Milwaukee is More Than Beer

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Gertie the Duck, Milwaukee History Society Museum, Milwaukee Public Market, Milwaukee Riverwalk, Milwaulkee, MKE Boat tour, The Fonz, Veteran's Park, Vietnam War Memorial

So this is a BFTP Monday post (Blast from the Past).  I just made that up.  I actually started writing this post almost a year ago….because it’s been that long since I’ve written on this blog and I’m now actually hitting the “publish” button.  What made me think of it?  Well, we bought plane tickets a few weeks ago for our upcoming annual family reunion the end of June and I’m flying into Milwaukee once again.

What is the first thing you think of when someone says “Milwaukee”?  Beer of course. After all, Milwaukee has spent many years as being touted as the “Beer Capital of the World”.  It’s home to Pabst, Schlitz, and Miller beer to name a few.It’s what my father used to call “the working man’s beer”.  Not like all the local craft breweries today that have popped up everywhere…even in Milwaukee.  This was David’s choice for dinner our first evening in Milwaukee.But Milwaukee has more to offer than beer as I found out when my husband and I decided to extend the time we were in Wisconsin for an annual family reunion and take a few days to explore Milwaukee.

It’s D-Day…..and I’m Not Talking Doughnuts

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Bedford, Bedford Boys, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, National D-Day Memorial, Virginia

When my girls were little and in Kindergarten, D-Day was a very special day.  They learned their letters and sounds with a curriculum that included “Letter People” and “D” Day was when they learned about Mr. D and his Delicious Doughnuts.  It was also the day the only male teacher at the school, Mr. Davenport (aka Mr. D.) would bring them boxes of delicious Dunkin’ Donuts.  The kids loved it.

But this post is about another D-Day, June 6, 1944.  Today is the 73rd Anniversary of D-Day.  There is a National D-Day Memorial and it’s not located in a tourist “hot spot” like Washington, D.C, where there are a lot of other military memorials.  The National D-Day Memorial is located right off Route 460 in Bedford, Virginia.  My husband and I stopped there on a trip back from a football game way back last October and I’ve been waiting to share this with you until the real D-Day, June 6th.

Lights in the Desert

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Bruce Munro, Desert Botanical Gardens, Phoenix Arizona, Sonoran Lights

No trip to Arizona is complete without visiting the desert…well, Phoenix IS actually in the Sonoran Desert and it especially feels like a desert if you are visiting in August and go to the zoo when it’s 117 degrees. Yes, I did that once. But this time I chose a better time to go….in February, warm during the day, cool at night.  Perfect for a stroll around the Desert Botanical Gardens and even better because there was a special night exhibit “Sonoran Lights by Bruce Munro“.  Bruce Munro is a British artist who is known for large scale light based installations.  How large?  Well….31,000 individual lights and hundreds of miles of fiber optic cables large.  This display took 3 years to plan and 5 weeks to install.  And let me tell you, it was worth a visit!

A Man’s Home is His Castle….Mystery Castle that is.

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Boyce Luther Gulley, Mary Lou Gulley, Mystery Castle, Phoenix Arizona

There is a an old saying….”a man’s home is his castle”…meaning it’s a place of refuge, a place where he can do anything he wants.  And that is what Boyce Luther Gulley did.  Over a 15 year period from 1930 until his death in 1945, he built a “castle”….adding to it piece by piece with whatever he could find…old bottles, tiles, railroad tracks, telephone poles, pieces of adobe, automobile parts and too many more items to mention…and all was cemented together with a mortar & cement made with among other things, goat’s milk. 

Situated on eight acres of land on South Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona lies this “Mystery Castle”. 

Starting Again…Let’s Visit in My Mother’s Back Yard

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Phoenix Arizona, William Wrigley Jr., Wrigley Mansion

So here it is March already and I have broken my New Year’s resolutions many times over.  I didn’t actually write it down….but it was in my head.  My resolution?  Write on my blog more consistently….have a plan….like once a week.  Well, well that didn’t materialize, so I changed it again in my head.  In February it was “write one post a month.”  Surely I could manage to get out 12 posts in a year.  Evidently not.  Maybe  if I had actually written it down, gotten it out of my brain and onto a piece of paper, I might have had a better chance.  But life is all about second chances and “do-overs”, so I’m trying again.

Back in November I challenged anyone who might have read my blog to go and Look in Your Own Backyard. I’m sure if anyone did that, but you really should do this sooner rather than later and not be like my mother.  Last year, I went to visit my mother who lives in Phoenix, Arizona.  She moved there in 1976.  40 years ago….well, now 41 years ago.  It took her 37 years before she visited the Grand Canyon….which is only a mere 3 hour drive away.  So while I was there, I thought we should visit some of the other fun sights that are in her own backyard.  We made a “bucket list” of places my mother has never seen….so in two weeks time we tackled a mansion, a castle, three National Park Monuments and one historic village, plus we checked out a special light show at the Desert Botanical Gardens and spent an afternoon watching the National Hoop Dancing Competition.  Whew!  My mother was born and raised in Chicago, so one of our first ventures in backyard exploring was to visit the The Wrigley Mansion.

New Year…..New Beginning…..I am not ready.

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Arizona, Biltmore Estate, Budapest Hungary, Bydgoszcz, Norfolk Tides, Poland, Virginia Tech

On New Year’s Eve 2015, my husband and I loaded up our 7 suitcases and checked in at the airport in Warsaw, Poland to begin our trip back to the United States.  2016 was a new beginning….back in our own house, with a new job for my husband, a possible new job for me and a boatload of memories, travel and friendships to look back on and blog about.  (Read about that here This Is A Test)

Reflecting back on 2016, I can say that right now it seems like it flew by…..but in reality, there were times when it just dragged on and on and on. 

Look in Your Own Backyard

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Alexander Black House, Blacksburg, Marian Rejewski, Smithfield Plantation House

Last Month Way back in the beginning of August, I went to my high school reunion.  My 40th High School Reunion.  Yep, that makes me officially old.  It was great to be able to see my former classmates and catch up on what they have been doing.  It was also a great time to visit where I once lived….Blacksburg, Virginia.  Those of you that know me are probably laughing right now.  “But you go there all the time.  In fact I think your car could drive there by itself.”  Probably true…but we go to see the Virginia Tech football games….not necessarily to actually VISIT the town.

Fluffy-Butt

I am at a stage in my life when my two beautiful daughters are grown and on their own and my husband and I are enjoying the empty-nest syndrome….an empty nest that has over the past 9 years been intermittently disrupted by this little cutie.Yes, while most couples our age are obsessing over their grandchildren and babysitting those same grandchildren, David and I have had the pleasure over the years of watching this little fluffy-butt while our youngest daughter was traveling for work or on vacation or living overseas.  A few months ago, she went back to Korea to live with her “Mom” and we have an empty nest again.  But every blog needs a little cuteness now and then, so let me officially introduce to you, Lane

Its Been A Wild Ride!

A year ago, I decided to start a blog to document our move to Bydgoszcz, Poland.  That move evolved into a roller coaster ride of ups and downs, highs and lows and crazy turns and loops.  What my husband and I thought was going to happen, didn’t.   What we thought might be a five year adventure living overseas was cut short….way short.  So we just decided to enjoy the ride while it lasted and cram in as much traveling and sight-seeing as we could.

So what has happened in my life in the last twelve months?  I have 8,249 memories. (read to the end to find out the significance of that number)  But here is a quick recap.

My final Seoul Sightseeing “Trip”

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King Sejong, Namsangol Hanok Village, Seoul, Seoul City Bus Tour, South Korea

With only a few days left of my trip to Seoul, I decided to do one last thing…take a self-tour using the Seoul City Tour bus, which is a “hop on-hop off” bus.  For one price (12,000 won or about $12.00) you can ride this bus all day and hop on at any of the pre-determined stops and also hop off at any of those stops to see attractions or sights.I thought it would be the perfect way to get to some of the places I still wanted to visit, but were too far to walk. Sounds easy right?  Wrong.