Friday, October 30, 2015

Hellooooo Wisconsin

Milwaukee over looking Lake Michigan
Leaving Hawaii was a bit of a bummer, however we were headed to Milwaukee to attend our good friends Matt and Sarah's wedding. These two had met only a few years earlier in a slightly arranged manor. Sarah and Amy met in New Zealand when they were both there studying. They became good friends and have stayed in touch and if you've followed our blog for awhile, you'll remember Sarah came to visit us in CT in 2012 and then again came to visit us out in Colorado in 2013. Low and behold, while she was visiting, she and my mate Matt hit it off like a house on fire. Now due to our involvement in their coming together, we were treated like we were celebrities, getting multiple mentions in wedding day speeches, one even requiring us to stand as everyone toasted to us! Throughout the night we kept being thanked by everyone for introducing them, and Amy even got cornered in the bathroom by a gaggle of girls.

Amy, Thomas, Matt and Sarah
Their wedding was a very well put together affair. With the ceremony at a local church followed by an impressive reception at Turner Hall, a historic Milwaukee venue. The grand building has been some what restored to a structural level however the design and decorations have been left as original. Flaking paint, cracks in the walls and wonky floors, the place had so much charm and character. Cupcakes and pretzels caped off the reception, before the party headed of to a local bar. 

The Milwaukee skyline, on a very windy day.
We had nowhere to go and nowhere to be, so we sort of house and cat sat for Matt and Sarah while they honeymooned. We took full advantage of the situation we found ourselves in. We biked everyday on the city's lakeside paths, played Frisbee golf, practiced AcroYoga and explored the expansive but sleepy historic city. Our usual nights entertainment was finding ourselves immersed in the rich beer heritage, new and old that the city is know for. Lakefront Brewery, MKE Brewery, Water Street Brewpub and the giant MillerCoors. Along with the breweries there in the city, there were also countless establishments serving the regions finest ales and some more of those giant pretzels. There was a definitive Germanic atmosphere to the region, with the Germans being the predominant settlers back in the day. 

Where beers come by the pair and the pretzels are pizza sized. 
One interesting outing we had with Sedge, Matt and Sarah's flatmate, involved a pub crawl with the Pedal Tavern- a large 12 person, pedal powered bar. BYO and legal to drink while aboard, with a sober driver manning the steering wheel, we pedaled in the rain to multiple bars. It was a tad bit bizarre, but great fun, sorry to all the traffic we held up, though. And those infamous Milwaukee cheese curds, I had to mention them somewhere, yummy, we had a good few!

 

With Matt and Sarah back in town a week later, we were back on the couches, but their lovely cat Arthur kept us company. Their honeymoon was over, but we were still on holiday. We continued to enjoy the fine autumn weather, and particularly the use of their indoor swimming pool and spa. Beers and catching up in the evenings, it was good to spend some time with old friends after the madness of their wedding was over. In the end, I told Amy she was right. Two of our best friends got married to each other. How could we have missed that? 

Back on the road again.

2 comments:

  1. It's a bit rough making the cat sleep in the fridge because you two were on the couch though!

    ReplyDelete