26 in 2026: Try a new food -- Hot Brown

 When we travel, we like to eat local especially for dinner. After a long day of traveling, we rarely want to think about where we are going to eat so I tend to scope out restaurants ahead of time. Sometimes I make an executive decision, other times I give the hubby options and let him pick. My go to resource for restaurants is Tripadvisor. That is where I found our dinner spot in Evansville, IN. I picked The Hornet's Nest Steakhouse which is more of pub and grill than a steak house.

The Hornet's Nest has a wide range of menu options. It has chicken, burgers, seafood, and steak. It also features a couple specialties, one of which was a Hot Brown. I think I vaguely heard the term before but never actually saw it on a menu before. It sounded good and the hubby and I both ordered it. We like to try local dishes, within reason, when we travel as well. 

A Hot Brown is a Louisville staple. I guess Evansville is close enough to Louisville that they can serve it. It is nothing fancy. Thick (or thin) sliced ham and turkey on Texas Toast topped with Mornay (cheese) sauce, bacon and tomato. It is broiled until bubbly and golden brown. I figured with bacon and cheese sauce you can't go wrong. We opted for no tomato.

It was delicious. It reminded me somewhat of a ponyshoe without the fries. The Mornay sauce was rich and creamy. It was easily cut with a fork. I doubt I could make the Mornay sauce at home otherwise I would totally make them for dinner. I am horrible at making cheese sauces. 

Next time you are in the Louisville area, you definitely should try a Hot Brown. If you are ever in Evansville, check out The Hornet's Nest. Everything that came out looked amazing. 

I wonder where our next trip will take us and what local foods we will get to. 

Checking out Historic Cox Ford Covered Bridge

 The drive from Milwaukee to Evansville is like 7 hours. That is along time without any stops. I was playing around on Google Maps trying to find some place to stop and stretch our legs. I found a cover bridge that wasn't too far from the highway. 

Historic Cox Ford Covered Bridge is located in Turkey Run State Park in Parke, IL. It was built in 1913 after the original bridge was washed away in a flood. 

The covered bridge was located down a gravel road. It was a hilly and curvy. It was literally in the middle of the nowhere.

We were able to drive over the covered bridge. We love being able to drive through covered bridges. It was a one lane bridge like usual. 

Indiana is full of covered bridges. I hope to find more. I have a whole map of them. I will have do some more research before our next trip. 

Historic Cox Ford Covered Bridge is definitely worth the detour. If you ever find yourself in rural Indiana, take the detour to see Historic Cox Ford Covered Bridge. 

26 in 2026 -- Try a New Ice Cream Flavor -- Dubai Chocolate

I love finding new ice cream places and new ice cream flavors. Give me anything with lots of chocolate and I'm happy camper. As we were leaving Rise & Grind Gelato and Coffee Shop during Green Bay's Cafe Crawl, I noticed they had gelato. I obviously missed it in the name. I decided we needed to stop on the way back to the car for some gelato when we were done with the Cafe Crawl. 

Rise & Grind had about 6 flavors in gelato to pick from. I was debating between Dubai Chocolate and Watermelon. I decided watermelon was too much of a summer flavor to get on a cold February day so I went with Dubai Chocolate. I told Heather she could tell her kiddo that I was being trendy.

I was not impressed with the Dubai Chocolate. Okay so I'm not a huge pistachio fan.. that might be part of the problem. The crispy knafeh (shredded phyllo dough) added a weird stringy texture. It was not the usual smooth and creamy texture of that I am used to with gelato. I was more hard like ice cream. 

I did jump on the Dubai Chocolate Trend and I'm not going to be running out and getting more. I'll stick to my brownie pieces and caramel ribbons in the future. 

Definitely check out Rise & Grind for all your coffee and gelato needs the next time you are in Green Bay. 

It's only February. I'm sure I'll try more fun ice cream flavors in the next 10 months. Stay tuned to find out which flavor I try next. 

26 in 2026 -- Visit a New Indie Bookstore -- Lion's Mouth Bookstore

 One of the stops on the Cafe Crawl this year was Lion's Mouth Bookstore. I was excited to visit a new bookstore and find a book for vacation.

Lion's Mouth Bookstore is located downtown Green Bay on Washington St. There is street parking or parking ramps nearby. It is open Monday-Friday 9-6, 9-5 on Saturdays, and 10-4 on Sundays. 

Lion's Mouth Bookstore is not a large bookstore but they have plenty of books to choose from. For a small indie bookstore, I was impressed by the selection. I found several books I wanted to buy and Heather found several as well. 

There is also a coffee shop inside where you can get a tasty beverage while you browse. They were giving out coffee and tea samples on the cafe crawl. 

Heather was happy to see they had a book goblin. She had to send me a video explaining the book goblin to me but I am definitely Team Book Goblin. 

I may have found a new favorite Indie bookstore. Their selection is great and it has beverages. And it's closer than Fair Isle Books.

If you haven't checked out Lion's Mouth Bookstore, please do the next time you are in Green Bay. 

6155. Go to Inventor’s Brewpub in Port Washington

 The hubby and I were going to be down by my parents on Valentine's Day and we wanted to try some place new for dinner. However we didn't want a Valentine's Day menu or feel to it. That is not our thing. Little Bro suggested the Log Cabin Inn in Howards Grove but time got away from us and it was going to be later than we wanted to get there so we decided to stay in Port. My friend suggested Inventor's Brewpub in Port. We decided to check it out. 

Inventor's Brewpub is located downtown Port Washington across the street from the Marina. There is some parking in the lot to the south of the Marina or street parking. Do not park in the marina lot or you will get ticketed especially in summer. We couldn't figure out if we needed to feed the meters or not so we played it safe and parked on the street. Inventor's Brewpub is open 11-9 Sunday-Thursday and 11-10 on Fridays and Saturdays.

We got a table right away. They are several tables including a few longer beer hall tables to accommodate large groups. You could also sit at the bar. In summer there is also a patio to sit at and look out over the lake. 

The menu features burgers, wraps, Friday Fish, and a handful of main dishes. They also have poutine.  The brats are made locally and the rolls are Sheboygan hard rolls .The hubby went with a burger and I opted for Wisconsin Bratwurst Poutine. Since I wasn't in the mood for a beer, we opted for water. 

My poutine was very good. I forgot it said beer brat and was not expecting spiciness. Once I got used to that it was really good. It was a lot of food. The hubby said he might have got it if it wasn't beer cheese or came with chicken. He also said the fries were not sturdy enough for the cheese. I would totally get it it again.

The hubby said his burger was good. It looked good. I would probably get homemade chips with my burger though. 

We will definitely be back to Inventor's Brewpub. I told my friend it got 2 thumbs up. Next time I want to try their beer. 

If you are ever in Port Washington and want a quick bite to eat or a good beer, check out Inventor's Brewpub. 

7422. See Hamilton

Hamilton is the biggest musical to hit Broadway in years and everyone wants to see it... well except me. I had no desire to see a musical based on Alexander Hamilton one of the US Founding Fathers. I passed on the opportunity to see it in Chicago with Andrea during Convention. I was just not interested. Finally I decided to see what the hype was all about and put it on the Bucket List. 

Hamilton has been to the Fox Cities Performing Art Centers at least once before. Heather and I decided to go this time it was in town. I was expecting to pay a good amount of money to see Hamilton but was surprised we could get seats as cheap as $60. Hamilton is in town February 3-15, 2026. 

Hamilton starts with him meeting Aaron Burr for the first time and follows his life through the Revolutionary War, Washington's Presidency and ends with the famous dual between Burr and Hamilton. It was very well done. 

And I was not a fan. Okay that is mostly my fault, apparently, because I went in blind. I knew Alexander Hamilton was played by a Black Actor. I did not know the entire cast was Black/Hispanic. I did not know it was a Hip-Hop Musical, hence the Black/Hispanic Cast. According my cousin, I should have listened to the soundtrack before going to the musical and would have had a much better experience. Now don't get me wrong, once I got used to the Hip Hop, especially in the 2nd Act, I enjoyed it more. 

My other "issue" and it's not really an issue per se and totally a me thing was that the set was so dark... it was the 1700 and 1800s.. appropriate for the times but drove me nuts. I want color and brightness. The dark colors fit the set and the musical perfectly so it's definitely a me thing. The one thing that didn't make any sense and I couldn't figure out the point of it was the rotating stage floor but I'm not a set designer and I'm sure it was done for a reason. Just one that I didn't see. 

Now I may not have enjoyed the entire show but the actor who played Thomas Jefferson did an amazing job. Thomas Jefferson was probably my favorite character. I absolutely loved him. 

Although the choreography was not as flashy as some musicals it was quite impressive for it's simplicity. It was much more lyrical in nature than I am used to but it fit the show. 

Unlike Beauty and the Beast, I had no issues with the costumes in Hamilton. They fit the show perfectly and I loved how King George evolved throughout the show. I appreciated all the little pops of color. 

Even though I was not a fan, I do recommend seeing Hamilton. It is very well done and a great musical. Definitely listen to the soundtrack before hand. I am glad I went and there's a rare chance I may even see it a second time. 

Heather and I said we need to make a musical bucket list. Are season tickets in our future? It is cheaper than a year worth of book boxes....

26 in 2026 -- Try at Least One New Restaurant -- Bowl 91

 Heather and I decided to do dinner before Hamilton. When I asked for suggestions she said somewhere close to the PAC. Knowing her younger kiddo would be joining us, I gave her suggestions that he might like as well. She opted for Bowl 91.

Bowl 91 is an Asian Fusion restaurant on College Ave. It is open 11-8 Monday-Saturday. It is not a large place from what I could tell. You can also order carryout. 

I was stepping outside of my comfort zone on this one. I made sure before I suggested it, there were Amy friendly options on the menu. I figured worse case scenario I would have egg rolls and crab rangoons. 

Bowl 91 has a lot of Ramen. I had Ramen once and wasn't a huge fan. Instead of getting ramen or fried rice, I went with Loaded Chashu Fries and we split crab rangoons between the three of us.

The crab rangoons were amazing. The filling was creamy and not overly sweet. I would come back just for the crab rangoons. 10 out of 10 for the crab rangoons.

Loaded Chashu Fries were very good as well. Only I would go to a noodle place and order French Fries. Loaded Chashu Fries were French Fries topped with braised pork belly, shredded cheese, teriyaki sauce, and a spicy mayo I asked for the mayo on the side. I didn't even really use it. The teriyaki sauce was perfect for me. I love the Asian twist on poutine. It was comfort food in a Asian bowl. Absolutely delicious.

I would definitely go back. It might be a good option for cookie baking in the future. The hubby said he'd be willing to try it since I've raved about the crab rangoons.

If you haven't checked out Bowl 91 and like Asian, you definitely need to add it to your list for you next date night or friend date.