Bachelor Party At A Bachelor Pad

Saturday was my friend Bill Moeller’s bachelor party. The crew went golfing up in Mequon but I have already had my allotted two rounds of golf this year. It’s an expensive sport and I don’t really like playing all that much so I skipped the golf and met everyone downtown. We met at one of Bill’s friend’s condo a couple blocks up from where I live. The guy has a very nice condo and it’s a straight up bachelor pad. The bottom floor has the kitchen and a small living room with a plasma TV in it. Then you go upstairs and its bachelor heaven. To the right you have a small bar area and to the left is a huge sectional sofa in front of a 100″+ projector TV. There was also a great sound system, a Vegas slot machine, and a stand up Ms. Pacman/Galaga video game. Then there is a fairly spacious rooftop deck with a great view of the Milwaukee skyline. We spent a couple hours there and enjoyed all the toys. We drank some beers, smoked some cigars, and ate some meat, all traditional bachelor party events. After that we headed over to a club called Mantra on North Ave. I almost wasn’t allowed in because I was wearing tennis shoes. They weren’t even real tennis shoes, they were nice brown ones. I couldn’t believe it; I hate those bouncers who need to compensate for inadequacies. What got me made is once I got into the club it was baron. There was no one there except for us. Well once I calmed down we danced and had some fun. They have authentic water hookahs at Mantra and Evraets had never had one. So we chipped in and bought some strawberry tobacco and smoked like we were in a sand hut. After Mantra we decided to go to 3. We got there and the line was immense due to the Summerfest crowd but we were with the right people. The reason we really started to going to three was because of Billy and the group of guys that we were with at the bachelor party. They went to high school with the original owners and Billy practically lived there the first year they were open. So they were able to talk us in. We drank some vodka red bulls and whoop whooped until closing time. After close the group went back to the condo as did half of the Milwaukee club scene. There was a rocking after party, something which I have not been to in ages. So around 3:30 Craig and I left. Craig wanted some sleep and didn’t want to sleep amongst the phat beats so he came back to my place. We stopped and Mykano’s and we were served the last gyros of the night. We ended up getting to bed after four but it was a lot of fun.

Well Summerfest is over. I didn’t go that much this year. I don’t know why but for some reason it just didn’t have the appeal that it had in the past. I went to see the Violent Femmes on Thursday and then this last Sunday I saw Dark Star Orchestra on the closing day. At least the coming week we should be able to find some parking spots.

Overlooked Summer Festival: Kondofest

Happy Independence Day everyone! I love the holiday weekends. This past fourth weekend was quite chill for a usual party weekend. Friday I stayed in and wound down to go into full relaxation mode for the weekend. Saturday was Kondofest. For those of you that don’t know Kondofest is a party held each year in conjunction with Summerfest. It is put on by one of my friends Mike Kondracowitz, or something like that. Any who, this year it was held at a new location because Mike now lives downtown and it’s easier to get to Summerfest than from Brookfield. This year Mike went all out. He got a permit from the city to shut down his block to through traffic and he also got a huge pig to roast up for the carnivores. The party always has a lot of people so it’s always tons of flying quarters fun. I was planning on pulling the all day party but I got a call from my brother saying he and Billie were coming down to see the Brewers. As fun as Kondofest is it isn’t often that my brother ventures to Miller Park so I decided to go to the game. Jocelyn stayed at Kondofest because she and a couple other girls were going to see Kenny Chesney at Summerfest. So I hopped into Schwenker’s Jeep and we headed off the park. We found my brother and we tailgated and enjoyed the perfect weekend weather. We headed into the game and although the Brewers lost we were able to enjoy the game. It was pretty cool after the game. Everyone stayed in the park and you were able to watch fireworks from your seat at the park. They turned all the lights off for ultimate effect. It was kind of weird seeing a full, dark, Miller Park. After the works we tailgated a bit more in the parking lot and then headed back downtown. We got a couple calls from some Kondofesters and they wanted us to meet them at the bars but I was too tired so I headed home and called it a night.

Sunday I woke up to a full house of partied out Kondofesters. We debated on going to the Brewers game but we decided to just pull the lazy day and watched it on TV and ordered pizza. That night we watched the lakefront fireworks and concluded the day.

Monday we did absolutely nothing and loved it.

Another Fun Wedding, Ain’t No Bull

This weekend was the wedding of one and only Mr. Greg Neerhoff. After work on Friday I drove up to Sheboygan Falls to go to the rehearsal. I was a little late because traffic in Milwaukee was awful and I had to stop and pick up my tux in Sheboygan. I made it to the church about five minutes late but it wasn’t a big deal. The rehearsal took less then an hour which was nice. The rehearsal dinner was held at The Villager in Falls and was the typical Falls dinner, fried chicken, ham, mashed potatoes and all the fixings. I can’t count how many times in my life I have had this meal but it has to be nearing a hundred. Don’t get me wrong, this meal is very tasty and I could probably eat it every day if I had to. The Villager and Rangeline are neck and neck for the best chicken in the county too so I always request extra skin at these establishments. After dinner all the groomsmen received nice grilling sets, perfect for tailgating. Once that was done a handful of us went over to The O for a couple more drinks. Most people took off after one drink but Chad and I stayed out until just before midnight and headed home to rest up for tomorrow’s festivities.

Saturday a bunch of the guys woke up early and went golfing at Riverdale. I was lucky enough to get matched up in the first foursome with Greg, the groom, and the other more docile people in the bunch. We shot nine holes and I did pretty well. I got my first legit birdie on a par four and things were off to a good start. After golf we all went home to change. We got to the church at 11:30 which was WAY too early. There was a lot of sitting around time waiting for pictures. Once we got some of the pics out of the way it was show time. The wedding was very quick and this in turn constitutes a nice wedding. Badda boom badda bang you’re married. After the wedding there were more pictures and then we headed to the Bull for the reception and more pictures. We got a couple of quick pictures at the Bull when the rain started to come down in buckets. So off to the open bar we went. We sat there and waited for the reception to start. The reception was fancy and nicely done. There were two main courses for the meal, one, a choice of pastas and the second swordfish or pork tenderloin. The food was delicious and got me ready for the rest of the night. The rest of the night was your regular dancing and other wedding festivities. When the wedding ended I walked to the O and spent the remainder of the night there with Chad. It was a nice wedding. Congrats to Greg and Trisha!

Enjoying “the Offical” Summer Weather

I had a very fun weekend this week. On Saturday I had Greg’s bachelor party. I took it easy Friday night and cruised to Sheboygan on Saturday morning. I spent most of the morning driving around Sheboygan with Rich trying to find a place that could lathe the Montero’s rotors so I could get the brakes fixed. We were finally able to find a guy to do it so we had the brakes fixed by noon. After that I went to Randy’s and played with the nephew for a bit. Then it was time for the party. The party was held at Rochester Park in Falls. We had some beers and some brats and played yard games. I dominated the basketball court taking 5 of 6 games of 21. I also did well in the bean bag toss and the nut toss. I pretty much dominated all the games. After the festivities we headed up to the O and spent the night pinballing between there and big Jimmy’s. We got Greg pretty shined up and it’s always a good time watching him when he’s a wet noodle. After some world famous root beer shots we called it a night.

I woke up early Sunday to take advantage of the holiday weekend. I drove back early to get ready for the mini tailgate party I had planned. We got all the gear together and headed to the park early. We had a tailgate crew of about fifteen so there was lots of fun to be had. We had a gorgeous day and plenty of food to grill. We enjoyed the parking lot and then headed into the game. The outcome was a 2-1 loss v. Houston but the day was going great so we weren’t about to let a loss pull us down. After the game we went to Kelly’s Bleachers for a little post game Golden Tee. I did ok but it wasn’t my best GT showing. After that we headed downtown the Eastpoint Pub. We spent the remainder of the afternoon and part of the evening being rowdy at the EP. We headed home, had a bite to eat, and went to bed early. It was one of the more fun days that I’ve had in a while. Everyone was in a good mood and everyone was happy and just having a good time.

Sunday we woke up, went on a bike ride, and relaxed the rest of the holiday away to get the batteries recharged.

Spring Is Here… I Smell The Hot Dogs

Friday was a great night because I got a great meal and didn’t even have to leave the comfort of the couch. Jocelyn was cooking a nice meal and she insisted that I didn’t help with any of the cooking. So I sat on the couch and drank Riesling (which was very good and ended up being from Aldi’s of all places). So I watched movies while J made fillets w/ mushrooms, crab stuffed poblano peppers, roasted veggies and dough balls with berry chutney. It all turned out very good and it was delicious. After that we had a couple bottles of wine and watched Sideways which was a very suitable movie. It was a great night and some great relaxation.

Saturday was a pretty eventful day. It was spring madness at Miller Park so Todd, Steph, Adam, Stacy, Chappy, Katie, Dave, Erica, J and I headed to the park for cheap tickets and most importantly $1 hot dogs. We got to the park pretty early to have a couple brews and enjoy the scenes. The weather wasn’t terrible. It was bit windy and when the sun went behind the clouds it did get a little cold but we can take it. We didn’t do any grilling out because we had hot dogs to eat. Once in the park the game within the game began. The hot dog contest was pretty much dominated by yours truly. I was able to get down my goal of thirteen hot dogs. Dave O was doing pretty well but fell off at eight dogs. I’m glad I reached this year’s goal but I think my hot dog eating days are numbered. I think my limit will now be ten hot dogs or less. The game was actually pretty crappy through the sixth inning but then the Crew fired up. They chipped away at the Reds four run lead and tied it up. Then in the ninth Damian Miller knocked in the go ahead run and we all left as winners, Crew 6-5, Ryan 13-8-7-6-1-1-1. We went home and got in a nap before the night. Saturday night we went to Port Washington for Craig, Feyer, my brother and Amy’s birthday. I really struggled to wake up from my nap. I was comfy in my post hot dog glow on the couch and could have easily called it a night. I pulled it together and J and I went to Port to meet the crew at Foxy’s. There were about forty people and they had rented a bus to take the partiers from bar to bar. We knew we weren’t going to be out all night so we followed the bus. The party wasn’t really my brother’s party or Feyer’s or Craig’s, it was Amy’s. I didn’t know anyone but the three birthday boys and I think they were put on the list as a courtesy of sort. We had a couple drinks at Foxy’s and then headed to Booze Inn in Random Lake. We stayed there for one drink and then went to McCarthy’s Irish pub in the Saukville area. It was a very nice little bar. We had a couple drinks and stayed there when the bus took off. We headed back to Milwaukee and most of the people I knew headed home as well. Back in Milwaukee we went to the Metro for a little while and called it a weekend.

Tuesday we went to our first Buckethead game vs. the Cubs. J and I grilled out some gourmet brats pre-game. The park was obviously filled with Cubs fans which was fine because the Crew won and sent the Chub fans home with a tear in there eye. The Crew went on to sweep the series and are currently riding a seven game win streak. Go Crew!