All-American Week

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As soon as I realized it was less than 10 days until international departure, I decided to commit myself to American excellence! The All-American tour started with back- to-back days of boat rides on the Peshtigo river. I finally learned how to prime the engine, pull the choke, start, and drive the boat! I have to also say, I'm also not too bad at parking it at the dock! Aly and Sarah and Mike came up to town and we enjoyed the River, the River Pub, and getting dropped off at the pub in dad's American classic cars! The new All-American shot is a Pinapple Upside Down Cake, which is mostly Dr. McGillicuddys', so it's more All-Wisconsin then All-American. We also indulged at the pro-cheese Luigi's on Hwy 41! We had deep fried cheese curds, cheesy garlic bread (the best!), and cheese and tomato pizza! MMMMMM Sarah thanks for the Trapanese pizza reccomendation!

Then I had to say goodbye to my family, and Aly and I took off for the shores of Chicago. We stayed with our friend Jess who lives in an amazing condo in the super-fun Wicker Park area. Jess, Aly, Tammy, myself, and some neighbors watched fireworks over downtown from the roof of her place, and then partied our way through the courtyard and neighborhood! I had a fantastic cheeseburger for dinner (and baked goat cheese - can't get enough cheese, please!), and also had an awesome breakfast broccoli and cheddar quiche with Truckenmiller - although again an Illinois law had us stumped....no cocktails on Sundays until 11am. FIBS!

Next I flew over to JFK and was greeted by our very own Lauren Tangerman! You would not believe the mapquest directions to Bonnie's place in Jersey! It was about 6 notebook pages long (handwritten because Lauren didn't have a printer) and there were detours, veering, slight rights, exit lefts, and bridges and tolls! But - we found it!!! Only one wrong turn, and next thing you know we're in Bonnie and Melissa's backyard eating burgers and sorting out beer pong partners! We met lots of interesting Jersey folks, and we found out that since we're not from there, we're actually not that interesting. Too bad Lauren and Tara KICKED your Jersey pong butts and took home the trophy! (Pictures lost due to technical difficulties, but there were many witnesses!) There's really nothing more American than a Labor Day BBQ in Jersey with a beer pong tournament and hot pink fake nails!

Since Monday, I've had the pleasure of enjoying the quaint yet bustling town of Port Chester, NY! Lauren and I were locked out upon arrival, so we took our scrubby selves to BW3s and ate wings, played trivia, and drank stella, and watched the US Open tennis tourney until the stars came out! God Bless America! The next day we motivated around noon, and hopped on the train down to NYC! I abolutely love the bustle, the millions of shops, restaurants, and people everywhere! We went to the American Natural history museum and reveled in the life-size diaramas, miniature diaramas, and of course who doesn't love a life-size model of a humpback whale! Afterwards, we walked around Chinatown and Little Italy, stopping at only the best happy hours (with internet jukeboxes!) We ate and amazing spectacular feast of carppachio and pasta at a restaurant on the street and enjoyed an Italian wine to set the scene. The scene being an unplanned pub crawl of Port Chester!! When we returned on the train, Kate was there to pick us up and take us on a 4 block/4 bar tour of the town where we were required to do at least one shot at each! And of course we ran into people who knew her all around town and there were warm welcomes, shuffleboard, and great photo documenting! We also ran into her front doorman of her building, which actually used to be the LifeSavers manufacturing plant. FUN! 😊

Today, I knocked another US State off my list - Connecticut!!! Went over to Grenwich to buy Lauren a comb and me - dental floss. And the man at the Burgers, Shakes, and Fries place said he's never seen someone dip their french fries in the shakes! Then we went over to Playland, which is the boardwalk and beach in the Tom Hanks classic, Big. I changed into my suit in the car and think I only flashed 2 people. Not too bad!

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Comments

[Auntie Laura]

Auntie Laura
Whooo, I'm not sure we should be unleashing you on the unsuspecting world population! They have no idea what's coming their way! Don't have to tell you to have fun!