5266. Go to the center of the Northwest Hemisphere in Poniatowki

I asked the hubby if we could take the northern route to go visit friends in Eau Claire so I could go to half the counties in Wisconsin this year. I was one or two short to get to 36 counties for the year and needed to go through Marathon County to at least have a shot at hitting 36. He said "yes" if we could stop at that marker by Wausau. Of course we could.

"That Marker" he was referring to the was the 45N-90W Marker or the exact middle of the Northwest Hemisphere. There are only 4 points in the world were this happens and this is the only one easily accessible. 2 of them are in oceans (the two in the southern hemisphere) and 1 is a remote mountainous region of China.

Getting to the 45N-90W is pretty easy. Take 29 West and then either follow the signs or follow your GPS/Googlemaps. Googlemaps actually had us get off an exit before the sign and take some county roads to get to it. I would recommend just following the signs.

Once you get to the County Park, there is a small parking lot.

Follow the gravel trail about 1/4 of mile to the actual marker. With all the wet weather we've had lately there were a few large puddles and squishy grass. My socks and shoes were wet by the time we got back to the car. No fear the car heater dried my socks.

It's literally in the middle of a corn field. They made the marker of part of a county park to allow visitors without disturbing the farm fields.

If you happen to visit during business hours of the Wausau Visitor's Center you can actually get a commemorative coin saying you were there. We unfortunately were there early on a Sunday morning.

Don't be alarmed if you see a random dog. We saw him. He must belong to the farm. He didn't even bark as we walked down the path. He was like "eh.. more visitors."

If you are ever in the area, go check it out. It's worth the stop just to say you've been in the center of the northwest hemisphere.

A Little Bit of Packer History on a Thursday Night

Neenah library had Jim Rice come and talk about the Packers. He was going to talk about his project "The Packer Century Project". Jim has written a book about everything game Packers game played from 1919 to 2018. He scoured newspaper articles and other resources to give an insight to every game the Packers ever played.

However, that is not what he talked about at the library to the dozen or so folks that showed up. He literally went through all the big players... known and unknown... from the last 100 seasons. Jim used football games and pictures to show the who's who among Packers players. Many I never heard of but others are household names.

It was very interesting. I learned the only person who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Football Hall of Fame. Cal Hubbard was a Packer in the early days of the team and then went on to become an baseball umpire.

The hubby would have loved the program but he had to work. I learned a few more tidbits about Packer players and the history of the Packers that I didn't know before. I swear I have heard Jim Rice talk about the Packers before at Neenah Library. Maybe one of these times, the hubby will get to come.

Cafe Hopping in Green Bay

When a friend was looking for people and activities to celebrate her birthday next month, I made a mental note. When a Facebook event intrigued me, I contacted her saying "I know your birthday isn't til next month but how does a cafe walk sound" I sent her the details and she was like "Free? Coffee?".

Now I don't drink coffee.. never really acquired the taste for it but a cafe walk to various cafes in Green Bay to sample coffee, hot beverages, and treats sounded like a good way to spend a Saturday morning.

Downtown Green Bay and Cellcom sponsored the Cafe Walk. You pick up your punch card and can visit 8 different cafes in downtown Green Bay. There were 3 on the west side of the river and 5 on the east side. Everything was within relative walking distance and there was a trolley that took you to each stop. Not familiar with downtown Green Bay and poor map reading skills, we relied on Googlemaps for most of it.

We visited the following cafes

The Cannery -- It featured a dark roasted coffee. My friend, T, really liked it. I took longer to drink it. I was not a fan but I drank it all.

Kavarna -- You could have either coffee or Chaider. The Chaider was popular and we had to wait for it. The coffee was good T said. Chaider is chai tea and apple cider. It was actually really good and I'm not a fan of hot apple cider.

Monzu Bakery -- This was the only place without a beverage. There were scones to sample. Very yummy scones. I had bacon cheddar. If T and I didn't promise to save our money for the candy store at the end, I totally would have gotten a macroon.

The Attic -- They actually had several different teas to try including chaider. I went with Once Upon a Tea which was a tea with chocolate hints. T and I felt the teas were really watered down. If we actually got a strong tea here, it might have been better.

Glas -- Green Bay's newest cafe. Again they had two different kinds of coffee. It was really strong. I was not a fan. This was very self serve and a very tiny cafe.

The Creamery -- They served an iced chai latte. O.M.G. This was my favorite by far. I would actually go here and get one in the future. The couple dispensing the drinks were very friendly and helpful. They actually told us how to get to the last two stops.

Daily Buzz -- They had drinks and treats. You could Pumpkin Spice Coffee or an Autumn Refresher which was lemonade and tea plus a cookie or scone sample. The Autumn Refresher was alright but the cookies and creme scone was divine.

Grounded Cafe -- Again we had drinks and treats. They actually had four of the same stations set up around the room so it was not crowded. There was chaider to drink and either a cheese or apple pastry. The apple pastry was so much better than the cheese pastry.

Apparently chaider was the hot new beverage of choice this year. I never even heard of it until the cafe walk. The samples weren't big but it's a sample and it's free so I'm not complaining besides I couldn't drink an 8 oz beverage at all these locations.

I guess in the first year, there were a dozen or more locations instead of the eight we had this year. 8 was actually a good number. It gave you time to walk to the locations because waiting for the trolley was a waste of time and enjoy your drink. You really only 3.5 hours to complete it (8:30-12) and it was pretty close to noon when we finished because of having to wait for the trolley to take us across the river. We didn't get there til 9:15 or so though either.

T and I decided we would do this again but with more people. It would actually be fun with a big group of people. I can't wait til next year so I can arrange for a group of us to go.

A Week of Books and Author Visits

The Fox Cities book festival is probably one of my favorite times of year. Author talks all week long. Some years there are interesting authors that I want to hear. Other years I struggle to find authors I want to hear. This year there were many authors I wanted to hear. Several of them actually had books on my to read list. A few I never heard of but their description made me add their book to my book festival reading list and go list to them. The only problem with the book festival is that some of authors I want to hear are during the day and that's a bit difficult when I work.

This year I went to 6 different events at 3 different libraries. It helped that the events during the week were all at one specific library each day I didn't have to drive all over town if I wanted to hit multiple authors in one day. There were a couple others I wanted to go to but just didn't have the time.

The authors I listened to covered a wide variety of topics. It was a even a split of fiction and non-fiction for this year. I did read an additional fiction book for an event that I couldn't quite make it to.

Joe Niese -- I actually took PTO to hear him talk and dragged the hubby with me. He wrote a book about a football player/coach named Gus Dorais who was from Chippewa Falls. Dorais utilized the forward pass as a player more than any one in his time. He played in the early 1900s. He coached several winning college teams. This was before there were powerhouse conferences. Detroit University might play Marquette or Wisconsin. The book was fascinating and the speaker was really good. The hubby liked it because the author was from Eau Claire and was a baseball guy. He wrote several baseball books too. I like hearing/reading about obscure athletes that were quite the player/coach but never got the recognition they deserved.

Richard Ratay -- He wrote Don't Make Me Pullover... An Informal History of the Family Road Trip which was on my to read list. The book was hilarious at times. Even though Richard pretty much recapped the book during his presentation, it was hilarious. It made me remember our family vacations in the station wagon and even the hubby and my baseball road trips currently. Unlike most of the events I went to, there was a fairly decent size crowd.


Avi -- This is the only one I didn't get hear speak. He spent a few days visiting area schools. Heather was lucky enough to hear him talk at SMC. I just got my only Avi book signed at Menasha library since he was doing a book signing at the library. He commented that it was an old one. Well, yeah I got it when I was in college and the only reason I hung on to it was because it was a Newbery Honor Book.

Kelly Harms -- She wrote The Overdue Life of Amy Byler and a couple other novels. Menasha library hosted a girls night and she was the speaker. I will be honest I was not a fan of the book.. initially. I just seemed a bit snobbish -- the poor single mom has to have a make-over and a vacation because she spent the last how many years raising her kids and not really doing anything for herself. However hearing her speak, the concept of a "momcation" doesn't seem all that out there. Kelly focused more on self-care than an actual momcation. I learned a few good self-care tips like walking outside is way better for your mentality that laps in the apartment.. saying "no" is totally okay.. and have different friends for different reasons. It was actually an enjoyable evening. I just wish more people showed up. I get it was a Friday night and most people probably had better things to do than sit in a library after hours.

Christine Keleny -- She intrigued me. She wrote Will the Real Carolyn Keene Please Stand Up. I knew Carolyn Keene wrote the Nancy Drew mysteries and I have several in the garage but I actually never read a Nancy Drew mystery (gasp). I was fascinated to find out that Carolyn Keene was a pseudonym for several different authors. This was a very interesting event. There was even trivia which I totally bombed since I never even read a Nancy Drew book. I was meaning too but never quite got around to it before the event. I did not read this book before the event either but it is definitely on my to read list.

Steve Betchkal -- This one I went to on a whim. He wrote a book about the National Parks and being interested in National Parks I decided to check him out. I had nothing better to do anyways. He was an amazing speaker and photographer. His stories about his trips in the various National Parks were enlightening. He only focused on a few national parks but it was still enough to see the joy he gets from visiting them. I still don't think I can convince the hubby to visit many of the natural National Parks instead of the more historic ones but one day I will get to Yellowstone, Glacier, and Yosemite.

Over all it was a great week. I am slightly disappointed that I didn't get to hear Elizabeth Lett speak about Finding Dorothy but with the hubby having no games grocery shopping and errands took priority.

I can't wait until next year to enjoy another week of great authors, interesting talks, and new books.

Channeling My Inner Wizard

When I saw that Nardi's Affogato Bar in De Pere was having a Harry Potter Day I wanted to go. Shannon wanted to go to. So I met Shannon and her house. Rick, Shannon, Thomas, and I headed over to Affogato's a little after 11:30. Harry Potter day was running from 10-6.

Nardi's Affogato is an Italian coffee bar that also servers gelato. They said there were going to have Harry Potter themed drinks, snacks, and gelato. There were to be giveaways and trivia.

True to their word, there were Harry Potter themed drinks but they were all coffee based. I was hoping for at least one with coffee.

There was one that came with it's own mug called the Weasley.

There was definitely Harry Potter themed gelato. All their gelato had Harry Potter names. The gelato was good... a bit pricey but good.

I never did see any Harry Potter treats.

The giveaway while we were there was a gelato cake if you put your receipt in the drawing.

There were a few Harry Potter decorations.

But it was really kind of lame. I was expecting a lot more Harry Potter fans and interactions going on. If you weren't into Harry Potter you might have thought the whole thing was weird but would have not felt out of place. I actually felt out of place with my Harry Potter scarf on.

Hopefully my next Harry Potter event is less lame. It felt like any other Saturday at the coffee bar. Maybe I came in with high expectations but it was definitely not what I expected. There's always another Harry Potter Day. He's not going anywhere any time soon.