A quick trip to the United States

29 July 2017 - 8 August 2017

Mark's Grandpa (Mary's dad) passed away in March and the Sinsky family were gathering in Milwaukee for his interment.  Mark and I decided to have a quick break from Europe and head across the Atlantic to be a part of it all. 

Mark's mum Mary has eight brothers - John, Jim, Jerry, Mark, Bill, Mike, Joe and Tom. This was my first time meeting any of them (and many of the 26 grandchildren) so why not do it in an intense weekend of festivities with them all?! 

We had a very competitive croquet competition before heading to the Racquet Club for dinner. Mary took us on a trip down memory lane as we visited the house her dad lived in and the house where she grew up. I also had the chance to meet Mark's grandma Gina. Sadly, Gina passed away less than two weeks later.

From Milwaukee we were lucky to head up to Star Lake in the North Woods of Wisconsin. This was a fantastic few days with Uncle John and Abbey, Uncle Bill and Kerry, five of their six kids plus other halves.

We spent the days in and on the water - paddle boarding, water skiing, cocktail cruises, conquering an insanely tricky where's wally puzzle on the rainy day and eating plenty of great food. We did some paddle boarding at dusk and got up close to a Bald Eagle's nest that we had seen during our cocktail cruise. He was close enough to hear the baby eagles cheeping.  and watch them catch and eat fish. The beautiful calm flat water was also perfect for hearing the loons call - a type of bird that has a call like a wolf's howl. Very atmospheric.

Mark looking across the lake towards the Eagle's nest

Evening paddle boarding

We also managed to fit in a visit to a supper club where we managed to try some local delicacies - deep fried cheese curds and a brandy old fashioned.

Dining at the supper club with a delicious elderflower martini

We had a truly local North Woods experience on the Saturday night with Uncle Bill. He took us to watch the Plum Lake Ski-ters Water Ski Show Team. This was a local water ski club that has been putting on a show on Saturday nights during the summer for the last 58 years. The club also competes at the national level, so the shows are like practices for them. The very loose theme of the show was feedback that they have received from judges about things they could improve on. We then had half an hour of the coolest water skiing you have seen - jumps, bare footing, a pyramid three levels high and a girl being lifted gracefully over a guys head (as he skiied) and then plummeting into the water when they had a small muck up. Given it was an amateur team there were fairly regular falls or failures which was half of the fun of it! There was lots of audience participation with yelling and cheering at random times, and an absolutely fantastic showman as MC. At half time there was a lightning storm and they had to call the show to an end for safety reasons. I've never been so disappointed to miss out on the second half of an amateur water ski show in my life. 

From the Ski-ters show we headed to Stillwaters the tavern, a twenty minute walk from the lake house. Saturday night was karaoke night. This was not your ordinary drunk too much yelling karaoke. This was holy shit these people can sing karaoke. A highlight was the bar maid singing awesomely while simultaneously continuing to pour drinks and serve customers!

Stillwaters tavern with Uncle Bill (and Johnny-no-cash, a karaoke regular, in the background)

After an awesome few days at the lake it was time to head back to Milwaukee itself. We had timed our visit perfectly to coincide with the Wisconsin State Fair. The State Fair seems to be famous for cream puffs (they were yum) and food on a stick. There was a double page full of food on a stick that you could purchase - including bacon wrapped olives on a stick, deep fried cookie dough on a stick, chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick, and mini sliders on a stick. Mark was gutted that he couldn't find deep fried butter on a stick. (If it was going to be anywhere in the world it would be here!) In between eating far too many Wisconsin delicacies we watched the pig racing, a seal show and checked out the prize winning vegetables. 

Maybe not the "best day ever" but it was pretty great.

The pig racing track - complete with hilarious commentator and his side kick "Ham Bone"

Markie feeling right at home

After our very enjoyable ten days in the US it was now time to return to our travels in Europe. Our next stop is Amsterdam where we are catching up with friends for a few days.