Day 17: Baseball, Food, Food, Baseball

Sunday, September 2, 2007
Miller Park/Pretty Lake, Wisconsin

By Craig

Sunday, September 2, 2007
Miller Park/Pretty Lake, Wisconsin

Can’t beat Bill and Tina’s downtown condo for convenience. After grabbing some Dunkin’ Donuts coffee a half a block away, we cruise up to the lakeshore to check out the (relatively) new (2001) Santiago Calitrava-designed addition at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Ahhh … gotta mix in a little bit of culture with the baseball. The addition is quite spectacular. I’d forgotten that the original part (1957) of the building was designed by Eero Saarinen. The museum has a pretty decent collection – well worth checking out if you’re in town. I was definitely impressed with the folk art/self-taught collection.

Enough damn culture. Now we’re off to Miller Park, which was built in 2001. Man, what a great baseball stadium. With each new park we visit, I’m dreading going back into the Metrodome to watch the Twins after this trip is over. (Not to mention that they’re continuing to lose – today it’s to Kansas City, tomorrow it will be to Cleveland again). Another pretty good game, Prince Fielder bangs out a 3-run homer (his 40th of the year) in the 6th inning and the Brew Crew beats the Pirates (arrrr … the pirate theme continues) 7-4. Highlight of the game: awesome bratwurst (Milwaukee IS sausage town), and a killer Italian beef sandwich with hot peppers.

After a smooth exodus from the stadium area, we’re headed about 20 miles west of Milwaukee and 15 minutes south to Pretty Lake. I haven’t seen my hometown buddy Eric Darling for about 11 years or so, but take advantage of this opportunity to see he and his wife Ellie and their kids Will and Katy. We’ve had wonderful hospitality at all of the stops we’ve made to visit folks, and the Pretty Lake visit is no exception. Ellie’s sister Sue and her husband Alan are visiting for the evening as well. There is much shrieking and laughter from the kids and the neighbor’s kids playing in the lake (while Bailey, the household dog goes nuts). The mosquitoes are pretty aggressive, so we take a pontoon ride on the lake. It’s gorgeous out there. Ellie and Alan stayed behind and by the time we return, there’s mixed grill on the table. More awesome sausages.

Then some more story telling (and, of course some joke telling – I’d forgotten that Eric probably should have ended up being a stand-up comic instead of a lawyer), and a bonfire on the beach. Eric and Will ceremonially burn their T-shirts. Eric coaches the all-star team that Will plays on. (Eric, you should have been a baseball coach instead of a lawyer). The early bedtime was much needed. This trip is wearing me out.