Text 17031, 91 rader
Skriven 2011-10-25 20:27:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: trip 95
===============
Being Diamond, I got a coupon for cooked-to-order breakfast
for two. They were advertising "taco scramble" as the
special, but I just went with sunny side eggs with bacon and
sausage, which were back to the usual industrial Hilton
standard. Ordinary fruit; copious pastries of which I didn't
try any. Watery juice from concentrate. I forget whether
Lilli breakfasted with me or had her own later: it was an
unmemorable though copious meal. I should have had three
eggs, though, as these were nice and fresh.

The town's greatest draw other than AirVenture is the EAA
(Experimental Aircraft Association) Museum, a mile down
the road. So we went. It's a major one, among the best
in the country, claiming 250 aircraft (I presume this
includes the ones housed at Pioneer Airport, which was
closed when we were there, as the master list at the museum
has 200) as well as artifacts from early and experimental
aviation and a dozen or so WWII aircraft, some of which
are still airworthy. We spent quite a bit of time here,
more than we would have thought we would, similar to our
experience at Kohler. By the time we had topped off our
stay with the 17-minute teaser/documentary about AirVenture,
it was time for a very late lunch. We tried to find Ardy and
Ed's, with its burgers and Made Fresh Daily root beer, but
it was closed for the season, so we trundled downtown only
to discover that it was pretty dull and on the border of
being down-and-out. Lilli had spotted a divey joint that
I think is called the Oshkosh Tavern (at any rate, it is
new, replacing the late lamented Screwballs Sports Pub);
on investigation it was determined that it didn't have a
kitchen, but the bartender referred us next door to the
pharmacy, whose lunch counter is called the Oshkosh Bistro
and which is apparently known for schnitzel. On opening
the door, Lilli immediately turned tail - I've never seen
her do anything like this; she's been game to eat in fish
houses and McDonaldses and dimly lit bordellolike places
in Turkey and Chicago, but apparently something really
really turned her off about it. Next thing we knew we
were back in the car, again trying to escape from a city
that offered nothing or less. Being a little peckish, I
unpacked the leftover ribs from last night and chowed on
them - Lilli refused, as they'd been at room temperature
for far too long (true) and they were only okay to begin
with (also true).

We headed south and didn't look back until we arrived at
Fond du Lac, where after sufficient dithering (I was for
trying the restaurant in the best hotel in town, the
Ramada) we found a sports bar called the Coliseum.

I wasn't hungry any more, though as it was her turn, I
should have eaten something just to rectify the imbalance.
There were the general run of bar food, and a few wings
would have done me some good, but I limited myself to
tasting the various wing sauces and hot condiments, none
of which particularly enticed me. A couple of Coliseum
Ambers (malty, easy drinking) from Stevens Point provided
all the sustenance I needed. Lilli of course had a burger,
which was respectable if overdone, with quite good fries.
The bartenders were quite hot. Some of the clientele were
okay too, in their short skirts and high heeled boots.
Occasionally a tubby scruffy guy came out and looked around
- obviously the proprietor, about whom Lilli said that he
looked as if he decided to run a bar because then he could
hire sexy women to work for him and spend all day doing
nothing but stare at them. A certain innocence about it all,
though, exemplified by the Google review by someone named
Brandee, who makes no bones about being an employee: "worked
at the Coliseum for 6 years ..." - if anyone is up in Fond
du Lac, check her out: she has a t-shirt that says Brandee
on the back and is, in my estimation, extremely attractive.

The prices were fair (the beers were $2 a pint, the burger
$6 or 7. Wings 39c a joint. Cheap wine made up for it, as
a glass cost as much as the burger did).

Our bartender tried to sell us on the frequent drinker card
and seemed taken aback by the news that we weren't from
there but were driving all the way to Milwaukee. Traffic
sucks, she said.

On southward, and traffic was okay (Lilli chortling about
the bartender's observation) until I guess 4, when kaboom,
everything came to a halt, and we were in danger of missing
our 5 pm car return. I'd say we spent as much time on the
last five miles to the airport as we did driving all the
way from Fond du Lac.

___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
 * Origin: Since 1991 And Were Still Here! DOCSPLACE.TZO.COM (1:123/140)