stackmatic wrote:

Mayfair wrote:...Oh, and that great SOUP place in Milwaukee! What is it called? Great place.

You're probably thinking of Soup Bros. on Florida St., just off of 2nd Street in Walker's Point. A handful of copycat specialty soup places have emerged in the past year, but I have yet to try them all out. As much as I like soup, I still tend to opt for Real Chili.

Dylan wrote:That one record store near 2nd Hand Tunes, I forget the name.

Recycled Records & Books used to be kitty-corner and was pretty good for vinyl (has since moved to the Prospect Mall and become spottier). Or you're possibly thinking of Ear Waves on Farwell Ave., which is now Farwell Music and still real good. By the way, Milwaukee's 2nd Hand Tunes is no longer.

I used to run that 2nd Hand Tunes till it was closed by its new owners, Django's, out of the west coast who are now bankrupt. I trained the guy that runs farwell music when he worked at 2nd hand tunes a kajillion years ago. Farwell is the best used cd/lp store left in this town. After having lived in chicago for the first 27 years of my life and now here for the last 6, i can tell you that culturally, milwaukee is more than 90 miles from chicago. It is also one of the most racially segregated cities i have ever been to. But its a lot quieter and cheaper place to live. However, a lot of bands skip this town to play. Cactus Club and now Onopa are the best places to see bands play and play at. Another person mentioned the basement show scene here. It s quite awesome. People show up to these basement shows ready to listen and are very gratefull to have/see you. Also we dump all of our raw sewage in lake michigan every time it rains, so you folks down stream in chi town will get our offering in the next month after all the rain we've had.

Ah, Wisconsin!

There's the House on the Rock. Never been there, but I'm gonna go this summer, before the evildoers target it as an American Icon.

I have a perverse love of the Wisconsin Dells. You can eat a lot of pancakes and drink beer and visit the world's largest go-cart track (The Big Chief). If you "drive tough" like Dale Earnhart (RIP), they have emergency procedures in place to divert you from the track and kick you out of the park, so be careful (they're too sensitive and real quick to judge).

A trip across the interstate will be in order to visit Dr. Evermore's collection of junk-art. It's fantastic. There was talk of moving the collection across the highway to the ammo-dump (or whatever it is), but I don't know if that happened yet -- it was in the grass at Delaney's (is that it?) junk yard. Just outside of Baraboo. Don't miss it!

i used to eat that stuff a lot when i was in college.

earwaves dave was pretty cool, i got a ton of great rare big black stuff from him (shhh..).

i was home over xmas, the wendy's at the aptly-named 'oasis' on 94 was being renovated. hope they redo the johns in that place, yick..

stackmatic wrote:

Dylan wrote:That one record store near 2nd Hand Tunes, I forget the name.

Recycled Records & Books used to be kitty-corner and was pretty good for vinyl (has since moved to the Prospect Mall and become spottier). Or you're possibly thinking of Ear Waves on Farwell Ave., which is now Farwell Music and still real good. By the way, Milwaukee's 2nd Hand Tunes is no longer.

Farwell, that's the place! That guy who's always there (owner, possibly, probably) is really nice and his prices are pretty fair.

I can't believe I forgot about House On The Rock - that place is awesome. For people who might be on the fence ("Oh, I bet it's real cheesy for tourists") please do yourself a favour and go. If you appreciate oddball visions and eccentric lives, you need to see this collection of stuff.

Luke is the owner, great guy. Turned me on to Gandalf and some other stuff. His co-worker, Ken, is also my ace, and they both have a love of music and avoid the cynical record shop jerk clerk crap. Tons of vinyl, mostly at non-ebay prices, stop by when you're in town.


Jay

I used to think of Wisconsin as one giant obstacle/speed trap between Minneapolis and Chicago [rumor had it, "Pay on the spot or go directly to jail"].

She has her share of worthy attractions, though. In no particular order:


Strong beer sold on Sundays, unlike in benighted Minnesota. Beer me up, 'Sconi!

Skyline, a fantastic little golf course in Black River Falls. [How many EA members actually play golf?]

Bong Recreation Area, on I-94 between Milwaukee and Chicago. Being a state park, it features a huge brown sign, which must be among the most frequently stolen in America.

Lorelei, a German restaurant just south of Green Bay (it's in either Allouez or De Pere)

Re: above. NE Wisconsin is the gateway to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. 'Nuff said.

When you're in Wisconsin, you can see:

*40-year-old women with mullets being helped across the street after exiting a bar (no less across the street from the car plant where they undoubtedly work) by their equally mulleted boyfriends on a THURSDAY at 5:00 because they're too smashed to walk properly.

I actually witnessed this on my way home from work last Thursday. I swear to God.

Also:

*Madison. Better yet, seeing rednecks in Madison; they think it's like being on the fucking moon.

*The Wendys/Truck stop overhang thing. When I was in seventh grade, I payed thirty dollars for a New York Yankees hat there... bastards...

*One's uncanny ability to set out a guitar case and play on literally ANY populated street corner in the entire state and be paid. Seriously. Try this.

Finally:

Bong Recreation Area, on I-94 between Milwaukee and Chicago. Being a state park, it features a huge brown sign, which must be among the most frequently stolen in America.

The event of the Bong sign being stolen used to actually make the local papers... they eventually stopped printing it: that's how many times it's been stolen. All I know is that it's in the double digits.

Now that I'm a resident of Illinois, I can gain greater appreciation for the recreational opportunities that exist in Wisconsin.

The Dells - SUCKS! Worked there for a summer in college. Suprised I never contracted a VD.
House on the Rock - SUCKS! After the original owner sold out it has become dirty and decrepit. None of the mechanical musical devices actually play - just lame!

I'm not much a fan of Mickey's Dairy Bar either. Lots of friends like it. Not sure why. Idiotic frat boy crowd, poor service, and pancakes with uncooked, goopy centers don't endear this place to me.

In Milwuakee - the MIA Calatravas addition is really cool - great travelling exhibits too. Balestrari's Italian restaurant on 60th in Wauwautosa has the BEST PIZZA and FRIED EGGPLANT ON EARTH.

The Great River Road along the Mississippi is pretty special. Don't miss Governor Nelson state park in Cassville or Wayalusing state park outside of Prarie duChien.

Taliesin in Spring Green is worth the $60 for the tour. Don't miss the drive down to Dodgeville to hike the sandstone formations at Governor Dodge state park.

Canoeing down the Kickapoo river from Ontario to Richland Center.

Canoeing the St. Criox river from Hayward to Taylor's Falls.

Hiking the Scuppernong Trail in the Kettle Moraine south unit.

The EAA museum in Oshkosh. The EAA Airventure in late July/early August.

Putting around Silver Lake in Oconomowoc on my in-laws pontoon boat on a balmy summer day, drinking beer & eating junkfood.

The Dells - SUCKS! Worked there for a summer in college. Suprised I never contracted a VD.

This reminds me... I was going to ask if anyone had been to both the Dells and Niagra, Canada. I swear to God they are the same place: EVERY THREE STORES there is either a wax museum, a haunted house, or a t-shirt store (every one of which sells the same crappy, overpriced white trash tourist crap).

If the world has two armpits, it is probably those cities.

instant_zen wrote:

The Dells - SUCKS! Worked there for a summer in college. Suprised I never contracted a VD.

This reminds me... I was going to ask if anyone had been to both the Dells and Niagra, Canada. I swear to God they are the same place: EVERY THREE STORES there is either a wax museum, a haunted house, or a t-shirt store (every one of which sells the same crappy, overpriced white trash tourist crap).

Sounds like New Orleans to me.