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trivialbob Ā· 4 days
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Itā€™s been snowing most of the day and will continue all night. Normally I love a good snowstorm. But this stuff is wet and melts when it hits the blacktop. Itā€™s a junior varsity blizzard. ā˜…ā˜…ā˜†ā˜†ā˜†
The snow made plane-watching decent at the airport dog park. I love when I canā€™t see a jet coming in at a distance, then suddenly one pops through the low clouds. Surprise! Another fun thing: when the planes get done at the de-icing truck, their wings are bright green.
Sulley is unhappy with me. Three times today I prevented him from bringing home something he found. First was a dead raccoon at the airport dog park. It weighed more than Sulley. It would have been amusing to watch him try to carry it back to the car. That was followed by a chunk of ice he picked up in the parking lot. It would have just melted inside the car. Finally, I took the dogs on a late afternoon walk in the neighborhood. Sulley and Oliver found an intact donut by the front door of the grocery store. That would have just ended up as barf on my living room floor, so they were deprived of a free donut. I know, I passed up on something free.
Tomorrow is the final day of REIā€™s 20% off one full-price item and 20% off an outlet item. I also have a hefty REI dividend waiting for me. Basically I can get one or two things from REI for practically nothing.
I hate to see a coupon go to waste. The only problem is, thereā€™s nothing I truly need. I sort of want a daypack. I just donā€™t really have a use for one. It would sit in my closet, to be rarely used. I canā€™t justify it. Thereā€™s an REI duffel bag I like, but I have a perfectly good LL Bean duffel. It would be wasteful to get another one just for one little extra feature and a different color. Perhaps I should have a garage sale, get rid of many things, and have an excuse to buy new stuff.
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trivialbob Ā· 5 days
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This turned out well.
Home Run Inn is my favorite frozen pizza brand. It's also the most expensive ($10.49) pizza at the grocery store and never goes on sale like other brands. The stores by my house only carry sausage or pepperoni HRI pizzas.
The other day I went to Walmart instead of my preferred grocery store. I had been in the mood to shop somewhere besides my usual Cub or Lunds&Byerlys. Thereā€™s Target too, but it doesnā€™t appeal to me as much as the first two stores.
The Walmart I chose is chaotic, messy, and crowded. There's always a squad car parked near the front door. I felt up for an adventure.
Walmart had the HRI pizzas for $6.49. Holy cow! Prices on other things were pretty nice compared to Cub. V8 juice at Cub is $4.89, but was $4.00 at Walmart.
Walmart also carries the cheese HRI. Which is what brings me to today's blog post.
Some time ago I got on the HRI email list. Occasionally the company sends out "recipes." I put the word in quotes because they donā€™t show how to make a HRI pizza from scratch. What it is though is more along the lines of what I like to do if Iā€™m not feeling ambitious.
HRI suggests different toppings to place on the cheese pizza. Not the typical things you find at Dominos, but unusual or uncommon ingredients. The recipes are easy, says the guy making dinner by placing a frozen disk into a toaster oven.
This one is Mexican Street Corn pizza. I had all the topping ingredients on hand already. The directions are simple. The results were delicious.Ā I'm going to have to try some of HRI's other "recipes."
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trivialbob Ā· 7 days
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My son purchased some weights via Craigslist. The seller lives near me, so I picked up the merch for Jack.
I paid. Jack will pay me back. He doesn't know it yet but he is about to learn about the vig. Daily!
Those sure are fancy looking big heavy discs for things that are just... dead weight.
The seller helped me load the plates into my truck. Not that I needed assistance. I lift weights too -- every day while I ride my stationary bicycle.
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trivialbob Ā· 8 days
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When you Tumblrs mention a restaurant or bar that is not in the Twin Cites area but I can find online, I read its menu. Then I decide what I'd actually order, as if I were actually dining there.
I also use Google Street View to see the front of the restaurant and get a feel for the neighborhood. How is parking? Is there a bike rack nearby? What can I could do before or after the meal? Any fun shops around? I like finding a local bike store nearby; those are fun to visit. If the first restaurant is too busy is an interesting backup nearby? Oh, I'd better peruse that menu too.
Sometimes I even search the neighborhood in Zillow, to see if there's a cool home within walking distance of the restaurant. I like walking or biking to restaurants and bars.
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trivialbob Ā· 8 days
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Last night Sheila and I went to a Minneapolis brewery to play Crokinole with other people. It wasn't a tournament. We just rotated around different tables to compete with various players in the loosely organized event.
When we first arrived a guy was already there getting set up. He had a really nice board. He examined our folding board and seemed to have doubts. People often ask if the center-line seam affects play. It does not.
He noted our bumper pegs were wood and lacked the rubber or silicon cover that the pegs on his board had. "Not as bouncy," he explained. I quietly wondered if we had purchased a deficient board. As more people arrived I saw at least half the boards had the wood pegs like ours. Whew!
That guy was super nice though. Before the games began he took time to practice with me and offered helpful advice that I welcomed.
He asked how often I waxed our board's surface. "Never, I mean not yet," I replied. He got out micro fiber towels and car wax spray and went to work on our board. I liked the results. The appearance didn't change, but the wood discs slid much better. I think I had better control over them after that. He also explained how to use shuffleboard wax/sawdust. One variety I saw was from France. I'm not sure it's legal in all 50 US states. Sheila said another one looked like popcorn salt. Thank goodness the brewery didn't offer popcorn, because she might have gotten sick!
Sheila and I were the oldest people there. Several of the players were younger than our two sons. I still enjoyed talking with them. It amused me that instead of talking about spouses and houses, as I might with my peers, I heard about boyfriends/girlfriends/roommates and apartments.
It was a fun evening.
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trivialbob Ā· 10 days
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Yesterday Sheila and I went to the North Loop area of Minneapolis to try some highly regarded pizza. Wrecktangle makes a Detroit-style pizza, deep dish with cheese cooked on the sides. We loved it.
The restaurant is one of four counter-service establishments situated around a bar and shared tables. So it's like a nicer food court. The location is in an old brick warehouse. Neat setup.
The place wasn't terribly busy, yet the bartender seemed swamped. It took a while to order drinks. While we waited we saw two other bar employees hanging out behind the bar. Maybe they weren't bartenders, but it's a bad look just standing there BS'ing in front of customers. They could have at least cleared some dirty glasses to help out the guy pouring drinks. Had the bar been operating efficiently I'm sure we would have stayed longer. As it was, we left as soon as the pizza was gone.
Deprived of a second beer, we stopped at our usual brewery on the way home. While Sheila and I played Crokinole, she spotted another couple and said we knew them from when our sons played baseball. I didn't recognize the couple so eventually I walked over and introduced myself. Sheila is never wrong about remembering faces. They remembered us right away and also our son Jack, who the wife fondly remembered.
While we talked another brewery regular stopped by to say hello. That was nice. The five of us chatted for a while. That other guy shares my first name. I've said hi to him often, but never really spoken much more. He's an interesting fellow who frequently stops at the brewery at the end of long bicycle rides.
We learned he is an attorney. The husband from the other couple started making lawyer jokes. Like tickling, a tiny bit is probably okay. Beyond that, it's definitely not funny. The lawyer/bicyclist downed his ale probably a little faster than normal, then left.
Sheila and I stayed and talked with the other couple. It was still fun even though I felt bad about the other guy leaving.
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trivialbob Ā· 12 days
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Our neighbors' beautiful Boxer, Otis, got loose. He ran to my back yard to see my dogs. Otis weighs approximately 475 pounds.
Except instead of the three dogs he expected to see, there were five. My son and DIL's dogs are here for a few hours. Those two dogs don't know the boxer, so they barked like crazy at the sight of big Otis. That got my three dogs barking at him too.
Wrangling home Otis didn't even require a leash. He looked at me like "You people are too loud!" Then Otis lead me to the gate of his back yard. All I had to do was open the latch and let him in.
A Target order just arrived. My shopping list got over the limit for free shipping. it's convenient, but I forgot how much extra work and packing the store does.
For example, Comet cleanser was wrapped in a heavy gauge plastic bag, fastened shut with zip tie large enough to choke three sea turtles. Some Dickies socks I decided to try were snuggled inside another plastic bag sealed shut with Target logo tape.
There were a few more items in the cardboard box. All this is in addition the the four-pack of facial tissue from the same order which shipped early. A large FedEx truck drove down my street to deliver a cardboard box filled with packing pillows and tissues.
All the cardboard boxes, tape, plastic bags, lethal zip ties, and packing pillows must make Gaia sob. Surely, even with my truck's low fuel mileage, it hast to make better sense to drive four miles to Target and pick out items myself. For penance, this summer I will make some Target runs with my bicycle and bike trailer. I've done that before and like it.
When I go to Target in person I sometimes make an impulse purchase. Those chicken tenders, served warm, usually call to me. Or I'll just seem something on sale or an item I forgot I even needed. There two cashiers I like to see. As long as I'm out I can stop by Trader Joe's on the way home.
The only reason I see for getting a Target order shipped is me being lazy. The FedEx truck makes my dogs bark a lot too.
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trivialbob Ā· 13 days
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I'm at the brewery. An Amber Alert just went out. It was interesting to see everyone here simultaneously take out their phones.
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trivialbob Ā· 14 days
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Sheila and I went to the brewery tonight to play Crokinole and, of course, drink beer.
There were plenty of people we knew. I love walking in and saying hi to a half dozen I know by name. A man Sheila and I talked with a few months ago was there too. He remembered us and came over to say hi. We had forgotten each other's names. So we talked more tonight.
The guy on Etsy who sold us the Crokinole board should have given Sheila business cards. People see us playing, get curious, and ask where we got the board. I know of one person who bought a game from him after seeing ours. The brewery has a board too, but it's kind of a cheap one.
Our last name is etched into each side of that Crokinole board. Speaking of our last name, two more people I know now share 0 0it.
First, my daughter in law. She changed her last name when she married Jack last month. It still seems cool to see that on Facebook. She's one of us. Not that we are actually Facebook friends. She shows up in the people-I-might-know section. Me, I have never sent a FB friend request. Too shy. All 27 of my FB friends initiated it. Knowing that, you can deduct my new DIL hasn't sent me a FB friend request.
The other person now with my last name is a project manager at work. She got married recently and changed her last name. Now she has the same first and last names as my brother's ex-wife. The first email I received from that project manager, displaying the new name, left me wondering about opening some emails until I figured it out.
Back to the brewery -- Several of us chatted around one table. We looked to another table and saw someone we thought we knew. After some discussion we figured it out: Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration. Or a doppelgƤnger.
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trivialbob Ā· 15 days
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Our Time
Today I was working on something where some of us were going over data in a large Excel worksheet. It goes out to column DF and down to row 514.
The person who created the worksheet is screen sharing with us via Teams. She was moving all over the worksheet. It was difficult for me to keep track of some things because she top row and the far right column, both containing field descriptions, keep disappearing.
I asked her to freeze column A and rows 1 and 2.
"Sorry," she said. "I don't like to do that."
What the hell? So others and I keep keep asking, "What [piece of data] is that for? What is that for? What is that for?"
But here's what really killed me. She can't remember all the headings either, so she kept scrolling up or to the right to read the headings.
I suggested she use the F5 command, which lets users move directly to a cell. Pressing the F5 key, followed by A1, will bring you immediately to cell A1, for example.
"Sorry," she said," I am not used to that. I like the sliders instead."
She really wasted a lot of our time. There wasn't any pizza in it for us either :(
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trivialbob Ā· 16 days
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This afternoon my dog Sulley was outside on the patio bricks, sunning himself as he watched for squirrels. The house furnace is turned off and the inside air has remained slightly cool after last night's colder temperatures.
Sulley just came in and sat under my desk, putting his head by my lap so I would pet him and scratch his neck. His fur was delightfully hot against my somewhat cold hands. I love that feeling. He didn't complain either.
Last night, right before bed, I drank the last of the water in my Yeti tumbler which I then left on the counter overnight, still full of ice. This morning some of it had melted, but not all. Overnight ice water tastes colder than fresh ice water, I swear.
Recently I've was talking to three different people about Mexican food. Tonight I'm going out to dinner with my Dad to a Mexican restaurant. I'm getting hungry just thinking about what to order off the huge menu.
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trivialbob Ā· 18 days
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It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood ā™Ŗ ā˜¼ ā™«
I took two of my dogs for a walk around Lake Harriet. There's still ice along the shoreline. Ella wanted to walk on the ice but it's not safe, even for her 40 pounds. Sulley just wanted to lick the ice.
Unfortunately for Oliver, he remained home. Walking three dogs on leashes around other people is too much of a clown show for me to deal with.
Oh don't worry, Oliver got "Stay at home treats." Those are actually a thing at our house. My wife stores hem in a different jars, kept separate from the "We just got home treats," the "Good morning treats," and the "Oh, who's such a good dog?" treats (you have to use the right tone of voice when dispensing those last ones).
Quite of few runners were at the lake. That's no surprise with this nice weather. Many had awful early-season form. I could here them coming behind me, scraping shoes on the path or stomping like they're trying to put out a brush fire. There are going to be some achy knees and ankles tonight.
I saw a man riding a Specialized carbon fiber, full suspension mountain bike. Because he was on a smooth, paved bike path I assumed he pedaling to some far away hills. His chain made terrible squeaking noises.
The man was decked out in all the expensive-looking gear, from head to toe, from Gore-Tex to Lycra to micro fiber. Buying all of that must not have left funds to chain lubricant.
OK, fine. Maybe he was just doing a start-of-the-season shakedown ride near his home. Find out what needs to be adjusted or lubricated, before going to the mountain. A nice bike squeaking like that though sounded terrible. I have a comfortable pair of BĆørn shoes that squeak on grocery store floors. I would sooner shop in my socks than wear those squeaky shoes around other people.
During my walk I politely declined to purchase Girl Scout cookies at four locations. Those kids are showing up everywhere. On some street corners they set up tables and dare people to say no to cookies. If they start giving free samples on those corners, to get people hooked, those light green vests basically become gang colors.
The grocery store always has a table inside for the Scouts. Sometimes outside too. I can usually squeak past the girls without being noticed, as long as I am not wearing those BĆørn shoes.
Even the brewery lets the girls set up a table inside AND walk around to all the other tables. Strangely, boxes of Girl Scout cookies spontaneously appear in the trunk of my wife's Subaru when it's parked at the brewery. This generally happens while I use the rest room right before we go home. How does that car even know Thin Mints are her favorite?
This year I have consumed exactly one Girl Scout cookie. A friend at the brewery told me the Toast-Yay! cookies, flavored like French toast and with icing on the bottom, are excellent dipped in coffee. He had just purchased a ton of them and insisted I try one. It was very good, even without being dunked in coffee.
Tagalongs and Somoas were my favorites. I just don't have enough interest in cookies nowadays to buy any though.
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trivialbob Ā· 19 days
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Tonight is the Minnesota State High School Hockey Championship. It's kind of a big deal here.
My school is one of the teams playing tonight. I'd like to see them win, but if they got blown out 10 to zip I'd find some satisfaction in that too. High school, ya know.
Earlier today I walked around at the Mall of America. It was very busy. People watching was, as usual, pretty good.
On the way home I stopped by the brewery for one. A couple whom Sheila and I know, but haven't seen in a while, were there. I hung out with them. It was nice catching up.
For the game tonight I'm having another beer at home. This is one of Surly's limited Darkness editions. It's 2023 Cold Smoked Cherry Darkness barrel-aged imperial stout. That's a lot of words for a name, so it had better taste good.
It does. Not unlike Angelina Jolie, it is smooth, sweet, dark, and strong (12% ABV). I'm never disappointed with barrel-aged beers, and this one is no exception.
I also bought strawberries off the back of a truck today. Nice looking fruit, good price. My beer was made with cherries but the strawberries deserve a picture too.
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trivialbob Ā· 20 days
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Last night we didn't do anything really special for our anniversary. Instead we went with comfortable.
First we picked up a pizza of the month from a nearby restaurant. It had cashew curry sauce, roasted red peppers, house cheese blend, mango, spicy peanut sauce slaw, and cry baby aioli. The slaw and aioli came in separate containers. They were wonderfully spicy, so it was nice to spoon on only as much as you wanted. I loved the pizza. We both agreed it would be worth getting again this month.
We took the pizza with us to the brewery. We also brought our new Crorkinole game. The dogs stayed home.
A few weeks ago the brewery held a Crorkinole tournament. I'd never heard of the game. Sheila was really intrigued by it and ordered a set. On Etsy she found someone in Minnesota who custom makes the game boards and playing pieces.
We've brought the game with us to the brewery several times. One recent night when Sheila worked late I was home practicing. So I did really well last night. Should have played for money. Several people stopped by our table to inquire about the game.
Playing the game is fun, but I love just looking at this board. The person who made it did beautiful work. It folds in half and has compartments for the playing pieces. The hinges and a latch are excellent quality. Sheila also ordered a nylon carrying case for it, but that hasn't arrived yet.
The top right picture shows the playing side. The shots below are the backside/inside of the folding board and one of the hinges.
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Recently Sheila bought a laminating machine to use for some notes and forms she will be using when she starts paramedic school in May. She laminated Crorkinole rules to keep with the board.
Laminating papers is more the sort of thing I would do. I love using my vacuum sealer and my label maker. We once agreed that I could label all the switches in the garage if I didn't make the inside of our home look like an AirBnB rental by labeling all the interior light switches.
It cracks me up that Sheila likes laminating things. I think I'm going to have to agree to let her use my label maker, so I can start playing with that laminator.
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trivialbob Ā· 21 days
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Today is our 32nd wedding anniversary.
In my circle of friends, family, and acquaintances, I've been married longer than most, but not all. Some who married before me are now single or on second marriages. Those married after me, I got a head start on them.
That day I was 25-years-old. Sheila was 22. Matt was born two years later. Jack came along four years after we were married.
I feel our ages and the timing of children worked well. We had some years without kids. Then when then boys were young, we were at a good age to keep up with them. We've now had an empty nest for a few years and plenty of time left to travel and do fun things as a couple.
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trivialbob Ā· 23 days
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The rest of last weekend I spent in Chicago.
I went there to visit my college roommate, Ross. We've known each other since freshman year of college, back in the fall of 1984 -- 40 years of friendship!
Friday afternoon I drove to to the city. Normally I experience horrendous traffic there, pretty much after crossing from Wisconsin to Illinois. Someone smiled upon me this time, because the midday Friday traffic was smooth on the highways.
Things got aggressive on city streets. Twice I saw people driving over a double yellow line, directly at me, as they wanted to make a left turn without waiting for traffic.
GPS warns me of Chicago's red light and radar cameras. At times I wonder if Chicagoans don't have to pay tickets they get in the mail, because I thought I was going to get rear-ended simply for obeying the speed limit and stopping at red lights. No one with Land of Lincoln plates seems to worry about traffic tickets.
Ross had game tickets to a Blackhawks game Saturday night. The team did poorly, but I enjoyed hanging out with him and watching the game.
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I like walking through his neighborhood and looking at houses. My own home in Minnesota has a fireplace made of Chicago Brick. After the Great Chicago Fire, bricks from destroyed buildings were re-used in new home construction. It would be fascinating to me if there was a way to find out what Chicago building my bricks came from.
The Lincoln Square business area is a favorite of mine. I had arrived in the city before Ross was done working for the week. So I made my usual tour of that area on foot.
There are plenty of restaurants and bars I'd like to try. Saturday morning Ross and his wife took me out for coffee at a neat little shop with an airplane theme. Check out that booth made from airline seats and aircraft aluminum. The trash bins were re-purposed airliner serving carts.
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There was mushroom coffee on the menu. I'd heard of it before, but never tried it. So I ordered a cup of "Morning Mud" which is mushroom coffee and some sort of mushroom extract. It tasted earthy. I don't know that it made me healthier but the coffee had caffeine. I'd give it another try sometime.
Ross and his wife picked up the tab, so I also grabbed a can of seltzer, two croissants, and a large assortment of essential oil soaps that were for sale in the attached gift shop.
The coffee shop had two "unvested service dogs." One was quite comfortable sitting in customers' laps.
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Throughout my stay Ross and I hung out, had martinis and pizza, talked politics and current events, and relaxed. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit.
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trivialbob Ā· 24 days
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I had a fun three-day weekend.
As I briefly mentioned earlier, I went to Chicago. Thursday I stopped halfway and spent the night at a bed & breakfast in Baraboo, WI.
Baraboo is where the Ringling Brothers started their circus of the same name in 1884. The B&B I stayed it the former home of one of the brothers.
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More after the cut.
I like the shared areas at B&Bs. There were only three other people there Thursday night. I didn't really get to mingle as they kept to themselves.
That typewriter would have been fun to use for my blog post. Sadly, it lacked wi-fi and Bluetooth connections. There was an old, hand-cranked phonograph in the next room that was fully functional.
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Downtown Baraboo has plenty of bars (because it's Wisconsin). There were a number of restaurants and cafes too. The two-story brick buildings I like in small towns were plentiful. I logged a lot of steps walking up and down the streets, peering into windows. This is another town where I think it would have been fun to stay a week and try more bars and restaurants.
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There are two breweries in Baraboo. Of course I visited both.
The first, I was told, has better food. Tumbled Rock is where I went for dinner and flight of beers. My burger and fries were most satisfying. The beer selection was impressive. Each of the five I sampled I would definitely buy again.
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When I finished dinner I drove three miles back to my B&B and parked the car. Then I walked to the other brewery, the Al. Ringling Brewing Co.
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Inside was neat. The coolers behind the bar, filled with cans of beer, had wooden doors, mechanical handles, and glass panels. The bartender told me it was a functional refrigerator.
This place was also a former home of a Ringling brother. But it was a mansion. There used to be a bowling alley in the basement for the family. The bar top is made from old sections of the bowling alley floor.
One of the brews on tap was Cherry Pie Fruit Sour with Swedish Fish. The nice, young bartender told me the brewers add a bag of the candy fish to the mix while making the sour.
I said I hope a serving of it comes with a Swedish Fish candy garnish. She grinned and promptly brought me a glass of it with the a Swedish Fish garnish!
The mention of fish made me want to suggest a Pizza Flavored Goldfish Beer, or at least free bowls of my favorite little crackers in lieu of pretzels, but the bartender had other customers to tend to. I missed that opportunity to pitch my idea. Maybe I should write a letter?
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During my walk around town I noticed that Baraboo has a bit of a continental divide in its middle. At Oak Street, the numbered roads change from Avenues to Streets, or vice versa, depending on which way you walk. You can be at the intersection of 6th St and 6th Ave, and the two aren't even perpendicular.
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The next morning I joined the other B&B guests for a waffle breakfast. This time I socialized with them and the owners of the B&B. We learned about the history of the city and all about the Ringling Bros. and their circus.
Fun time. Afterward I took my time driving to Chicago. I timed it right to miss the worst of rush hour. More about Chicago in a later post.
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