Cheeeeeeeeese...and Chicago!

So before sharing our day in Milwaukee, I'm going to share a picture from our morning drive on Friday on the way to Chicago. Can you take a guess what it might be?

If you guessed something to do with cheese, you're right! Who goes to Wisconsin and doesn't get some cheese? Come on now! They aren't called cheese heads for nothing!

Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha, WI

We picked up some 4 year old cheddar, a cheddar and jack mix and mozzarella string cheese. It was pretty darn good.

Anyway, back to Milwaukee.

On Thursday morning, we drove another 5 hours on I-90 to Milwaukee for the 1:10 PM Brewers-Padres game.

The game turned out to be a pretty exciting one with the Brewers losing 10-8 and because the game had a lot of offense, we were even able to see the Brewers famous mascot, Bernie Brewer, slide down on a home run!

Bernie Brewer sliding down on a HR

But the best part of the afternoon was my picture with the sausages from the famous sausage race!

The sausages from the famous sausage race

If you're a baseball fan, you might remember Randall Simon taking a bat and knocking one of the sausages out during a race. Well, it was during this race that he did it!

The famous Miller Park sausage race

As you can probably tell, we had unbelievable seats for the game. Clearly, the one nice thing about going to a game in a small market with a team that's doing terrible is you can score $30 seats right behind home.

The field at Miller Park

They did a nice job on the park. It has a retractable roof, which is a pretty impressive site (you can see pieces of it in the top left corner of the above picture and some of it on the below picture) and the fan experience is positive despite the team being terrible. We couldn't believe it, but there were close to 35,000 people there for a Thursday afternoon game!

Outside of the stadium, there are statues honoring Hank Aaron (played for the Milwaukee Braves and Brewers), Robin Yount (Hall of Famer), Bob Uecker (Hall of Fame radio announcer and ex-Brewer) and Bud Selig (ex-owner of the Brewers and now MLB Commissioner), which was definitely a nice touch.

Outside of Miller Park

After the game, we headed to the Harley Davidson Museum for the rest of the afternoon and evening. The museum was very enjoyable and we're glad we went despite not knowing anything about Harleys or bikes in general.

The collection of unrestored bikes, paraphernalia and other things that were showcased was extremely impressive. We spent about 2 hours at the museum and barely got through both floors. The explanations on the bikes, how Harleys are different from other motorcycles and how the company started and has changed through the years was extensive adding a great deal to our specific experience. If you ever make a trip to Milwaukee, we'd highly recommend checking it out.

Here are some pictures from it:

Serial Number One - The Oldest Harley in the world

Explanation on Serial Number One

The "EL", introduced in 1936, set new standards in the motorcycle industry

Promotional poster about the Sheepshead Bay Classic (early 1900s)

The most memorable pictures we took though were probably at the very end of our self-guided tour of the museum when we were able to touch and get on some of the Harleys...

Heather on a Harley

Brian on a Harley

After the adrenaline rush we got from sitting on the Harleys, reality struck when we were greeted by Bike Night, an event that occurs every Thursday outside of the museum where the real bikers show off their bikes. There were tons of bikes, which was really cool to see.

Bike Night at the Harley Davidson Museum

On Friday, as you already know, we started our day with a stop at Mars' Cheese Castle in Kenosha, Wisconsin. When we got to Chicago at about 2 PM on Friday afternoon, I drove around for about an hour looking for a reasonably priced parking garage for the rental car and then we closed out an otherwise uneventful day spending a great evening with our friends Zach and Taina at Lou Malnati's for some deep dish pizza (unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures!).

Since Heather and I have been to Chicago recently and saw all of the major attractions, we decided to check out the Lincoln Park Zoo (which is free by the way).

I got some pretty cool close-up shots of the animals, but our favorite is probably the meerkats who decided to pose for everyone taking pictures of them.

Meerkat posing for pictures

Rhino

Polar bear playing with his ball

Tiger having some dinner

From the Lincoln Park Zoo, Heather and I headed over to US Cellular Field to meet up with our friend Zach for the White Sox vs. Royals game at 6 PM.

Now as far as baseball parks on this trip go, US Cellular was definitely the least exciting and impressive. The park itself wasn't terrible, but there just was nothing special or unique about it...although it doesn't help when the team sucks.

The good news is that we got to see a great pitching duel with the White Sox ace Chris Sale pitching a complete game (but losing 1-0) and some really nice fireworks.

Outside the front gate of US Cellular

From our upper deck seats at US Cellular

Fireworks after the game

Now on Sunday afternoon, we did something completely impromptu all thanks to Zach. Since Heather and I have been to Chicago recently, our original plan was to spend a couple of days, have brunch or dinner with Zach and Taina, see a ballgame and head out. But Zach asks me a few days before we arrive whether we want to goto the Gold Cup Final soccer game at Soldier Field with him on Sunday at 3 PM. At that point, the US was in the semi-finals, but either way, how could I turn it down?

Suffice to say, Heather wasn't all that thrilled with going to a baseball AND soccer game, but considering she came along on this trip, what's another sporting event, right? So we went.

Outside of Soldier Field

Before the Gold Cup Final

During the National Anthems

Despite the trek getting over to Soldier Field and the ridiculous crowds to get into the stadium, even Heather admits it was awesome to see the US win the Gold Cup over Panama 1-0 in a nail biter.

The Americans parading around Soldier Field

Presentation of the Gold Cup

After the game

We were all so proud and excited that the US won that Zach couldn't resist buying and wrapping himself in the stars and stripes!

Zach with his newly purchased US flag

And that's how we ended things in Chicago...on a great note!

Next up: Detroit (where we visited The Henry Ford today and where we will be returning tomorrow before heading to Comerica Park)!

After finishing up Detroit tomorrow, we head to Cleveland and an Indians game on Wednesday and the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Thursday with the plan to complete the trip and arrive home sometime either Friday evening or Saturday morning.

Depending on how much time we have to write, the next post may sadly be coming from Brooklyn...

Until next time!