We decided to leave early as an impending snow storm was approaching.
We left Calgary around 6 pm Friday night and drove straight through to Weyburne, Saskatchewan where we arrived around 3:30 am with a temperature of 24F. After 4 hours of much needed shut eye, we headed for North Dakota about an hour away. My goal for the day was to get to at least Fargo but when when arrived, the forecast was calling for at least 15 inches of snow overnight so we continued on to Minneapolis where we arrived around midnight. After a midnight snack we snagged a hotel room for a few more hours of sleep.
Sunday morning we slid out of Minneapolis after over night snow and freezing rain and headed south to Iowa. The further south we drove the more the temps continued to climb. When we left Minneapolis the temperature was 27F and by the time we got to Le Claire, Iowa where we stopped for the night along the banks of the Mississippi the temperature was a glorious 78F and sunshine.
Le Claire, Iowa looks like a town right out of a Norman Rockwell painting, with its historical buildings and cobblestone streets. The town even has its own distillery (The Mississippi River Distilling Company) where they make their own Bourbons, ryes and vodkas all with ingredients from local farmers.
Monday April 15th - the final drive to Chicago begins, as we cross the Mississippi River into Illinois the warm sunshine in Iowa disappears behind rain clouds as our gps guides us to the nearest Illinois toll road which you now not only have to pay to get on it but also to exit the darn thing. So back to the old fashioned scenic tour along regular non-toll roads which in many cases are in better shape than the toll roads.
We detoured off a bit to Tampico, Illinois. Birthplace of President Ronald Reagan. A small little town of 800 people.
We arrived in Chicago around 2 pm, checked into our hotel by O'Hare and then drove into the city and took a drive up and down Lake Shore Drive, stopping in at Navy Pier to gander at the shops and found one of Harry Carry's restaurants where we had dinner.
Tuesday April 16th - Flavors of Chicago Tour: we were introduced to Chicago deep dish pizza, Chicago hot dog, brownie( invented in Chicago) cheese Borgor, Fanny May chocolate and Heaven on Seventh gumbo and jambalaya.
Game day, first of 6. Off to Wrigley Field we go ( man I am pumped) it is raining and cold but the game is on and my Ranger's beat the Cubs. Good thing we bought transit passes for the week cause parking and traffic in Wrigleyville is absolutely bonkers.
Wed. April 17th - Game 2 is rained out completely but we had a tour booked of Wrigley field so it wasn't a complete loss.
Thursday April 18- Wrigley Rooftop. As the entire Chicago area and most of the Mid- West are drying out from 26 hours of intense rain where not only are many basements flooded but streets as well.
Game time is 1pm and by 11 am the rain has subsidized enough to get the game in. Again, thanks to Chicago transit and the El train we got to the game by the third inning and snagged a couple of seats on the rooftop across Wrigley Field.
What an experience that is, a must do if you plan on catching a Cubs game.
Friday April 19th - last full day in Chicago and scheduled White Sox game.
We had a couple of attractions left that we wanted to see before we departed the Windy City and Chicago definitely lived up to that.
The day began with temps hovering around the freezing mark with more rain and snow in the forecast but we carried on our way to downtown and took in the Chicago museum of Art where paintings of Picaso and American Gothic were on display including the famous painting of the farmer couple with the pitch fork. Then it was off to find the Cajun restaurant Heaven on 7 th that we sampled on our food tour earlier in the week.
We hopped the train to White Sox stadium and found out the game was postponed due to cold weather ( and here I thought Chicago people were tough).
So I did not get to see the Sox play.
Chicago - 4 games scheduled, 2 played, 2 postponed.
Saturday April 20 th - Off to Milwaukee
The day began with 30 degrees and snow on the ground but the sun finally came out and it was a good day for a drive. Miriam spotted one of them discount outlet malls just inside Wisconsin and suddenly my steering wheel is making a right turn.
We arrive in Milwaukee around 4 pm, find our hotel in what looks like a shady neighbourhood in the process of being transformed. The hotel is actually real nice and the area is not as bad as it looks as Marquette University is 3 blocks east but a massive 4 storey rave party house is a block to the west. Talk about a noisy street, especially at night.
We take a little drive through the city and find an historic light house along Lake Michigan, take a stroll along the beach then off to find a place to eat.
Miriam found this 110 year old German Restaurant called Mader's in the historic third ward district of downtown Milwaukee. Fabulous.
Sunday April 21st - Game day at Miller Park.
38 degrees and sunny but Miller Park has a roof so all is good.
Miriam is astonished at all the tail gate parties in the parking lot then at the amount of alcohol being consumed by the fans, no rowdies around us just blue collar folk having a good time. Calgary wannabe fans should take note from these Milwaukee folk.
Later in the evening one one of my smoke breaks out front of the hotel, this cop pulls up and asks me if I heard any shots.....umm no, should I have?
Seems this rave joint up the street keeps them super busy.
Monday April 22nd- Checked out of the hotel, glad to move on. Our first stop was a tour of the Pabst Mansion. Absolutely breath taking decor and woodwork. Sadly, pictures were not allowed. Massive amounts of restoration in progress.
Our next jaunt was to the historic third ward. Wonderful architecture that takes you back 100 years. Definite Germanic influence is present everywhere. We purchased some different cheeses and meat for the voyage ahead. The day was cold and windy. Our last stop before the high way was the Harley Davidson Museum. Very detailed, interesting and lots of bikes on display. Took lots of pictures and managed to get on a trike for some good Facebook uploads. The tsunami bike was on display. The souvenir shop was filled with must have t-shirts and we even managed to get a few laughs from the sales clerk. We made it as far as Eau Claire WI and crashed for the night.
Tuesday, April 23- the Amish were on our hit list and we managed to have breakfast in Augusta WI in a local cafe-best pancakes ever! The Shed was at the end of the block and had two floors filled with Amish furniture. I dreamed of buying a patchwork quilt however they were pricey, so I added an Amish cook book to my collection, homemade soap and some jams. Corn Cob jelly....interesting. As usual, I had to look into every nook and cranny to savour the experience and capture as many photos as possible. My wish came true...an Amish horse and Carriage went zipping by!
We were surprised at the amount of snow by the roadside as we got closer to Minneapolis. Mall of America with it's massive amount of shops almost killed my feet! Walked around a bit with John who spent a considerable amount of time at the Field of Dreams shop.....
Wednesday, April 24- the sleep in morning, didn't start moving until mid day. My wish to visit T J Maxx, Herbergers and Khols did not prove any good finds, everything seemed so cheaply made and I was not in the mood to dig. We headed down town and explored the Wells Fargo Museum. The nicest people work there and suggested Manny's for an evening meal. Oh my, John fought with a 24oz chunk of porterhouse and I with my filet minion. Huge baked potato, asparagus and sautéed mushrooms and a nice cabernet caused us to have another nap.
Thursday April 25th - We headed into St. Paul for the day, we started off at the state Capitol building. What a fabulous building. While I was outside having a ciggy I got talking to a gentleman who works there and we got into a discussion on the differences between American and Canadian politics and in the mean time he gave me a little history of the building and the Twin Cities in general.
St. Paul is the Catholic side and is known as the last city in the east, Minneapolis is the Lutheran side and known as the first city in the west.
The Cathedral in St. Paul is a mere stone's throw away from the Capitol building and during construction of the Capitol building the contractor and state was told that its dome could not be higher than that of the cathedral so the Capitol dome is a mere 2 feet less in height than the cathedral.
We toured both, took lots and lots of pictures than headed off to Mickey's diner in St. Paul which is a rail car diner that has been featured numerous times on the Food network and on the triple D web site of places to eat.
Thursday night - game night, my Ranger's visiting the Twins. Target field is awesome and the weather was finally good and with the Ranger's winning it capped off a fabulous 2 week road trip.
Friday April 26 - Road day. Up at 6:30, pack the car, grab some java and turn the steering wheel north through Fargo, Minot and through the border by 6 pm. The weather was good so I continued on through the night and arrived home by 7 am Saturday morning.
Now we have the whole weekend to unwind before it is back to the grind on Monday. Man I can't wait to do this again next year.
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