Quick Overnight in the Dells

Pete and I are so bad about having our photo taken together. We either forget to bring a camera OR we have a camera and forget that we have it with us.

On a very rare weekend in August, Pete had a Saturday night without the girls so we decided to enjoy an evening at a bed and breakfast and a nice dinner in the Wisconsin Dells.

Obviously I am biased, but I think this is an amazing, awesome, and fantastic photo! It makes me realize that we need to remember more often that we have a camera!

This photo was taken at The Fields, which is where we enjoyed a beverage before going to the Del-Bar for dinner. The Fields is an upper scale restaurant in the Dells, but I can't say that their decorations are up-to-date. I'm not sure if they were going for the old 1970s Vegas look, but that's what you get! Although the place has questionable decor, the service is impeccable! I look forward to eating there someday.

Dinner at the Del-Bar was amazing. I enjoyed half a dozen of oysters from Prince Edward Island, which are oysters that are hard to come by in smaller Wisconsin cities. I highly recommend it for a romantic dinner or even a dinner with the kids!

And if you're looking for a romantic place to stay besides a huge Dells resort with lots of kiddos running around, I recommend the B&B Antiques and Lace. It is 12 miles east of the Dells and in the middle of nowhere. Pete said it reminded him of the movie Children of the Corn! Thank goodness I haven't seen that movie otherwise I wouldn't have slept! 

Chicago Weekend Fun

I recently enjoyed a fun weekend in downtown Chicago with my friends Karen and Erica. Karen is one of my best friends from high school and she lives in Chicago and invited us to stay with her for a weekend of fun. Erica had not been to Chicago for more than just a wedding and shopping on Michigan Avenue, so I was excited to show her the city that I love!

We arrived on Friday evening and went to a cookout at one of Karen's friends homes and boy could that girl cook! The food and the company were amazing and we even met a couple of Packer's fans. Not only were they Packer's fans, but they pretty much got married on a Packer's bet. If the Packer's won the Superbowl, then they would get married. Pretty funny!

Saturday we DID A LOT! We did so much that we just ordered in Italian food for dinner and watched the Olympics that evening; we were pooped out! In the morning, we enjoyed a couple of hours at the Shedd Aquarium, which I have fond memories of from growing up. It was fun to see all the animals and sea life, as well as the jellyfish exhibit that they have. That afternoon we took a Chicago River and Lake Michigan cruise to see the city and all the sites. After the cruise, I took the girls to Pops For Champagne, which is an awesome bar (with a lot of champagne) that my dad and I found several years ago. I love champagne and it was funny to see Erica's face checking out the big city drink prices - you're not in Green Bay anymore!! It was a great weekend!

Karen - we missed getting a photo with you!!

Enjoying the beautiful views of Lake Michigan
(and of course, the famous Chicago wind blowing my hair everywhere!)

Beluga Whale - I love these whales, they always look like they are smiling

Fun penguins!

Jellies

Jellies

Jellies and Lindsay

Weird upside down jellies

My First Trip to New England

In early July, I enjoyed a weeklong trip with Pete and his girls (Sam and Maggie) to visit his family in New England. It was the first time I met his family (except for his mom who I've met a couple of times) and the first time I was traveling with little kids who are two and four years old. The kids were so fantastic on the trip and traveling was not difficult with them at all. Pete has it down to a science!

We flew in and out of Boston, but his parents home is in North Hampton, New Hampshire, which is about an hour north of Boston...and beautiful! Their home is about a mile from the beach, so it was easy to head to the beach for a couple of hours with the girls and head home.

On Sunday, Pete, Maggie and I (Sam stayed home a lot to play with Grandma) went to Portsmouth, NH for lunch. It was such a cute little town with very old homes. There are very old homes all over New England and it is fascinating to see the dates from when some of these homes were built in the1600s, 1700s, and 1800s. We enjoyed lunch on the water at The Oar House. I wouldn't say it was the best meal I've ever eaten, but the scenery on the water was great! That afternoon, Pete's brother Dave came to visit with his wife Kelly and daughters, three year old Tatum and six month old Eva. I also spent a bit of time with Pete's youngest brother James since he lives with his parents.

Enjoying lunch at The Oar House

We enjoyed a lot of time at the beach while we were there. The girls absolutely had a blast at the beach and jumping around in the very cold water! The scenery in New England is beautiful, but the water is cold! There are a lot of rocks along many areas of the coast and bluffs - just beautiful!

On Tuesday we enjoyed a day out on the Christensen's boat and went for a boat ride and enjoyed a couple of hours at Wingaersheek Beach, which has white sands, pretty clear water, and huge rocks in the water. That evening, Pete and I enjoyed dinner at an awesome restaurant called Black Cow in Newburyport, MA. I loved this town; it was really cute, had a lot of sailboats, good food, and beautiful sunsets.

Wingaersheek Beach



Newburyport, MA



Newburyport, MA

On Wednesday we enjoyed another day at the beach and that afternoon and evening, I joined Pete's mom Dee out on her sailboat. She is part of a women's sailing club in Manchester, MA and I went out for a lovely evening sail, as well as enjoyed a few cocktails with the ladies after sailing. The homes in Manchester are AMAZING! It is such a beautiful area.

On Thursday, Pete and I enjoyed a day in Boston. Because we only had one day in downtown Boston, it was valuable to have a car and Pete to be my guide. We spent most of the morning driving around. He drove me past Boston College (where he attended college), Harvard, MIT, along the river, and through many areas of downtown Boston. Before lunch, we enjoyed a short ride on the famous Swan Boats.

Swan Boats

Awwwww, my cute beau!

After the boat ride, we had a mouth-watering lunch at Legal Seafoods, which is a chain restaurant that I enjoyed when I lived in Washington, D.C. as well. I love their crab cakes! The food was fantastic and Pete's high school and college buddy Brendan was able to join us for lunch. That afternoon, we enjoyed a walk up to Bunker Hill - yes, we did all 294 steps to the top! And of course, forgot the camera!! The views from the top were amazing!

After our hike up the monument, we drove over to the North End for the rest of our Boston day. We enjoyed a drink on the water, Faneuil Hall shopping area, and had dinner at Lucca's in the Italian district. Lucca's food was incredible and I highly recommend the Caprese salad because they make their burrata cheese in house. MMMMMM!!

North End in Boston

North Church In Boston, built in 1723

At Tia's enjoying a drink on the waterfront

Friday we enjoyed more beach time and had a little birthday party for all the girls. Sam will be four in August, Tatum (Pete's niece) turned three while we were there, and Maggie will turn two in August.

Saturday morning before flying home

Fun trip!

First Motorcycle Trip

The weekend of June 9th I experienced my first motorcycle trip and it was FUN! Pete didn't have the girls so we decided to take advantage of a free weekend together and go somewhere. Knowing that he loves being on the motorcycle, I mentioned that we should do an overnight somewhere with my dad, who is also an avid motorcyclist. I was also excited to experience being on a motorcycle for more than two hours.

Pete, my dad, and I, along with our friends Doug and Renea (who we met here in Green Bay) had an amazing weekend covering about 550 miles of Wisconsin. The four of us (minus my dad because he was coming up from Chicago) left Green Bay on Saturday morning about 8:00 a.m. and rode south through Kettle Moraine. That is a beautiful area of Wisconsin that I'll have to explore some more.

We then headed West, although I have no idea what route we took, and met my dad in Beaver Dam and stopped awhile after that for lunch in Baraboo. I was in awe of how beautiful Wisconsin is West of Baraboo. Not to say that the rest of Wisconsin isn't beautiful, but I prefer rolling hills and small mountains and that is what we were able to see. The photos below were taken at Wildcat Mountain State Park, which was awesome!



Lindsay & Pete



Lindsay & Dad (Paul)

We hit the Mississippi River and headed south to spend the night in Prairie du Chien. The five of us enjoyed dinner in McGregor, Iowa at Old Man River Restaurant. The food and beverages were tasty after a long day on the bike. If you head to Prairie du Chien and spend the night at the Best Western Bluffview, Hatesh will talk your ear off, but he is very nice!

On Sunday, we headed out early and road along the Wisconsin River and into Baraboo so my dad could head south back to Chicago. We enjoyed a leisurely ride back to Green Bay, at which point my sore butt was ready for a break from the ride. I think I did really well my first trip on the bike and can't wait to do it again!

Lindsay's Top 10 Novice Motorcycle Trip Thoughts
1. Lesson #1: Keep cameras VERY TIGHTLY on the bike. I learned a very expensive lesson (note the lack of photos above). Purchasing a new camera will be on my list this year.
2. During hot days, one can get dehydrated quickly on a motorcycle. It isn't easy to just grab a bottle of water, nor do you want to have to stop to go to the bathroom all the time.
3. Extra padding on a motorcycle seat only goes so far for your butt! Aleve is my new best friend.
4. Wearing boots with a heel on a motorcycle sucks; I will be purchasing new boots before another trip!
5. When you get too close to the driver, your helmets smack together. It gets annoying for both people after several times.
6. Leave valuables and hair products at home. Really...there is no need to wear jewelry or do anything with your hair when it will be under a helmet or windblown.
7. I'm glad that I am a light packer and having a limited amount of room makes you realize what you can live without for a couple of days.
8. The sink turns black every time you wash your hands...you have no idea how dirty you get on a motorcycle until you've done a trip like this.
9. I had no idea my dad smokes so many cigars!
10. I will always take the opportunity to visit the West side of Wisconsin. What a beautiful part of the state!

1,500 Mile Road Trip

Several months ago, my good friend Sara mentioned that she really wanted to take a trip somewhere. I mentioned that I would be in for a road trip and suggested we do something over Memorial Day weekend. Luckily, she thought it was a great idea.

Now that it is over, I can honestly say that it was a great idea! 1,500 miles in four days! We are rocking women! We were very fortunate in our travels; we only had about 45 minutes or so of traffic around Chicago and other than that, we didn't run into any traffic or accidents. I was glad to see that in 1,500 miles, there were no accidents! We saw a lot of police while we were heading south, but barely any heading back north.

Coming back from Nashville, we took I-24 to I-57 in Illinois. I HIGHLY recommend this route going north and south. There was almost no road construction on I-57 and hardly any cops or semi-trucks. There weren't any big towns, which I assume cut down on cops and trucks. However, it was A LOT of farmland!

Yeah, who would have guessed?? Farmland through the Midwest!



We left on Thursday and quickly (but safely) drove south. We spent the first night a little south of Louisville. Next time I'll have to spend some time in Louisville; it looked like a great city with a lot to offer. We woke up Friday morning and hit the road to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. I would love to say that we had a great time tasting bourbon and causing a ruckus, but we didn't. We were good and didn't even taste the bourbon...in our defense, it was 10:00 a.m.! We enjoyed visiting Jim Beam and Maker's Mark.

Maker's Mark is extremely beautiful. It is tucked away and takes you off the beaten path. My GPS decided to really take us off the beaten path. It took us through several farm and country roads that we probably should not have been on. But, we made it (again safely)!

Sara at Jim Beam

After we bought some bourbon, we headed south again, this time with the directions from Maker's Mark to I-65 so we avoided scary roads that seemed to lead to nowhere! We arrived at Mammoth Caves and on our way there, Sara realized that the time zone shifted from EST to CST and we were two hours early! So, we took advantage of the break and sat under some shade and read for a little bit.

Then we got our two hour break from the 96-degree temperatures! We enjoyed the underground cave tour in 55-degree temperatures - I've never been so happy to feel cold! Unfortunately neither of our cameras could do the place justice, so there are just a couple of photos below.

 

The camera was picking up the dust - those circles are not ghosts!
Although, there are a couple of people buried in the cave!

That is just deep!!

This was a great area! You had to squeeze through very tiny spaces!

After the cave tour on Friday, we headed south (again!) and spent the night in Bowling Green, KY. We found a hotel with an outside pool so that we could read and relax a little bit - as well as give our fannies a break from driving! I'd also like to mention that Sara and I were both well into Fifty Shades of Grey so we had to have time to read.

Friday morning we hit the road (South!!) and crossed the Tennessee border about 10:15 a.m. We were excited to see a winery right off the highway - how convenient! Oh dear, what are two ladies supposed to do? TASTE WINE! And we enjoyed a little time behind the bar as well!

I believe this is one of the few photos of both of us!

After our wine tasting, we headed to Nashville. We stopped at the Opryland Hotel because I told Sara that she had to see the beautiful lobby area. Upon entering the parking lot and discovering it was $18 to park (but your first twenty minutes were free) I told Sara to get her running shoes ready! We made it out with a few minutes to spare!

I don't know why this photo is giving me an attitude, but it won't rotate normally like all the other photos.
So, here is a beautiful sculpture in the Opryland Hotel lobby.

Opryland Hotel

Opryland Hotel

After the hotel, we headed over to the Grand Old Opry just to check out their gift shop. Can we say expensive?? By this time we were starving and realized that we were next to an outlet mall. We ate lunch at the very tasty Claim Jumper restaurant and did a little shopping. We (once again) needed  a break from the 95+ degree temperatures.

After some shopping, we headed downtown to Broadway and 2nd Streets where all the honkey tonks exist. These are bars (mostly country bars) that have live music almost all day long. It was great to honkey tonk bar hop and check out the cheap, tacky gift shops too. I think we spent about four hours listening to music and it was great. We had a wonderful time!

Drink and ride around Nashville. Interesting!



A little Honkey Tonk country music!



My friend Jennifer from college was nice enough to invite us to stay with her in Nashville, but it was a very quick visit! We left Nashville about 8:00 a.m. on Sunday morning and had all intentions of stopping along the way to see stuff, but there really wasn't much to take in, so by the time we hit Chicago around 5:00 p.m., we decided to just head straight home. That was a long day in the car!! It was a great trip with a great friend...and we discovered that we travel well together, which is always a bonus.

Start to a New Year

After having quite an interesting (and frustrating in many ways) 2011, I was excited to start the New Year. I don't know why but my even numbered years seem to be better for me than odd numbered years. Either way, outside of a lot of stress in 2011, there were also many great things, such as meeting new friends and a new beau.

To kick off the New Year, I went to the January 1 Packers vs. Lions football game with my good friend Erica. It was cold and we had flurries most of the day, which is just what you want for a football game at the frozen tundra in January! You can see photos of the game on my Facebook page.

On January 2 and 3, the beau and I went to Wausau, WI to go skiing at Granite Peak. This "mountain" is located about 1.5 hours West of Green Bay. I put mountain in quotes because after living in Tennessee, on the East Coast, and spending ski holidays in Jackson Hole, WY, you realize how flat Wisconsin is except for a few large hills. We stayed at the Stoney Creek Inn and I was chosen as the "Guest of the Week" so we were upgraded to a lovely suite with a fire place and large living room area.

We had a fun day skiing, although it was one of the coldest days this winter. It was about 14 degrees skiing, so very cold coming down the mountain. The beau was a race skier growing up, so he is incredible on the slopes. I was fascinated watching him come down the mountain. He was able to give me (a beginner) several tips and pointers to help me become a better skier and to feel more confident. Such a great guy :)

View midway up the mountain!

I just want to add that I get a laugh from the weather this winter. We had extreme winter temperatures the one day we went skiing and it's back up in the 30s and 40s a couple of days later. Except for a couple of inches of snow, we've had no other real winter weather in northeastern Wisconsin.

Happy New Year to you and your families. May you have a blessed year!

Beautiful Eagle River

It has been a very busy few weeks with several work events and projects on my plate. In the middle of the chaos, I found a weekend to sneak away with my friend Sara to her brother's cabin just north of Eagle River. We had a great time attending the annual Cranberry Festival in Eagle River. We couldn't have asked for better weather. We were also blessed with beautiful fall colors.



View of the lake from Tom and Darcy's cabin on North Twin Lake



I couldn't wait to see the World's Largest Cranberry Cheesecake, but
it was already cut up by the time we got there.

Beautiful colors on a 60+ degree day in October