I have driven to Green Bay a thousand times from Madison since 1990. The expansion of 151 to the Rosendale cut off in the early 90's and the slingshot passing lanes surrounding Rosendale are pure race car fun. Those changes are nothing compared to the consistent, inexpensive, home cooked food at Tabbert's Restaurant on Rosendale's south edge.
You have passed it a million times - lots of semis and a carved beaver statue right before you get to that church with the witty religious slogans. Seriously, get a fried egg sandwich with cheese on homemade bread and a hot cup of homemade beef vegetable soup. Finish off with their fantastic pie slices and you just hit a simple, Wisconsin culinary treasure.
Get up early to go to that Packer game and stop there. Skip the munchies at their gas stations.
john
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Monday, December 31, 2007
Golf a Great Course at a Great Price
I have shoveled snow the whole month of December and, damn, do I miss golf!
This spring or fall, take a 1/2 hour drive to Evansville's Golf Club. It is a high quality course with a great bang for your buck.
First, the geography of the course is excellent. Situated along a glacial, terminal moraine this 18- hole course has water, lots of mature trees and varied elevations and distances. The greens are immaculately taken care of get positive comments from many golfing fanatics.
Second, the clubhouse is friendly and serves tasty bar food. Beers are not priced at the Badger game $5 per can and groups will undoubtedly hang around to play cards until you need to cell call out due to guilt.
Last, price. Many summer mornings are a $1 per hole early in the day. Another testimony to this course's popularity is the long waiting list for membership.
Boy, I can not wait for summer. The Madison area has tons of great courses, Evansville should be high on the list.
john
This spring or fall, take a 1/2 hour drive to Evansville's Golf Club. It is a high quality course with a great bang for your buck.
First, the geography of the course is excellent. Situated along a glacial, terminal moraine this 18- hole course has water, lots of mature trees and varied elevations and distances. The greens are immaculately taken care of get positive comments from many golfing fanatics.
Second, the clubhouse is friendly and serves tasty bar food. Beers are not priced at the Badger game $5 per can and groups will undoubtedly hang around to play cards until you need to cell call out due to guilt.
Last, price. Many summer mornings are a $1 per hole early in the day. Another testimony to this course's popularity is the long waiting list for membership.
Boy, I can not wait for summer. The Madison area has tons of great courses, Evansville should be high on the list.
john
Great Steaks - Great Prices
To usher in the New Year, a steak dinner is a real treat. Being a bit frugal, I do not spring for steaks too often usually settling for a Blue Moon or Sweeney's Oakcrest Tavern burger (please ignore the fact my drink bill could have included a steak).But in with the new and out with the old for the New Year. Here are a few of my humble suggestions for a downhome steak and a solid price:
1. Brothers Three on Fair Oaks in Madison. A former gas station years ago, this de facto supper club is a favorite of mine. Excellent desserts, nice old ladies who call me 'sweetie', good old fashioneds and steaks that are the quality of more expensive places.
2. Toby's Supper Club in between Madison and McFarland off of 51. Getting your order taken at the bar, then the food awaits? Fantastic. Steaks and shrimp served the way your grandparents expected. This is old school style and value.
3. Up for a 1/2 hour drive from Madison? Northeast on 151 should take you to the Buckhorn Supper Club just north of Beaver Dam. Sothwest should get you to the High Point Steakhouse on 151 just this side of Ridgeway. Both have small town charm, but steaks that are right in the same league as the Tornado Rooms and Delaney's of the area.
4. Yes, the Prime Quarter Steakhouse on East Wash or in Janesville. For starters, their happy hour Monday to Friday is one of the best in town with half off all drinks and free appetizers. Do yourself a favor. Get there at 4pm, belly up, then get your table when the clock strikes 6pm.
Patience is the key to cooking it yourself here. Talk, drink, make a salad and forget your meat for awhile (after searing in the juices with a fast blackening) on low heat and the night is your festival.
I hope my experience can help you find these and your own treasures in living the Wisconsin good life.
john
1. Brothers Three on Fair Oaks in Madison. A former gas station years ago, this de facto supper club is a favorite of mine. Excellent desserts, nice old ladies who call me 'sweetie', good old fashioneds and steaks that are the quality of more expensive places.
2. Toby's Supper Club in between Madison and McFarland off of 51. Getting your order taken at the bar, then the food awaits? Fantastic. Steaks and shrimp served the way your grandparents expected. This is old school style and value.
3. Up for a 1/2 hour drive from Madison? Northeast on 151 should take you to the Buckhorn Supper Club just north of Beaver Dam. Sothwest should get you to the High Point Steakhouse on 151 just this side of Ridgeway. Both have small town charm, but steaks that are right in the same league as the Tornado Rooms and Delaney's of the area.
4. Yes, the Prime Quarter Steakhouse on East Wash or in Janesville. For starters, their happy hour Monday to Friday is one of the best in town with half off all drinks and free appetizers. Do yourself a favor. Get there at 4pm, belly up, then get your table when the clock strikes 6pm.
Patience is the key to cooking it yourself here. Talk, drink, make a salad and forget your meat for awhile (after searing in the juices with a fast blackening) on low heat and the night is your festival.
I hope my experience can help you find these and your own treasures in living the Wisconsin good life.
john
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Theater in the Hills
The American Players Theatre is a Wisconsin treasure of the highest quality. Nestled in the rolling hills just outside Spring Green, Wisconsin and near the Wisconsin River's ancient floodplain, this woodsy theatre brings the highest quality summer entertainment in an idyllic scene.
On a day trip from Madison, cars roll west through Cross Plains, Black Earth and Mazomanie 30 miles past fertile farmland and undulating hills to the park where APT is located. These tiny towns offer plenty of stops to eat or drink such as Kurt's on Main in Cross Plains, David W. Heiney's in Black Earth and the Old Feed Mill in Mazomanie.
Once at the theatre grounds, picnic tables, grill sites and rustic beauty await play lovers who usually bring wine, cheeses, gourmet beers and other treats. A light hike uphill to the amphitheater (folks who need a ride are motored up) and your play in the hills begins.
George Bernard Shaw's 'Misalliance' and Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' are among many works interpreted recently by this summer institution.
My last trip to see Shaw's comedy was superb. The acting was tight, the weather was perfect mid 80's and a sole white-tailed hawk soared above the amphitheater as the play drew its last chorus of cheers.
john
On a day trip from Madison, cars roll west through Cross Plains, Black Earth and Mazomanie 30 miles past fertile farmland and undulating hills to the park where APT is located. These tiny towns offer plenty of stops to eat or drink such as Kurt's on Main in Cross Plains, David W. Heiney's in Black Earth and the Old Feed Mill in Mazomanie.
Once at the theatre grounds, picnic tables, grill sites and rustic beauty await play lovers who usually bring wine, cheeses, gourmet beers and other treats. A light hike uphill to the amphitheater (folks who need a ride are motored up) and your play in the hills begins.
George Bernard Shaw's 'Misalliance' and Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' are among many works interpreted recently by this summer institution.
My last trip to see Shaw's comedy was superb. The acting was tight, the weather was perfect mid 80's and a sole white-tailed hawk soared above the amphitheater as the play drew its last chorus of cheers.
john
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Thursdays in Madison - Great Eating and Drinking!
Thursdays are my favorite days of the week. The weekend is near and the hard work week is almost through. Plus, it is the best day for cheap specials around town to live it up.
The Echo Tap has cheap tacos that are fantastic. Couple that with the Captain Morgan special that night and I am a happy man. Then after 8pm, the Big Ten Pub has great beer specials to wash down and watch whatever sports event that is on. Last for desert, $4 dollar martinis at the Laurel Tavern and I am ready to sack out. Can it get better than that?
The Echo Tap has cheap tacos that are fantastic. Couple that with the Captain Morgan special that night and I am a happy man. Then after 8pm, the Big Ten Pub has great beer specials to wash down and watch whatever sports event that is on. Last for desert, $4 dollar martinis at the Laurel Tavern and I am ready to sack out. Can it get better than that?
New Year's Day - Sheboygan Style
Go to Sheboygan on New Year's? Why?
The original Polar Bear Plunge takes place at 1pm New Year's Day at the Sheboygan Armory and it is a Wisconsin Mardi Gras. Costumed, hungover revelers start partying at 10am eating brats (double - double on hamburger hard rolls) and drinking beer. At 12:45, the organizers parade everyone down to the beach for a sprint into the waves of Lake Michigan. The chant "no socks, no socks" echoes through the gymnasium for anyone caught wearing insulation. Live bands start at 2pm and all dippers relive the plunge late into the afternoon.
john
The original Polar Bear Plunge takes place at 1pm New Year's Day at the Sheboygan Armory and it is a Wisconsin Mardi Gras. Costumed, hungover revelers start partying at 10am eating brats (double - double on hamburger hard rolls) and drinking beer. At 12:45, the organizers parade everyone down to the beach for a sprint into the waves of Lake Michigan. The chant "no socks, no socks" echoes through the gymnasium for anyone caught wearing insulation. Live bands start at 2pm and all dippers relive the plunge late into the afternoon.
john
Train to Chicago
Want to go to downtown Chicago with no car cheap?
Drive to Harvard, IL (just 6 miles over the border from Walwort/Lake Geneva) on a Saturday mornings, park for cheap and pay just $5 for a roundtrip weekend pass downtown and back on Sunday. Read the paper and relax as you zip through the Northwestern suburbs and get dropped off in the Loop with taxis waiting. With a one hour, 15 minute ride from Madison and the 1hour, 50minute train ride -the whole trip may take about 3.5 hours which is not a ton more than if you drove with less hassles.
Harvard has a couple of tavern choices right next to the train depot on Main St. and a 6 pack is allowed on the train if a group of travelers is thirsty.
Make a trip to the 'big city' enjoyable with this fun option that kids will love and allows the driver to kick back and enjoy friends.
Rumor is the train may even extend its northwest route to Clinton, WI. I can only hope.
john
Drive to Harvard, IL (just 6 miles over the border from Walwort/Lake Geneva) on a Saturday mornings, park for cheap and pay just $5 for a roundtrip weekend pass downtown and back on Sunday. Read the paper and relax as you zip through the Northwestern suburbs and get dropped off in the Loop with taxis waiting. With a one hour, 15 minute ride from Madison and the 1hour, 50minute train ride -the whole trip may take about 3.5 hours which is not a ton more than if you drove with less hassles.
Harvard has a couple of tavern choices right next to the train depot on Main St. and a 6 pack is allowed on the train if a group of travelers is thirsty.
Make a trip to the 'big city' enjoyable with this fun option that kids will love and allows the driver to kick back and enjoy friends.
Rumor is the train may even extend its northwest route to Clinton, WI. I can only hope.
john
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