Brenda Novak Road Trip Adventure -- Year 2

 Brenda Novak has another new release The Summer That Changed Everything. She challenged us to take a picture with the book. Since summer is for adventures, what is more fun than taking your book on an adventure with you.

This year's adventure takes us to Two Rivers, Wisconsin. A quick 90 minute drive up I-43 from Milwaukee and an hour or so east of Appleton and the Fox Valley, it made a perfect day trip for Stacy and I. We already had the trip planned and on a whim, I grabbed my book to include it in our adventure. Some people bring trolls, stuffed animals, or other toys, I bring a book on my adventures.

Stop #1 -- Sputnik crash site

Our first stop was not in Two Rivers but in Manitowoc. On September 5, 1962 a piece of the Russian Spacecraft Sputnik crashed in the middle of the street in Manitowoc. Being weird enough, it was something I wanted to visit. We actually missed the actual circle in the street but saw the sign and a monument plaza in front of the art museum. Inside the  Rahr-West Art Museum, is the piece that crashed outside. We did not go view it but one day I will.

Stop #2 -- Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum

Two Rivers was big in the printing press industry. The Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum is a museum dedicated to the history of the printing press. They still produce signs and posters to this day. It was amazing to see they went from printing presses to washing machines. It was a perfect place to explore especially with a book being printed material. 

Stop #3 -- Roger Street Fishing Village

Before the printing industry came to Two Rivers, fishing was the way of life in the early days. Being on Lake Michigan and two rivers, the water was a great source of income. The Fishing Village is a small museum complex that explains the history of the fishing industry in Two Rivers as well as the Coast Guard and the famous Christmas Tree ship that went down in the waters outside of Two Rivers. There is a wonderful audio tour that allows to learn about everything the buildings. 

Stop #4 -- Cool City Brewing Company

After our history filled morning, it was time for lunch. We opted to go to Cool City Brewing since it was near the Fishing Village and the Washington House. Even if you are not in to beer, the also have coffee. The menu is small but it does have plenty of healthy options and not to so healthy options. We split 3 different flights -- a cheese curd flight, a taco flight, and a flatbread flight. All were wonderful but it was a lot of food for 2 people. The beer was good too. 

Stop #5 -- Washington House

Even though we were full from lunch, we headed to the Washington House which is the home of the Ice Cream Sundae. It is also a treasure chest of days gone by. Besides having an ice cream parlor it is also a museum. Each of the rooms in the former boarding house and bar, depicts history of Two Rivers. We were even lucky enough to have an accordion player entertain us. After the browsing the museum, we each got a dish of ice cream. I have been here a few years ago and indulged in an ice cream sundae then. 

Stop #6 -- Spirit of the Rivers

Our second to the last stop of the day was an impromptu stop at a statue along the lake. We saw a sign for the Spirit of the Rivers and decided to check it out. It is a statue that honors the birch bark canoe which was a vital part of the Native American history in Wisconsin and the Great Lakes. 

Stop #7 -- Mariner Trail/Lake Michigan

On our way back to my car, Stacy mentioned we should check out the giant rocking chair. She just knew it was a in park by her friend's house. The park was Lighthouse Park in Manitowoc along the shores of Lake Michigan. The rocking char is not huge but it does give you a good view of the lake and a place to rest when walking the 6 mile Mariner Trail that connects Two Rivers and Manitowoc.  

If it was a nice day out, we probably would have enjoyed the beach but it was cold and windy. But it was still nice to take a few minutes to read on the beach. 

Overall it was a fun filled day. There is plenty more to see and do in Two Rivers/Manitowoc that we did not hit including the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. So if you ever find yourself in the definitely take a day to explore the history of Two Rivers and Manitowoc.

Stay tune in 2026 to see where my Brenda Novak Road Trip Adventure will take me next. 

25 in 2025 -- Try at least one new beer, cider, or cocktail -- Frozen Venom-Ade

 Last week at the T-Rats game, I saw a pink slushy drink that looked really good. Heather and I decided we wanted to try it. When we got to the game today, we headed to Carbliss Bar figuring that is where it would be as that's what has the drink of the game. 

We tell the guy that working we wanted the pink slushy drink in a mason jar and he knew what we were talking about. He told us to go to Leinie Lodge. They have the slushy drinks. Off to the Lodge we went.

It turns out there are two slushy drinks -- one pink and one blue. The blue one was a margarita and the pink one was a vodka lemonade. I'm not a huge Margarita fan and Vodka makes me loopy quick. Since I was not driving for a while, I opted for the pink one -- Frozen Venom-Ade. 

The Frozen Venom-Ade was Vodka, Passion Fruit Liqueur, and Lemonade. It cost me $12 but refills in the mason jar were only $10. Not bad for a game day drink.

The Venom-Ade was quite delicious. It was fruity but not overly sweet. Vodka really does make everything better. I liked that it quickly melted and wasn't so slushy. Slushies tend to give me brain freeze. 

We all agreed that we would get them again. I may try the margarita just to see how it is. I do want to try one of the special game day cocktails in the future. They all have fun names. Stay tuned to see what game day cocktail I try next at the T-Rats

Book Talks 2025 -- David Jones

 I  saw an Facebook post about Kimberly Library was having another author, a local author. The book looked interesting and I thought it was true crime. I was excited to check him out.

David Jones was from Phoenix, joined the Air Force, and since his wife was from the U.P. ended up in WI after he retired from the military. He joined the area police forces and eventually retired. After he retired, he decided to write books all set in and around the Fox Valley. His first series, Guardians of Rockport, is a dystopia series set in Sherwood. I am not interested in dystopia. but being set in the Fox Valley, I am intrigued enough maybe one day I will check it out. However, he also wrote crime fiction books, The first one is No Perfect Crime.

David spoke about his background, his secretive military career, and his police service. He was an amazing speaker. I could have listened him for hours. He had many stories to tell. 

I did buy No Perfect Crime. It is really weird reading a book set pretty much in your backyard. It is surreal when the characters visit local places, like JD's, just like we do. 

As David says, it is high-quality fiction but it is a fun quick read. It's not going to win any awards but not cozy mystery either. I definitely can't wait to read book 2. 

You never know what you are going to discover when you go  hear a local author. This was definitely another winner. Who knows what author I will discover next. 

8241. Do Paper Embroidery

 I loved going to Make and Mingle at Kaukauna Library every month. It was a great way to get out of the house and try my hand at various crafty projects. Then my work hours changed it was more difficult to get there. I was able to make it work in May and I dragged Danielle with.

May's project was paper embroidery which is almost like regular embroidery but on paper instead. My aunt used to do counted cross stitch while my mom the just regular cross stitch. I found both tedious and never picked up the craft. 

To start the project, we had to decide if you wanted to make a card or a picture. I opted for a picture. I don't send cards. I just needed one piece of cardstock type paper. Otherwise I would have used 2 (the second to hide the stitching inside the card.

Then we had to punch the pattern on the paper using a needle. This was a bit of a pain because the needles weren't very sharp. We were all doing the same flower pattern. 

Once we were were done with punching the pattern, it was time to start stitching. It was simple line stitch for the most part. We started at point 1 and then went to point 2 and back to point 1 and repeated until the flower or leave was done. 

The hardest part was pulling the floss apart into 2 strands. I cut my strands too long so it would not up. Danielle found if one of us held one end while the other split the threads apart, it worked much better. 

My picture didn't turn out too bad except for the one of the petals of my flowers is going in the wrong direction. I guess that's what makes it mine.

Like cross stitch, paper embroidery is not my thing. Definitely too tedious. It was a fun project and if it wasn't so tedious, it is definitely a project I could master. Even Danielle agreed with me. Maybe one day I'll attempt Macramé. 

5649. Go to Vern’s Cheese in Chilton

 Last year while I walked when the hubby had a tournament at Chilton High School, I wandered past Vern's Cheese. This year, I decided to check it out. 

Vern's Cheese is located just off of downtown in Chilton. It is open Mon-Fri 9-5 and 8:30-2 on Saturdays. It is within easy walking distance of Chilton High School.

I wanted cheese curds. They had no fresh cheese curds when I was there. It was all packaged sealed cheese curds. They definitely did not squeak. I was disappointed. 

Despite not having fresh cheese curds when I was there, Vern's does offer a wide selection of cheese including mozzarella whips which were very good.

They also carry cheese from other cheese stores. 

 I do like they have options to make your own gift boxes with the sausage, wine, and other gifts. 

I would definitely go back for the mozzarella whips and to try some of the other cheeses. If you ever find yourself in Chilton, go check out Vern's. 

8073. Read 50 Brenda Novak books and get my pin

 Back when the pandemic started, many authors had to pivot from in person book tours to a virtual event. I saw a post on Susan Mallory's Facebook Page about being invited to be a part of Brenda Novak's virtual book launch. I love Susan Mallory. I had no clue who this Brenda Novak was but bought an e-book copy of her book and watched. 

It turns out she has a whole Facebook Group and everything. I joined the Facebook group where I learned that if I read 50 Brenda Novak Books, I get a free pin. So I was determined to read 50 books. 

Brenda writes women's fiction, romance suspense, and suspense. I'm definitely more about women's fiction and regular romance. I like romance and I like suspense but not really together. I like my romance to be as drama free as possible. Brenda started out by writing Historical Romance.

Brenda has several series and trilogies along with stand alone books. I started out with One Perfect Summer  -- a stand alone that I was the book of the book launch. When I joined the book club, I got two free digital books. Then I focused on the books I could get in audio book. I didn't care what series it was a part of initially or what order I read them in. I just wanted to get my hands on as many as possible. 

It may have taken me 5 years to do it but I read my 50th Brenda Novak Book Welcome Home to Whiskey Creek.

And will get my book in my June's book box. Yes, I will keep getting those for now

My favorite series were the Dundee, Idaho series and the Silver Springs Series. There was one Silver Springs series book, Until You Loved Me, that featured a football player and unlike most of the characters in her series, you never really heard about those characters again. I was kind of sad to leave them behind. That was probably my favorite book in the series.

My favorite stand alone was Tourist Season probably because I love being a tourist. 

There were some books and series I liked more than others. I did avoid the historicals because I am not a huge of fan of those. I do have one downloaded to my tablet that I will eventually get around to reading. 

Even though I hit my 50 books, I will keep reading. Now that Brenda has written 80+ books, maybe she will offer a 75 book pin. So I better keep reading. 

5274. Go to Cleo’s in Appleton

 After Danielle and I browsed the closing exhibit at the Trout, we decided we should get a drink. We debated between Dirty Snowballs at Cleo's or Limoncello at the Latin Fusion place. Since I was never to Cleo's, Dirty Snowballs it was. 

Cleo's Brown Beam is a cocktail lounge downtown Appleton famous for it's year round Christmas decor. It opens at 2 pm every day except Sunday when it is closed. Unlike most bars in Wisconsin no minors are allowed even with parents. 

Since it was a Friday, they also had Old Fashions on special. It was a toss up for me between the Dirty Snowball and an Old Fashion. I decided to go with the Dirty Snowball.

Cleo's dirty snowball is 1 part vodka, 2 crème de cacao and 2 parts coffee liqueur topped with a splash of cream. It was told it tasted like a boozy milkshake. It really did.

If I didn't know there was coffee liqueur in it, I would have not known. It was definitely good but not something I would probably order again. I would definitely do an old fashioned again.

The Christmas themed bar was just fun to hang out in. The Christmas lights made it nice and cozy. They had a nice collection of nutcrackers. 

It may have taken me 20 years to get to Cleo's but it was worth the wait. We said we should drag Janis with us next time. I may have to take Stacy in the future. 

If you have never been to Cleo's, you need to go and check it out. It is definitely a fun place to get drinks. 

Closing Exhibit at The Trout

 The Trout Museum of Art is moving from it's current location at the Houdini Plaza down the road near Lawrence University. Since they plan to open in the new location in October, they had to close the current location in order to pack everything up and move it down the road. They had a closing exhibit, free to the public. 

Since it was free, I wanted to go and I convinced Danielle to come with me. 

The final exhibit was called A Creative Place. It is, according the Trout Website "With a range of mediums, styles, and themes, this exhibition explores how local artists have responded to distinct cultural and environmental influences."

The exhibit was mainly paintings. A lot of them were boring -- small town America paintings. They are just not my type of art.

My favorite was the one that reminded me of Red from Shawshank Redemption. 

The random black circle was odd. I could do that.

The random cows were also a favorite even if the background was unusual.

I did like the statues even if they were completely random.

I kind of felt of place. It was full of artsy people most of them dressed up. We definitely were not dressed up. We browsed the exhibit navigating around people just chatting. I guess I am not cut out to rub elbows with art people. I will stick to baseball games.

I can't wait for the new museum to open. Stay tuned for another post later this year about the new Trout.