We Take Ourselves With Us

We drove past an amazing steamboat of breakfast goodness on Tuesday night, so we made it our first stop on Wednesday.  Mr. Pancake Restaurant, surprisingly, serves dozens of types of pancakes, ranging from this-is-probably-not-good-for-you unhealthy to you-may-die-at-the-table unhealthy.  There is a reason this boat is grounded--it would not float with all the carbs it holds as cargo. "Mr. Pancake is so dreamy," thought Ned. Strawberry!  (PS--This is NOT whipped cream; it's whipped topping. I thought Wisconsin was America's Dairyland!) Banana! (PS--This is NOT whipped topping; it's a mound of butter.  Wisconsin IS America's Dairyland!) Quasi-healthy Corn--with a mound of butter.  And, a huge ham steak.  Hmmm .... breakfast ham! And, as a native Wisconsin-ite, I will tell you no one (not even Waffle House) does hash browns like Wisconsin.  Crisped brown in butter, topped with onions (grilled in butter), liberally salted.  Potatoes were made to be e...

When I was young, all our family vacations took place at my grandmother's cottage in Waterford, Wisconsin.  It was a true cottage: a rustic summer-only place furnished with leftovers and multiple beds scattered across three unfinished rooms upstairs and a makeshilft sleeping porch downstairs.  Typically, more than a few of my aunts and uncles and their families were there when we were, so beds were shared, sofas and chairs became makeship sleepers, and the one bathroom got a lot of use.  When we wanted to watch TV, we usually went up the hill to my Aunt Betty's house, where someone was always up--day or night. I share this because the only time I ever went somewhere other than the cottage was on my 8th grade patrols trip to the Wisconsin Dells.  It was an overnight, and I shared a real motel room with three friends.  I remember it raining a lot on that trip, but I didn't care because it was so amazing to be away from home, in a motel, on a vacation.  I don'...