Days 34 and 35 - The drive home

We made it home after two day of 9 am to 5 pm driving and one night spent in Milan, OH. Total driving for the trip was 8,838 miles.

Day 33 – Cheese Curds

JC and Heather's Cheese Shop

We spent the day driving across Wisconsin (aka America’s Dairyland) down to Milwaukee where we are spending the evening. During the drive we saw tons of cheese shops and we stopped at the same one that JC and Heather stopped at on their honeymoon cross-country drive last month. We bought cheese curds (a local favorite) and a nice cheese sampler to take home. Then for lunch we tried fried cheese curds (another local favorite). They tasted very similar to Fried Mozzarella Sticks so no big deal for us. In fact, they could have used some Marinara sauce.

Wisconsin State Capitol

We made a stop in Madison to take a drive through the University of Wisconsin. Not impressed at all, but then neither of us liked them going in. And of course since Madison is also the state capitol, we stopped by to see the capitol. In case you are counting, this was our ninth state capitol. And after seeing so many buildings that were very similar in design, we think some of the states went together to get a discount on a volume purchase. Can you say "cookie cutter?"

Miller Park (Milwaukee, WI)

Did a little of sightseeing in Milwaukee. Not sure what I expected but the city seemed cleaner than what I had pictured. Miller Park looks nice from the outside but the Brewers were on the road tonight. We also took a ride down to look at Lake Michigan.

Most likely this is the last post from the trip. We drive 6.5 hours tomorrow to Milan, OH and 7 hours home the next day.  No sightseeing is planned so nothing to talk about.

Day 32 – Everything on a stick

Pig Grill for sale at the Mall of America

We started the day with shopping at the Mall of America, which is the largest mall in the US. I think technically the King of Prussia Mall is bigger if you count floor space in both malls, but the Mall of America has many more stores and is all under one roof and includes an amusement park in the middle. The size is jaw dropping.

Then we took a driving tour of St. Paul, the second and smaller of the Twin Cities, and coincidentally another state capitol. Who knew? We saw the Fitzgerald Theater, home for A Prairie Home Companion and also other local and national shows. It is named for F. Scott Fitzgerald, a native son of St. Paul. We even had time to drive to my old stomping grounds at the Unisys plant in Roseville where I went on business more times than I care to count.

Crowd at the Minnesota State Fair

Finally we closed the day with a late night at the Minnesota State Fair. It is the second largest state fair in the US (behind Texas) and the thing that struck us most is that they sell everything possible “on a stick”. Corn dogs are an obvious example, but they also had walleye, key lime pie, spaghetti and meatballs, fried pickles and almost anything else you could think of. I even took a picture of the sign advertising spaghetti and meatballs on a stick as I didn't think anyone would believe it. I still don't know how they do it.  The fair was also excellent for entertainment. We skipped the main stage entertainment (Journey and Joan Jett) and opted for the smaller (aka free) acts. 

Marcia Ball and Band 

We had the sublime pleasure of drinking Leinenkugel (a local beer) in the shade and listening to Marcia Ball rock out some New Orleans R&B. Her piano playing was fantastic and the band put us in the mood for going to New Orleans next month. She regularly plays at Jazz Fest. We also watched a lumberjack show and closed the night with Cashed Out, a Johnny Cash Tribute band. They were pretty good and the singer had all the right inflections, even though his voice wasn’t quite as deep as Johnny’s. All in all, this was our favorite of the three state fairs we attended this year.