but then the semi coherent one wanted to sing some Irish ballads. So the bartender turned down the jukebox and the guy snapped out of his coma and blasted forth this voice and song that brought chills to my body. They sang this great song and then the guy fell back into his coma. We would’ve loved to stay longer but we had to leave so we could get up for work the next day.

We didn’t do anything on Friday. We watched a movie and build a home theater PC for my cousin Steve.

On Saturday we headed to Chicago. I had to drop off Steve’s computer. Steve wasn’t there when we arrived and I forgot a power cord so I ran to Best Buy to get the part. On the way back I stopped at The Weiner Circle for a top notch Chicago dog. Steve was back when we returned. I gave him his computer and helped him set it up. J and I had brought our bikes along and joined Steve and his girlfriend for a bike ride down the lakefront. We started in Lincoln Park and biked past Navy Pier to Soldier Field. We had to get to J’s mom’s so we turned around and went back while Steve continued on. When we got back we broke down our bikes and headed to the Chicago burbs. It was only about a half hour drive. The rest of the night was pretty low key. We got some delicious Chicago style deep dish pizza for dinner and I ate way too much. It was an exhausting day and I was sleeping by 11.

We stuck around all of Sunday as well. I spent the day watching football and losing in pool to Chad. For dinner Craig cooked up his special filets and we had a great dinner and some wine. We shot a little pool after dinner and then we headed back to MKE. We made it back at about 10. A long weekend but very fun.

We packed an entire weekend into one Saturday this weekend. J’s old boss Gina and her husband Bob invited us to come along with them to the Badger game. We met them out at the Sports Dock at and took the LS to Madison. We went to Margaritaville on the West side and got some lunch before hitting downtown. We got downtown about two hours before game time. We went to Buck’s for a drink because that is my favorite place for Badger pre-game fun. After that we went to the Stadium bar and spent the rest of the pre-game there too. We actually spent almost the entire game at the bar too. We never made it into the game. After the third quarter we headed back to Buck’s. We met Luedke and some others there. We watched the end of some other games that were on and then headed back to MKE. Bob stopped drinking a while ago so he was our dd. We made it back to the Sports Dock safe and sound. We had “one drink” at the SD so we ended up staying there for about two hours. After that we met Luedke and the rest of the clan at Rascal’s. Schwenker came out of hiding so it was a special night. We didn’t stay at Rascal’s long. J went home and Schwenker and I broke off from the group. We drank our way back to our apartment. We went to the Nomad and another new bar that just opened up down the street from us. We made the traditional Myk stop to end the action packed day.

This weekend started unexpectedly early. Thursday J and decided to go to Jazz in the Park and out of nowhere I see my high school buddy Justin Gigstad walking around. Apparently he comes down from Falls fairly often to check out the concert. So J and I hung out with G and drank some wine. J went home but since G didn’t have to work and there was a holiday weekend coming up I decided to show him some of the Milwaukee haunts. We went to the Lodge for pitcher and a pizza. Then went to the new Brew City and our final stops were My Office and Myk’s. It was a great time but an unexpected night out.

Friday after work we headed up to Sheboygan for the county fair. J and I stopped at the O and waited for G to show up so we could return his hat that was left by my place the night before. After he showed up we gave him his hat and headed to the farm to pick up my moving boxes for our upcoming move. I said hello to Randy, my nephew and my dad. We chatted a bit and then I headed to Rich’s new house in Plymouth. We headed to the fair to get some Hot Wisconsin cheese, watch some tractor pulls and drink some Leine’s. The fair was the same ol’ fair but I had a lot of fun. I ran into to some of my high school chums so we talked stupid for a bit and reminisced about the days when we used to harass the carnies. After the fair we went to Antonio’s for a night cap. When we got home we had a shot of moonshine and went to bed.

We got to bed at a decent time on Friday so we were up pretty early on Saturday. Rich was roofing his garage. We stopped at a discount home supplies store and from there J and I embarked on the longest drive from Sheboygan to Milwaukee ever. We started by driving around looking for someplace to eat. We wanted pizza but all the places we wanted to go to were closed. We ended up going to Ella’s Deli in the beautiful torn up downtown Sheboygan Falls. I forgot how good the subs from Ella’s were. From there we stopped by Terri Andre State park. It has been ages since I’ve been there and once again I forgot how nice one of the gems of Sheboygan was. The water was so blue for Lake Michigan and the wind swept beach and dunes were gorgeous. J and I walked down the beach to the shelter house and looked at some of the teaching displays. Once we were done at the beach we headed to MKE. We got sidetracked on the way again and tried to stop at the Cedarburg winery. The winery wasn’t what I expected though because it is right in the downtown. I was expecting a big ranch type place in the country with a big barn, not a store in the downtown. We missed it when we were trying to drive there and drove right by it. When we asked directions and heard what the winery actually was we were disappointed and just drove back to MKE. When we arrived at home we had already had a complete so we took a nap. We woke up to embark on the next phase of the day. The Badgers were playing so J and I went to Brother’s happy hour to watch the game. We drank some beers and got some appetizers while watching Bucky win. J’s cousin Ethan and his friends met us at the bar and we bounced around Milwaukee all night drinking and playing darts. Ethan and his friends are crazy and tons of fun. After some Myk’s we hit the hay.

Sunday was another weekend day because of Labor Day. We started the day with a tailgate and a Brewer game. We had the normal clan. Me, Chappy, Adam and our significant others. We grilled what will probably be the last gourmet brats of the year and drank some brews. I wasn’t that gung-ho to go to the game because the Crew were in the throws of a nine game losing streak. Once we made it into the game we camped out inside Friday’s. There was nobody at the game, especially for a holiday weekend game but who can blame them for not coming. Well those that didn’t come didn’t miss anything because the Brewers lost their 10th. From the game we went to the Harp and hung out in the sun on their deck. Luedke and Anna joined us and the craziness increased. After the Harp we went to Brew City for more drinks and some appetizers. We were then going to go to Kenadee’s but it was closed so we ended up at My Office. We lost a lot of soldiers in the first hour of being at My Office. In the end it was Luedke, J and I. We continued the craziness and celebrated our labor until the wee hours. We took full advantage of our extra weekend day.

This Friday after work I got together with Kondo, Chappy and Katie and went to the Hollar House. It was in Esquire magazine as one of the must visit bars when visiting Milwaukee. We drove to the joint and it ended up being in a pretty shady region of Milwaukee. When we went inside it was your typical living room bar. It was being run by a little old Polish lady that had been running the joint forever. The big selling point of the Hollar House is the basement which consists of the first two bowling alleys ever installed in the US. The place was old and full of history but the best part was the old lady bartender/proprietor. She was sharp as a whip and funny as all get out. She told us stories and jokes and showed us pictures when Joe Walsh of the Eagles showed up. She was funny so we sat around and drank some Polish beers and talked for an hour or so and then headed downtown. Once downtown the group went to the Ardor for some dinner and beers. From there we went to Kenadee’s. Then after that Chappy and I split from the group and went to My Office. We stayed there the rest of the night BSing, shooting darts and plugging the jukebox. We left and hit Myk’s on the way home and called it a night.

Didn’t do much on Friday. We ate at a Chinese buffet down the street that we’ve been meaning to try for three years. After that we stayed in and watched some episodes of Lost so we can get caught up before the new season starts.

Saturday we went for a bike ride in the morning. We biked to the Bayshore area to put an offer in on a house. After we put our offer in we biked down Lakeshore Drive checking out all the mansions. We got showered up and headed to South Milwaukee for the Wians’ house warming party. They have a really nice house in nice subdivision. We spent the day playing nut toss and a new dice game that Adam played the previous week. We watched a bit of the Packers game and headed home just before the street lights came on.

We went for another bike ride on Sunday, a long one. We biked to Miller Park via Canal St., then to Whitefish Bay and back to the apartment via Chipotle. Lots of miles on the bike this weekend but we have to take advantage of the good weather while can.