A reasonably early morning (once again) by my standards, saw us (myself and Kat) embark on the long drive over to Chicago. Now the keen-eyed readers will notice this post is about Wisconsin, and Chicago isn’t in Wisconsin, it is in Illinois. But be patient. I’m storytelling, chronologically and everything! None of this time travel mumbo jumbo. Just the normal travel mumbo jumbo.
Chicago seemed a good place to stop off for a night on the way to Wisconsin – it left us a couple of hours to drive the next day, and meant we would arrive and be ready to experience – and believe me it was an experience – all that was planned for us upon arrival.
We were due to meet a couple of friends in Wisconsin, some who were travelling via a night stay in Chicago too – though we didn’t realise that until we were in Chicago itself. Jackie and Liv were exchange students in Edinburgh at the same time as Kat, Leslie and Tyler, all of whom were meeting in Wisconsin. We met up for dinner that evening, and the following morning went to visit the Chicago Bean.
It is a reflective bean-shaped object which sits in downtown Chicago and seems utterly pointless other than serving as one of those touristy things I seem to have been suckered into doing while being a tourist.
It wasn’t until our friends arrived to meet us beside the bean that we realised its true purpose – you can see the entire cityscape in the reflection. It was actually pretty fascinating when you acknowledged it had a purpose, other than making me crave a good old tin of Branston’s baked beans from Aldi (I was a student, I couldn’t afford Heinz…or Sainsbury’s).
It wasn’t long before we hit the road once more on to Wisconsin.
The first stop was the Milwaukee Brewing Company, located, strangely enough, in Milwaukee. We met with Leslie, who was the host in Wisconsin, and she had arranged a brewery tour for us to kick off the experience in the only way we know how…drink!
The highlight of the trip, aside from the obvious, was the addressing, by the tour guide, of my recent birthday (which was two days previous). I was proclaimed the ‘bung queen’ which is a tradition of the factory – to give luck to the beer that is brewed – and I was allowed to keep the bung…which entitled me to a further free beer. Kerching. Birthdays are good for something, at least…aging isn’t so bad after all.
The following day was another first, and no surprise here, given that I was in America. I shot a gun. A few, actually. I shot a pistol, a rifle, a sniper-style weapon, and a magnum. Yes, I thought a magnum was an ice cream, but turns out it is also a gun! I wasn’t a bad shot from twenty yards either, though the cups and bottles we shot at were less than appreciative of my accuracy.
The nights spent in Wisconsin followed a similar format – we drank until we slept. So I’ll leave you to fill in the gaps between days and proceed with the interesting daytime activities.
Living on a lake, it is no wonder Leslie and her family had a boat and jet ski, and we got the chance to ride in/on both. Great fun to cruise around the lake, and even more fun to be thrown off the jet ski by banking so heavily round corners. Now is where I stop mum from worrying…All at low speeds, and safely. I did make sure when I went for a swim I took my host down with me though – that’ll teach her!
That evening began with a game of bean bag toss which I was unsurprisingly bad at, before another nice event. My cousin – or as good as – who I believed to be in Florida, turned out to be in the same town as I, in Wisconsin. Of all the places, same time and place, it must have been meant to be. So we spent the evening catching up, which was great given that I’ve only seen that part of my family a couple of times in ten years since they emigrated.
Enough of the sentiment. Back to the interesting things.
We took a group decision to try our hand at golf the following day. I donned a freshly (NINE) ironed shirt, arrived at the course courtesy of a DRIVERÂ and putt the golfing wheels in motion, rather eagle-y (eagerly…I’m trying, Ok!?). A par 3 course was more of a par 7 for us amateurs, but it was great fun to smash the balls around. From a recommended par 27 course, I scored an impressive 60+. The bigger the score the better, right?
And yes, there is a video of me doing a Happy Gilmore shot. Be patient, it will arrive.
That evening was another true American experience. Horseshoes. Some pegs in the ground and some horseshoes (ironically in hand) and you’re good to go. The aim is to get a horseshoe around the peg, and failing that, within a horseshoe’s distance.
The final, typically Wisconsinite, thing to do up there was a minnow shot. I’d agreed to it initially, and incorrectly, believing it to be a nickname for a specific type of shot, like you have Bloody Mary drinks and all. I was wrong. It contained an actual fish. It was different, to say the least, but the trip is all about trying new things and local delicacies.
My final day was spent with an early afternoon visiting Madison. A beautiful city and being the capital of Wisconsin, some of the architecture was lovely. We visited the capital building which was so majestic, before my bus departed from there – but I’ll save the journey stories for another time.
I’d like to thank everyone I met in Wisconsin who welcomed me so well, especially those barmen who gave me free drinks for being English. The accent has its perks for sure. Also a big thanks to all friends who I got to meet there. Last, but by no means least, an enormous thank you to the Wochos clan for your immense hospitality.
World Tour Travel Writing 