I'm in Milwaukee tonight for WWE Fastlane. This is definitely a better trip than my last time in this city with my now ex, which lasted about an hour when we couldn't find a lick of parking.
Anyway enough bad memories. I had to go over to Frank's Diner in Kenosha for breakfast. It's basically become a tradition for me to stop there for breakfast every time I drive to Eastern Wisconsin. Which is pretty impressive, considering Kenosha doesn't exactly have a lot to offer.
There isn't much room, as it's an old dining car, but that's the advantage of going alone. I was able to get a seat at the counter after waiting about twenty minutes. I ordered a full garbage plate, with peppers, onions, and hash browns, with veggies, plus cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, jalapenos, two slices of thick buttered homemade toast and a slice of cinnamon roll French toast. It ain't healthy, but it's amazing flavor, and one of the best breakfasts I've had.
The temperature was colder than I expected. The weather reports all week long had been saying the temperature would be around 60 degrees. It never even got above 45. So my half mile walk had me wishing I wore my winter hat and gloves.
I went into Discovery World, which is like the Milwaukee version of the museum of science and industry. The highlight for me was the Les Paul Guitar exhibit. Les Paul was a legendary guitar player and maker. It was so insightful learning about his recording, mixing, and playing techniques that helped to revolutionize music. There was a booth playing some classic tracks, including a duet with Paul on guitar and Nat King Cole on piano. What a treasure! I especially enjoyed my first time producing a song, as I added the drum, bass, and rhythm tracks to the song "Brazil."
Another memorable moment was laying on the bed of nails. I had to just lay flat as possible on this plastic table which and thousands of tiny holes. I pressed a green button and I could feel the nails lift me up. I released the button and the nails lowered me back to the table. No I didn't get cut, but now I think I know what acupuncture feels like.
I also went into the Sportology room. It was a dark room with stadium seating where I could test my different physical abilities. They had spots for flexibility, baseball pitching, wheelchair racing, hand grip, high jump, a hanging station, and hand eye coordination. I was really good in the wheelchair, flexibility, and hanging. The pitching and hand grip... Not too good.
I then drove west from downtown over to Marquette University. I saw a statue of the missionary whom the University whom named after and he had a golden eagles scarf wrapped around him. They had a little chapel where took a few minutes to pray.
After prayer, it was time for beer. Off a recommendation from a local writer, I tried a new brewery called Third Space, which is on the west side, not far from Miller Park. I started with a flight, since I had an hour to kill until the tour between. The beers were all pretty good, but nothing that blew me away initially. But the tour included two free beers, so I used one on something different. During the flight, my favorite was the upward spiral, which is their IPA. It's funny to think I never would drink an IPA even two years and now it's my go to during cold weather. So this place has a double hopped upward spiral. I tried it and I could not believe how good this beer was. It was drinkable like a pale ale but had the smoothness and boldness of a stout. I never drink stouts, but this was incredible. In fact, I used my second drink ticket on the same beer.
I also stopped in a small park called Valley Park. The highlight was watching a dog chasing a tennis ball that his master was slinging around. The amazing part was seeing the dog drop the ball at the person's feet. I could never get Hogan to do that. He'd just growl at me!
After the beer, it was over to the Milwaukee Brat House for some grub. More local beer and two brats. The first one I had was the German with kraut, onions, and brown mustard on a pretzel roll. Excellent. The fully loaded was the star, topped with kraut, onions, red peppers, mushrooms, and giardiniera. Awesome sausages.
WWE Fastlane was widely panned by the critics. I have to say it wasn't the best show I ever saw. Many people who should have won lost and vice versa. Plus there was just way too much filler. It didn't help that I had a piece of shit next to me in a disgusting Cubs hat
