A Tribute to Ueck

 When the Brewers announced they were honoring beloved Brewer radio broadcaster Bob Uecker, who passed away in January, the hubby and I said we'd be at that game. Luckily for us the game was a Sunday afternoon game. We bought tickets, which were a little more than what we normally pay, but definitely worth it.

Prior to the Brewers-Giants game, the Brewers planned a special ceremony. They told us to be in our seats by 12:15 for 1:10 game for the program. The hubby wanted to stop by the team store first to get a poster and I headed to our seats. He got back to our seats just as the ceremony was beginning. 

Prior to the ceremony, there were Uecker Quotes on the scoreboard. Ueck was never at a loss for words or humor. 

Bob Costas was the host for the ceremony. He talked about the life of Bob Uecker from a child all the way to his broadcasting career. He told stories and videos were played. Humor was interjected just as Ueck would have liked it.

Alongside Bob Costas, were former and current Brewer players and owners along with a former Royal. George Brett, Bud Selig, Christian Yelich, Brian Anderson, Robin Yount, Mark Attanasio, and Ted Simmons. Bob Costas interviewed each one of them and they shared their stories about Uecker. By the end there was barely a dry in the entire stadium. 

At the end of the ceremony the entire Brewer squad joined Uecker's family on the field for the ceremonial first pitch. 

The Brewer organization made sure all no detail was overlooked in this celebration. The scoreboard featured microphones instead of balls for the balls, strikes, and outs. It was a nice little touch.

Throughout the stadium there was a collection of Bob Uecker personal items that you could view. 

Uecker was famous for his plaid sport coats and there was a collection of his jackets.

The scorebook of the final game Ueck called last fall (Oct 3, 2024) was on displayed. His last words uttered to Brewer and baseball fans were "That one hurts." in reference to the loss they suffered in the Wild Card Game to end the season and what Ueck probably knew was his last game ever. 

The car that was in 1982 World Series parade that Havey Kuenn rode in was also on display. 

The Brewers renamed the press box area Bob Uecker Broadcast Center. 

We even got to see Robin Yount walk by but there was no time for autographs. 

It was a great celebration for a great and iconic man. Too bad the Brewers couldn't bring home a victory for icing on the cake. 

5246. Follow the Marigold Mile in Menasha

 For years, Appleton has had Marigold Mile along Oneida Street. This year, Menasha is now part of Marigold Mile. I've always wanted to walk Marigold Mile in Appleton so I figured I could also do Menasha.

Marigold Mile started 35 years ago as a charitable organization to beautifying the Fox Cities. They believe everyone should stop and smell the flowers. With the help of the chairman of Marigold Mile, it has expanded from Appleton and now into Menasha. 

Downtown Menasha is blooming with orange and yellow Marigold. They are primarily located on Racine and Main streets. It definitely gives the city a pop of color. 

While downtown Menasha for the Twisted Piston car show, I took time to appreciate a portion of the Marigold Mile. We drive by them all the time but tonight I took time to stop and smell the flowers. I did not get to walk the entire Marigold Mile this time but I at least got to enjoy some of the beauty. 

I love that this organization exists solely for the purpose of providing color to the streets of Appleton and Menasha. It was so relaxing to drive or walk through downtown Menasha and see the beautiful Marigolds. Hopefully it expands to more areas. We can all use a little color in our lives. If you are ever in either city in summer, definitely go check out the Marigolds. 

Checking out the Twisted Pistons Car Show

 Every year Menasha puts on a car show for help fund their scholarship program. Twisted Piston Car Show is usually the third Thursday in August. We have gone several times but apparently I never wrote about it and I only discovered that when I went to link a post about the car show to a post about Marigold Mile and found there was none.

Twisted Piston car show is held downtown Menasha on usually the third Thursday of August from 2-10 PM. You can find plenty of parking on nearby side streets on either side of the bridge. 

The entire downtown is lined with old cars, specialty cars, and even motorcycles on both sides of the street. As the hubby would say it is Chevy Heavy which make my Ford guy cry a little. Me personally, I just like looking at all the cool cars.

Due to time constraints this year, we literally had about 30 minutes to check out the car show before the hubby had to go do a game somewhere. 30 minutes is truly not enough time to appreciate the car show and take it all in. Since we've gone several times, we could hurry along.

Even in our haste, we were able to check out all the cars we wanted. I did feel rushed at times (don't tell the hubby).

I do always have a few favorites that draw my attention

Old Trucks

Super Old Cars

And Convertibles

The hubby likes his Mustangs

The old fire truck was out this year too.

If you get tired of looking at cars, there are food trucks to fill your belly and live music to keep you entertained. It just a fun summer block party of sorts.

If you never have been or been numerous times, go check it out (again). There's always something new to see. 

7252. See a drone light show

More and more communities and other identities want to find an alternative to firework shows probably due to cost and noise. They have been turning to drone shows instead. This intrigues me as I like the bright colors of a firework show but I'm not a huge fan of the noise. My parents tell me on our first trip to Disney World, dad had to hold a screaming me on top of the train station during the fireworks because I didn't like the noise.

When Darboy announced they were doing a drone show instead of a firework show, I figured I could see it from the complex. We could usually see the fireworks from the complex.

Well we could see the part of the drone show. They were not very high and the warehouses blocked our view of some of them. Maybe next year, I may have to try to get closer without actually going to the park. 

The show of what I could see of it was nice. It all tied together with an Americana theme. 

Drone shows in theory are great. This particular one was not very good. It barely lasted 10-15 minutes. Maybe that's the norm but firework shows last much longer. They were not very high up so I could only see them if I looked from one particular spot in the complex.

I do want to see another drone show or two (preferably closer than a mile away) before I truly make a firm opinion about them. I really like the concept and what I saw of the Darboy one but the short duration and low height leaves me with mixed feelings. 

25 in 2025 -- Try a New Food -- Jackson Churros

 One of the top 10 experiences a fan needed to try at the Timber Rattlers game this year, or at least according to them, was to try the Jackson Churros. Heather and I kept saying we needed to try them. Finally on Seat Holder Appreciation Day we gave them a try.

Jackson Churros are Oreo Churros with Raspberry dipping sauce. They were $11 or $12 for 4 churros that came in a baseball mitt serving tray. You could only get them on the first base side at the Funnel Cake stand. Besides Churros you could also get funnel cakes.

The Jackson Churros are made to order. They do come frozen and they just stick them in a deep fryer. I was slightly disappointed to discover they were premade churros that you had to deep fry. I was really expected Churros made in front of you. 

As Heather said, they were good but something we don't need to get again. They were nothing special. The raspberry sauce was good. Give me a regular churro like they have at (Guarantee) Rate Field any day. There are so many better options for Churros that frozen Oreo Churros just don't cut it. Maybe I am spoiled when it comes to churros after Costa Rica and Frios but a girl has to have standards.

I honestly skip the churros and get either the funnel cake or fang-wich ice cream sandwich. They are all a better value for the money. 

We shall see what new treat they have next year at the ballpark and what food and drink adventures Heather and I will embark on next year. 

7156. Ride in a caboose

 Last year when we were at the Illinois Railroad Museum, I wanted to ride in the caboose. We just ran out of time. I saw that the Minnesota Transportation Museum had a caboose ride. It was a very short caboose ride. I wanted something more.

When we were at the Monticello Railroad Museum, we got out to check out the depot in downtown Monticello. As we were walking back to board the train, I noticed it had a caboose. I told the hubby we could ride in the caboose and we decided to ride in the caboose for the rest of the train ride.

There were a few other people in the caboose, a dad with a couple of kids and an older gentleman. We initially just sat and enjoyed the ride. 

When the dad sat down, I got up and took a few pictures. He mentioned we could actually stand in the doorway and enjoy the view.

What an experience. We were actually going backwards at the time so we were the first ones to see everything. I few times I had to steady my balance and eventually I held on to the ladder.

Even the engineers didn't really bother us. They were just chilling as well.

Eventually we sat back down to enjoy the ride back to the station.

I was able to, without dropping the phone, take some great shots as we were coming in the the station from the end of the train.

Now that I crossed riding in a caboose off the bucket list, I need to work up the guts to ride in the cupula of the caboose. Those are the seats at the top of the caboose accessed by tiny little ladders on either side of the seats. It might be difficult as kids usually clamor for these seats.

If you ever have a desire to ride in a caboose, I would recommend either the Monticello Railroad Museum or the Illinois Railroad Museum for your caboose ride. Both are great train museums. 

Train Adventures: Monticello Railway Museum

 The hubby recently woke his buried love for train and trains rides. He really wanted to go to Boone County Iowa for their train museum but schedule conflicts forced us to pivot our vacation plans. With Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky on the docket, I had went in search of a train museum for the hubby. My original plan was to go to Whitewater Valley Railroad in Connersville, IN but another schedule conflicted forced me pivot again.  Monticello Railway Museum fit in the plans and was on the way home.

Monticello Railway Museum is located in Monticello, IL about 30 minutes southwest of Champaign. It is open on weekends May-October 10:30-3:30 plus it offers a Polar Express ride in November and early December. There is also a bunny train around Easter. Admission is $15/adults and $8/children. 

You can pick the train at the museum at the Nelson Crossing Depot or the Wabash Depot in downtown Monticello. We picked it up at Nelson Depot. We initially board the train in a passenger car. 

The train stops at the Wabash Depot. We got off and looked around the small museum at the depot. If we chose, we could have walked around downtown Monticello. Due to time constraints, we didn't but it also didn't look much around downtown to keep us occupied for a good hour. 

We saw there was a caboose at the end of the train. I wanted to ride in the caboose. We had a very enjoyable ride to the end of the line before headed back to the depot. From Wabash Station to the end of the line, the train went backwards so looking out of the back of the caboose we actually felt as we were going forward.

Once we got back to the Nelson Depot, the hubby wanted to go up in the Stair Tower. The stair tower is a replica of a railroad interlocking tower that was found a railroad junction to control the signals and lights along the line. The docent was very informative and I learned a vital part of the railroad. The hubby even got to pull the levers that controlled the lights and signals. They were heavy.

We hurried our way through the train barn. It had many of the same trains as other train museum

A Mail Car

A Sleeper car that seemed not a very comfortable way to travel. I'll stick to cars and hotels.

There was a display on Railroad Express Agency that not only carried mail and packages but also in the time of war, bodies of soldiers. This is something we never think of but had to be done.

I wish we had more time to explore the train yard but we had to get on the road. 

The Monticello Railroad Museum is definitely worth the stop. The train ride was enjoyable. The museum was well done. 

I wonder where our next train adventure will take us. Stay tuned.