Text 17028, 69 rader
Skriven 2011-10-25 19:55:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: trip 92
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I guess it was after Kopp's that we wandered northward
toward Lake Winnebago with a stop at Kohler just because.

Thirst hit at Sheboygan Falls, where the Ale Asylum
Contorter Porter, with coffee and chocolate notes,
satisfied me well at the Osthelder Saloon. Unfortunately,
there was but one brand of wine (I forget what it was,
but it was the quality of Yellow Tail without being that),
so Lilli had a Jack and water. Thence we went on to the
Kohler Design Center to look at the famed Numi toilet,
which was disappointingly flimsy looking and white in real
life - the ads make it look so monolithic and impressive.
The Design Center deserved much more time than we allotted
the model bathrooms were unexpectedly fascinating, and we
didn't have time at all for the history of plumbing exhibit
in the basement - we should have had our drinks after rather
than before, as the facility closed on us at 5. Yes, they're
trying to sell you toilets and bathtubs. Yes, it's worth it.

A half hour in what ended up as blinding rain, and we pulled
in to the Hilton Garden Inn Oshkosh, which was surprisingly
pleasant. It overlooks the airport, which for one week each
year during AirVenture is the world's busiest but for the
other 51 is a fairly quiet rural field. Our rooms would have
had views of the end of runway 9, except for the weather. It
was raining so hard that we decided (despite having a
perfectly watertight Nissan Versa) to stay as close to the
hotel as possible.

So we found ourselves at Friar Tuck's, two blocks away, for
drinks and maybe dinner, managing to just miss happy hour
and having a pleasant though ditzy blonde bartender who
offered to give us menus but who failed to do so. Anyhow,
the food, though it smelled pretty decent, looked altogether
too barrish, so after libations we decided to try a place
that looked okay but gets some singularly nasty reviews on
the Web: Charcoal Pit II, next door to the hotel. Unlike
Friar Tuck's, where fried green beans appeared to be the
most interesting thing on the menu, this place has a full
menu including some local fish.

A chili appetizer had some ground beef amid the beans and
though tomato-heavy was quite spicy and not bad. 

Not wanting lots of starch, I asked the waitress if I could
have just a couple pieces of perch and a couple pieces of
walleye with no sides and charging me for a medium platter
of one or the other. Which she did, with a $1.50 surcharge.
The fish was copious and good, so I didn't whine. The perch
in fact was excellent, a pair of hand-size fillets, very
fresh. Two large walleye fillets, good but not as fresh,
filled me up well. Both were egged and thickly breaded;
this coating was nicely protective of the fish (which turned
out juicy and tender) but didn't make for that good eating -
a pile of breading ended up at the side of my plate.

Lilli ordered half a rack of baby back ribs. I was hoping
she'd get the porterhouse, so I could snitch half a pound
of meat. As it was, I had plenty of food and didn't even
go for the three ribs she left over (I did have them for
lunch next day). The ribs were that steamed and then cooked
with sauce kind that I disdain but that others extol as
"falling off the bone" - they came with limp fries and okay
slaw. The sauce was not too sweet - probably a commercial
brand cut with a little vinegar or something.

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