quick Monday evening post

Monday evenings are usually not productive - I get home, print up practice, go coach my swim team, come home, eat dinner, get ready for Tuesday, and that's pretty much it.

Leftovers being reheated (gently) in the toaster oven have bought me some time tonight to at least post a quick note, however. More to come in the week ahead while Conrad is out of town and I play the grass-widower. So then:

DC is not done - the conference/dining recapping has a bit more work ahead.

The delightful UP weekend needs some further mention.

The dinner on the way up in Kohler needs attention.

A visit to Broadway Cellars with friends/teammates - one of those places I really wanted to like, but...

Sushi with Luke!

And, best of all, a visit from TK this past weekend.

Things ahead, and not in that order. Check back through the week!

Milwaukee/Kohler

Reaching all the way back to last Sunday for this posting, just to add some photos from Milwaukee and Kohler to the blog.

We dawdled a bit on the drive up north last weekend even after a later-than-expected start to our drive. It was 1:00 and still kind of sunny when we drove in to Milwaukee.





Nice city - I rather like the place. Lunch was at a coffee shop we like in the loft district, the Third Ward,
and we poked briefly in the nearby Market after that.

(The Market is a nice little place with some little treasures like the St. Paul Fish Company and the Spice House. We stopped in at the Fish company's oyster bar for some lunch on our return trip to Chicago and picked up a few things to replenish the seasonings and flavourings in my kitchen cupboard.)

Our stop in Kohler was much shorter: some fuel and a bit of fruit and water from the grocery store at Woodlake.




The weather, as you can see, was not as good by that point, and though we usually take our time in the little town, this time we got back on the road again quickly.

Dinner at Whistling Straits

Neither Conrad nor I are golfers. In truth, it's a game I can't relate to, though I think that golf courses are often stunning works of landscaping. Consequently, I struggle to remember when last I set foot in a golf clubhouse.

Last night we caught the resort shuttle out to the Lake Michigan shore for dinner at the Whistling Straits Restaurant. I wish we'd gone early enough to see some of the place in daylight, but that would have meant a 4:30 dinner. At 7:00, all was inkily dark out there.

In the end, I think that Conrad and I agree that it was a nice experience and one that would be reasonable to repeat, but that the food was a little lacking. Not bad, but we've had some very good and interesting food in recent weeks, and it's difficult not to compare. I did enjoy the sweet treat of sticky toffee pudding for dessert, and my pan-seared Chilean sea bass fillet with leek and pancetta risotto, roasted-tomato cream, and French beans was the better of our two entrees (Conrad's seared halibut with shiitake and morel mushroom risotto, grilled asparagus, and sherry cream sauce was overcooked, though it photographed well!). The spinach salad with aged white Cheddar cheese, Granny Smith apples, and warm smoked-bacon dressing was pretty basic in the end. Conrad's Whistling Straits sautéed escargot with applewood-smoked bacon, wild forest mushrooms, port wine sauce, and tomato concassee was both substantial and very tasty while my Georges Bank scallops crusted with Stravecchio cheese and served with crisp prosciutto and a sherry gastrique were a bit bland and chewy.

The wine surprised us some: on the menu it was listed as a Carneros Pinot Noir, which was true in so far as the origin of the grapes. In fact, the wine was produced and bottled in Door County, WI. That set us into snob mode immediately, but the wine quickly and appealingly opened up in the glass, and we had to admit that we would enjoy it for what it was if we didn't know it was a Wisconsin wine. It kept us good company through dinner.

The staff was very friendly, and the room had a warm lodge feel to it. So, the food struck out a bit. The dinner was still a welcome part of a two-day getaway.

American Club

We're just back from two nights in Wisconsin, and neither of us got the amount of work done that we'd intended. I did have my first visit ever to Old Orchard Mall out in the 'burbs, though, and the happy result was two suits deeply discounted. I feel so grown-up all of a sudden.

More photos from the American Club in Kohler. We sort of figure that 3 nights would be ideal, unless we intended to golf. It would be good to do a culinary/wine package or a spa package and enjoy the resort a little longer than we did.

What struck me most was how well used the common areas were. The photos here of the library bar area were from a time of day when only one other person was in there during any of the time we were. Later in the afternoon, many of the reading rooms and nooks about the building were quietly filled with people enjoying a tranquil read. I think that speaks well of the place.

Views of the front of the hotel.

Views from our west wing room.

Escape to Wisconsin

Lots of postings thse last few days, I know. Now that the hubbub of the holidays is mostly over (oh, who am I kidding? We have New Year's to get through and have a swim team mate and his partner due over for dinner on Friday) and we're rather drained from the effort of cleaning/cooking/hosting, we've escaped to Kohler for two nights at the American Club.

Ahhhhhhhhh.

Yes, I will do the mighty gay thing tomorrow and head over to the salon in order to get a men's hand treatment done. Do you know what all the handwashing and dishwashing the last few days have done to my hands? I deserve it!

It is lovely here, though. Our room has an enormous bathroom that probably rivals the puny place I lived in when I was in Montreal. We took great advantage of the tub tonight for a relaxing bubble bath together when we arrived. No, I will NOT subject you to photos of that.

We're unwinding with the laptops and blogging now, but earlier it was a corner of the Winery Bar, some wine, sushi, olives, and Wisconsin cheeses, and some talk of all the things we'd love to do in the year to come. Back to Chicago on Thursday!