Road Tips

The Leinie Lodge - Chippewa Falls, WI

During our vacation, we made our way across the state of Wisconsin on our way to the Twin Cities.  Along the way, we stopped into a place that I've been to before, but Cindy never has - The Leinie Lodge in Chippewa Falls, WI.  The Leinie Lodge is the gift store, hospitality area and the launching pad for tours of the Leinenkugel brewery. 

Of course, Leininkugel beer is some of my favorite beer in the world.  I especially love their Northwoods Lager and their Oktoberfest beers.  I'm hoping they make Northwoods Lager available again through limited distribution as they did late last year and earlier this year in Wisconsin and Minnesota.  I usually don't travel to either one of those states from November to March, but I may have to just to get more of the beer.

The Leininkugel family has owned the brewery since its inception in 1867.  Bill Leinenkugel, the great-grandson of the founder of Leininkugel, retired a few years ago and handed the reigns of the company to his oldest son, Jake.  Next oldest son, Tom, is in charge of sales and marketing for Leininkugel and Bill's youngest son, John, is a sales rep for Leininkugel.  Here is a picture of Bill, John, Dick and Jake Leininkugel in the Leinie Lodge.  God, now how cool would it be to grow up in a family where the main business is a brewery?

Leininkugel beer is the fourth largest craft brewer in the U.S.  They merged with the Miller Brewing company in 1998, but the Leininkugel family maintains control over the day-to-day operations of the brewery.  The main brewery is in Chippewa Falls, just across the rushing creek from the Leinie Lodge.  Tours of the brewery begin at The Leinie Lodge.  We passed on going on the tour that day, but we did get two tokens each for an 8 oz. sample of Leinie products at the bar they have in the Leinie Lodge.  My two tokens were used up in about three minutes. 

I was in nearby Eau Claire on business about four years ago and I made the time to stop at the Leinie Lodge.  I'd been in similar gift shops at other breweries, but none of them come close to the Leinie Lodge.  The interior of the building looks exactly like a Northwoods lodge, complete with pine lumber walls and rafters throughout, a huge four-sided fireplace and beautiful hard wood floors.   The vaulted ceilings are over 20 feet in height from the floor to the peak.  For a gift shop, there's a homey, warm and comforting feel to the place. 

During my first trip, I bought Cindy a great Leinenkugel sweatshirt with "Leinenkugel" spelled out in chenille lettering across the front.  The Leinie Lodge has some of the best looking shirts and sweatshirts of any brewery gift shop I've been in.  Here's a picture of Cindy looking through the racks of both men's and ladies clothing they had to offer.   We actually didn't buy anything on this trip.  We were told most of the summer wear had been picked over and they were getting ready to start putting out their fall and winter wear. 

Here's a picture of the wall of fame for Leinenkugel.  These are pictures of the men who have headed up the Leinenkugel brewery over the years.  Family patriarch and brewery founder Jacob Leinenkugel is picture in the lower center of this picture. 

In addition to clothing, the Leinie Lodge also has a number of specialty items for sale including chairs, signs, canoe paddles, clocks, playing cards and barware.  They have golf bags and backpacks; darts and dice cups: model car banks to beer steins; and greeting cards to picture frames.  There isn't one thing the Leinie people haven't found to put their name on.  (Actually, I was looking for a Leinenkugel toilet seat, but they didn't have one of those.)

Here's a picture of the massive four-sided fireplace in the Leinie Lodge.  They have comfortable leather chairs and couches to sit on and relax during the shopping experience.  Some people will take their free samples of beer over to the couch to sip on and enjoy the fire.  Even on a 75 degree day outside, the fire was roaring and it gave the Leinie Lodge more of a cozy and homey atmosphere.  Check out the bear coming out of the chimney above the mantle. 

Like many of the larger breweries I've been to, they don't sell beer at the Leinie Lodge.  But they will direct you to the nearest places in Chippewa Falls in which to buy some.  Since we had a trunk full suitcases, a cooler and other assorted things we bought while on vacation, we didn't have room to stop for any beer.  Besides, a lot of the Leinenkugel beers we can get in Iowa. 

In addition to a lot of things for sale, they also had a number of old memorabilia on display.  One thing that caught my attention was an old Leinenkugel beer refrigerator stocked with Leinenkugel beers.  It sort of reminded me of my beer fridge in the garage at home.  I showed it to Cindy and I said, "See?  They even have an old beer fridge here."

She said, "Yeah, but they don't have as many beers as you have."

We ended up buying just some basic stuff, nothing much of anything.  Since most of the clothing was picked over (or very high-priced) we didn't find anything that we really needed.  Cindy really like the Leinie Lodge.  She said it was so much nicer than the ones she'd been to at both Miller and Budweiser.   I have to agree. It's a great place to go and wander around in for an hour. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving 2008 here in the heartland of America.  It's been a beautiful day with clear skies, light winds and plenty of sunshine.

We didn't have any family obligations, so we just ended up cooking here at home for just Cindy and me.  It was a beautiful day in Iowa - light winds, clear blue skies and temps in the mid to upper 40's.  Considering how cold it has been lately, it was a great day.

But the big item on the menu today was a 5.75 pound standing rib roast.  I scored the top of the meat and rubbed some olive oil on it.  Then I added crushed garlic, dried thyme and rosemary, paprika, onion powder, sea salt and cracked black pepper.  I added some water into the pan that I was going to cook it in and called it good. 

I put it in the Weber smoker just after noon and kept the temperature around 190-200 degrees (F).  This is a picture of the meat as it went into the smoker.

In the meantime, I steamed up two pounds of shrimp for an afternoon snack.  That's kind of a Thanksgiving tradition with Cindy and I.  I make my own shrimp sauce, laden with horseradish.  I added some Cajun seasonings and garlic powder with the shrimp while they were steaming.  When they were done, I put them in a big bowl of ice to cool 'em down.  Then we had peel and eat shrimp to munch on all afternoon.

Along about 6:15 - about six hours after I put the meat in the smoker, I pulled it out and wrapped it up with aluminum foil to let it continue to cook naturally from within.  During that time I made my own homemade stuffing and a batch of garlic, horseradish, and cream cheese mashed potatoes.  And I made a batch of my own homemade stuffing, too. Things were looking good.

About 6:45, I pulled the foil off the standing rib roast and here is the finished product.  It was definitely juicy and it had a great herbal smell to it. 

It was a little rare for Cindy's taste, but I thought it was perfect for mine.  I wasn't too happy with the cut of meat, however.  It had a lot of fat in it and there was a big line of gristle through the middle of it.  No matter, however.  The taste was great, it was tender and juicy, and it had a nice little bit of smoky hickory flavor to it.

We also had a great bottle of 2003 Chalk Hill Cabernet with the dinner.  After we finished (once again, just the two of us - we have a TON of leftovers) and cleaned up the kitchen, our neighbor's - George and Hannah - came over with a bottle of a 2006 Chappellet Mountain Cuvee blend that was a gift from Hannah's boss for a job well done on a project.  They wanted to share with us.  That was nice of them.  I wasn't familiar with Chappellet - and it may have been a little too early to drink - but it was very good.

We always have a lot to be thankful for on Thanksgiving each year, but I was thankful for the cow that gave its life for our wonderful meal and the vast amount of leftovers I'll be munching on in the coming days.  And I didn't even have a piece of pumpkin pie today...

Shipwrecked Brewery and Inn - Door County

One more place we went to during our visit to Door County this last summer was to the only brewpub in the area, Shipwrecked Brewery and Inn in Egg Harbor (see map).  We'd been looking around in some of the shops and I wanted to take a look inside the pub and maybe have a beer. 

The building which houses Shipwrecked Brewery and Inn has a little bit of history behind it.  It was originally built in the late 1800's as a pub house for many of the sailors that came to Door County to transport goods.  It became somewhat infamous in the 1920's when Chicago gangster Al Capone used to frequent the place.  Local lore is that a series of tunnels under Egg Harbor allowed Capone to escape capture a number of times. 

The place changed hands a number of times until 1997 when investors bought the pub and turned it into Door County's first and only brewpub.  They also refurbished 8 guest rooms on the upper floors of the building to serve as an inn. 

We were told by the bartender on duty that day that, supposedly, Shipwrecked has a number of ghosts that inhabit the building.  One of the ghosts is said to be the illegitimate son of Al Capone who was reportedly hanged in the attic of the building so he wouldn't talk to federal investigators moving in on Capone.  The bartender told us that a number of people who believe in the supernatural have stayed in the inn over the years and have supposedly seen these spirits. 

The general manager of Shipwrecked Brewery and Inn, Ed Downham, has said that he lived in a attic for a number of years after the building was refurbished and he never experienced any ghosts.  But he said that for those who do believe in the supernatural, it's an interesting place to stay. 

The outside dining area was nearly full as we walked into the bar/restaurant just after noon on a beautiful day in Door County.  The bar area was completely empty, save for the bartender.  I took a look at the beers they had to offer.  It wasn't much - they only five different types plus a seasonal India Pale Ale that they were out of that day.  I ended up getting the Captain's Copper, a full-bodied English style ale that had a nice finish.  The bartender said it was similar to their India Pale Ale, only not as hoppy.

Cindy ordered up one of their Bayside Blonde ales, a light beer with a nice malty flavor.  I had a taste of hers and I actually liked it a little better than the Captain's Copper.

Shipwrecked beers go through a seven step process, not unlike other brew pubs.  The bartender said that all the brewing is done in the basement of the building and space is a problem.  He said, "I think the brewmaster (Rich Zielke) would like to do more beers, but he doesn't have any where to expand."

The bartender, in his 50's, explained that he helped out from time to time in the daytime.  He said his normal job was working at the kite store just down the street that he owns with his brother.  Then in the wintertime, they go to Hawaii for four or five months.   "We've been doing that for years.  It's like a perpetual summer for us."

God, I love perpetual summers. 

He said he's friends with the owners and as soon as the Shipwrecked brewery is closed in early November, it's time for them to close up their shop.  He said, "We'll come back from Hawaii about the time the brewpub opens back up in the Spring."

The decor in the Shipwrecked pub is whimsical and fun.  It has a nautical theme to the place with fishing nets hanging from the ceiling.  The bar top and table tops were an industrial stainless steel that looked like they could stand up to incessant pounding by a hammer.  I suppose it cuts down on graffiti and people carving their initials into the wood, but it looked a little out of place in the bar area.  

Here's the sign showing the way to the bathrooms.  It looks like the little guy is screaming, "Outta my way!  I've gotta shit!"  

We had a eaten a late and very filling breakfast, but I did want to take a look at the menu while we drank our beers.  The food at Shipwrecked Brewery is typical of most brewpubs I've been to - mostly sandwiches, burgers, appetizers and a few entrees.  The bartender said they have great barbecue at Shipwrecked ("Best in Door County", he said) and I found that they have St. Louis style ribs, pulled pork sandwiches and beef brisket sandwiches.  I would have liked to have tried the brisket, but given that we were full and the many options of good restaurants in the area, I decided to pass.

There is a main dining area of Shipwrecked Brewery just off to the side of the bar area.  There were only a couple people in there having lunch when we were in there.  We ended up finishing up our beers and headed out.

The beer at Shipwrecked was OK, nothing special.  I would have loved to have tried the India Pale Ale, but it was not to be on this trip.  I'm guessing when night falls upon Door County, the bar area probably gets hopping.  I'm not certain I'd want to be spending my nights in the inn above the bar, given the probably noise generated by the brewpub, but it was a nice place, nonetheless. 

Legendary Rhythm and Blues Revue

Recently, we had the fortune to see the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Revue at the Redstone Room in the River Music Experience in downtown Davenport.  The line-up consists of San Francisco-based blues guitarist Tommy Castro and his backing band; blues-pianist and saxophone player Deanna Bogart; the long-time harmonica player from the J. Geils Band, Magic Dick; and blues guitarist Bernard Allison, the son of the late blues legend Luther Allison.

In the past, the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Revue has featured Ronnie Baker Brooks, the son of blues great Lonnie Brooks, instead of Bernard Allison.  Our friends, Tom and Mary Ann Laake, saw that show in Waterloo earlier in the year.  We wanted to go see the show in Davenport and Tom and Mary Ann were up for going with us, as well. 

After standing in line for nearly an hour for the doors to open so we could get a table in the Redstone Room, we finally found a table in the back.  While the sight lines aren't too good in the Redstone Room, the giant projected images they have of the performers on the wall opposite the bar helps those in the back to see the performance.  But the sound system is great, no matter where on sits in the venue.

The show started promptly at 8 a.m. with Tommy Castro and his band taking the stage.  I worked with Tommy Castro at the Rib Fest about 5 years ago.  I remember him being a very nice guy who didn't drink alcohol.  His drink of choice was Red Bull and he had a couple three on ice in the colors off the side of the stage. 

Castro's blistering guitar and gravelly voice did a great job of convincing one that he'd probably grown up in the south instead of the Bay Area.  Castro's band consisting of longtime associate Keith Crossen on sax, Tom Poole on trumpet, Scott Sutherland on bass and Ronnie Smith on drums did a great job accompanying Castro. 

After about 30 minutes of playing his tunes, Castro introduced Deanna Bogart.  I wasn't overly certain if I'd ever see her play before, but the Washington, D.C.-based Bogart put on a great set of about four or five songs as she sang and played both her piano and her saxophone with authority.  I was really impressed with her work.  I wish she would have been able to play longer than she did.

Coming out to join Castro and Deanna Bogart after her short set was harmonica player-extraordinaire Magic Dick.  Born Richard Salwitz, Magic Dick was the cornerstone with the J. Geils Band until the group disbanded in the mid-80's.  He is one of the true innovators of the modern blues harmonica style.  And the guy can really blow on that mouth harp.  Although he's approaching 65 years of age, Magic Dick was still a flamboyant presence on the stage, bouncing, dancing and doing wild arm gyrations when he played. 

Joining the group last - but certainly not least - was Bernard Allison.  It turned out this was one of the first gigs the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Revue had done with the Chicago native.  Allison still plays the same guitar that his father, Luther, played when he became one of the most revered blues artists.  And Bernard Allison did a great job playing three or four of his songs with the other musicians helping out.  It was about 2 hours of non-stop great music played by a stage full of great musicians.

The band took about a half-hour break before coming back out and beginning a jam session where everyone played on stage.  Actually, I'd had enough of the music and heard what I wanted to hear that evening, so we took off after a couple of the jam songs.  But it was still a treat to have so many great musicians on stage for one evening of blues.  The Legendary Rhythm and Blues Revue continues to travel across the nation into 2009 (see upcoming dates here), this time with blues great Kenny Neal taking Bernard Allison's place.  If you love blues music and get a chance to see the show, do it.

Do You Facebook?

I just joined Facebook after being urged by a couple three friends and colleagues that I really needed to "network" on the social website.  Actually, I thought I would be too old for Facebook, given the large number of teens, twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings on the site.  But I've since found that a number of people in my age group are part of the Facebook community.

I'm already associated with Linkedin and Plaxo for professional networking sites for my work.  It's not all that glamorous and fun as Facebook can be, but it keeps my name out there on the professional side of things should someone need to get a hold of me for whatever. 

Most of the initial people that I have as "friends" on Facebook are family members, friends and colleagues.  I actually did get a couple invites from some old high school classmates that I don't stay in touch with like I should.  I haven't had much time to fully go through the process of learning all the things that Facebook will do, nor have I had much time to search for old friends who may be on Facebook.  All I know is that there are dozens - if not hundreds - of Bob Kelly's and Eric Page's in the world who are on Facebook.  But finding the ones who live in Moline, IL is like finding a needle in a haystack. 

Other than working on my blog lately, I've also been helping out my buddy, Randy Adams, with the web site of his bar - Creekside Bar and Grill.  Between that and this blog, I don't know if I'll have a lot of time for Facebook.  But I'm going to roll with it for the time being.  Look me up if you Facebook!

The Drover - Omaha, NE

One of my first posts on Road Tips was on one of my all-time favorite steak houses in the world, The Drover in Omaha.  (You can read that post here.)  I hadn't been to The Drover for a long time and it happened that I set up a dinner meeting with one of my dealers in Omaha one evening a few weeks back.  I said, "You have any place in particular that you'd like to go to?"

He said, "Have you ever heard of The Drover?"

I said, "The Drover?  Good God, yes!  I love that place!"

He replied, "How does 7 p.m. at The Drover work for you?" 

I said, "I'm there!"

The Drover is one of the many old time steak houses in Omaha.  It dates back to the 70's when the old Ak-Sar-Ben race track was one of the premier horse tracks in the Midwest.  (Ak-Sar-Ben is Nebraska spelled backwards.)  The track was located just across 72nd street and you'd find a number of people who played the ponies earlier in the day congregate at The Drover.  

The name "Drover" is a term that is used by cattlemen for a cowboy who worked the cattle drives, moving large numbers of cattle over a long distance.  An average of 3000 head of cattle would be moved at any given time to outposts where they could be put on rail cars and sent to Kansas City, Omaha or Chicago for slaughter.  The "drovers" oversaw the movement of the cattle and would work for up to 24 hours a day at times.  The Drover in Omaha is named after these cowboys and the hard work they did to put good meat on the tables of America in the late 1800's and early 1900's.  

The Drover is sort of tucked back in between some office buildings and parking ramps and is sort of hard to find (see map).  I happened to get a great rate at the Doubletree Guest Suites just walking distance from The Drover, so I just walked over to meet my dealer around 7:00 p.m.  He wasn't there yet, so I ended up sitting in the dimly lit bar having a beer while I waited for him.  A man in his late 60's or early 70's came in and sat near me, and we struck up a small conversation.  He said he'd been coming to The Drover since he moved to Omaha in the 70's.  He said it was his late wife's favorite place to eat. 

While we were sitting there, a lady - probably in her mid-50's - came into the bar area and sat right down next to the man.  She started up a conversation with him that had all the elements of these two being a couple.  After about three minutes, the man said, "Now, who the hell are you?"

I thought he was kidding, but after a quick introduction by the lady, I figured out he had no idea who this floozy was.  But she was coming on strong to this guy, sort of like she was a hooker.  She said, "I just felt like coming out and partying tonight and I thought I'd sit next to the most handsome man at the bar."

The guy said, "OK, which one of my friends put you up to this?"

She said, "Why, I don't know what you're talking about.  I'm just here to have a good time!"  

She was rubbing his back and patting his arm.  The guy was clearly uncomfortable in this situation.  Now, she wasn't bad looking for her age, but she came on like she was a seventeen-year-old in heat.  It was actually kind of funny.

My dealer showed up about 20 minutes late and we took a table in the dining area.  I don't think the decor of the restaurant has been changed since I first went in there over 20 years ago.  We got a menu from the host and took a look to see what they had to offer.  Actually, The Drover is famous for their whiskey marinated steaks - they take straight Jack Daniel's and marinate the meat in it for about 15 to 20 minutes before cooking.  Marinating the meat in whiskey helps bring out more of the intense flavor in the meat when it's cooked.  

I took a look at the wine menu and while it wasn't all that extensive, the reserve list had some interesting bottles to choose from.  I initially ordered up a bottle of the Silver Oak Cabernet, but our waiter came back to say they were out of that bottle.  They had a bottle of Duckhorn Cabernet at the same price and I ordered that.  They did have a bottle of that.  

While we were perusing the menu, my dealer said, "Have you ever had the bacon-wrapped shrimp here?  Let's get one of those for an appetizer."  And so we did.  They were plump shrimp wrapped in bacon and grilled over The Drovers' open flame grill.  They were excellent. 

My dealer got the signature whiskey strip steak with a loaded baked potato.  One of the specials they were running that evening was a bone-in rib eye (not marinated).  I'm a sucker for good bone-in rib eyes so I ordered one of those, medium-rare.  I also threw caution at the wind and ordered a fully-loaded baked potato.   

One of the highlights of eating at The Drover is their salad bar.  While it's not all that big, they have some of the most fresh lettuce and toppings of any salad bar I've been to.  And they have a large bowl of cracked black pepper that you can spoon on top of any one of their homemade dressings.  I got the Western French dressing for the topping on my salad this one evening.  I could just graze at their salad bar.

We conducted some business before our steaks showed up, but once the meat came out all business conversation stopped.  My rib eye weighed 24 ounces with the bone in.   It was a perfect medium rare and very juicy and flavorful.  My guest's whiskey strip was also cooked to perfection and he just loved the taste of it.  He said, "There are so many great steak places in this town, but this is the best steak of them all." 

Even without marinating my steak in whiskey, I felt it was just as good of flavor as many of the whiskey marinated steaks I've had there in the past.  The rib eye did have a lot of marbling to it and it was just so damn tasty.  I ate so much of the steak that I hardly touched the baked potato. 

We ended up ending the meal with a couple of glasses of Scotch and hammering out a couple of more items in our meeting.  It was a productive meeting along with a great dinner - the kind of business meetings I love to have.

With tip, our bill came to just over $230 bucks.  The dealer offered to pay for half of it and I told him that if he promised to order more products from me, that would be well worth the price of the meal.  He laughed and said, "I'll see what I can do." 

Like I said earlier, there's a ton of great steak places to choose from in Omaha.  The Drover has consistently been one of the top steak houses in the area.  It's a little tough to find, but it's worth the effort once you get there.

Scaturo's Baking Company and Cafe - Sturgeon Bay, WI

On our way out of Sturgeon Bay after our stay in Door County, we passed a quaint little place that we thought we'd try for breakfast before we made the trip across the state of Wisconsin to Minneapolis.  Scaturo's Baking Company and Cafe is a little roadside place just west of the downtown area of Sturgeon Bay (see map).  We thought we'd give it a try. 

Robert and JoAnne Scaturo open the restaurant every day at 6 a.m. and feature a full menu throughout the day.  Most of the items they serve at dinner feature Italian dishes and they even have an item on the menu that for $10,995 you can learn to speak Italian  and also learn about the Italian meals you'll eat during the lessons.  It sounded kind of fun.   

Scaturo's Baking Company and Cafe is not very big.  You walk into the front door and the bakery is to the left.  A room on the right actually looks like it had been added on to the building.  There's a front dining section and a back dining section in the dining addition.  We took a seat in the front section in a booth. 

The breakfast menu is pretty strong with a number of oven-baked frittatas, quiches, French toast, and other breakfast favorites.  You can also choose from a number of baked breads, rolls and pastries for breakfast, as well.  They had a number of omelettes to choose from including an Eastern omelette consisting of ham, Swiss cheese, mushrooms, onions and tomatoes; a Western omelette that had ham, cheddar cheese, green peppers, onions and tomatoes; and a Mexican omelette that featured sausage, cheddar cheese, onions, peppers, sour cream and salsa.  They all sounded pretty good. 

Cindy was really interested in the quiche they had on the menu.  The quiche that day was filled with ham and spinach.  She couldn't resist that, so that's what she ordered.  A side of fruit came with the quiche. 

An omelette sounded good, but I wanted to "make my own".  I asked the waitress if I could do that and she said, "Sure!  We do it all the time."

I saw they had Italian sausage as part of the the Italian omelette on the menu, so I ordered up an omelette that consisted of Italian sausage, mushrooms, and cheddar cheese.  She said, "Ooo... That sounds good."  I got a side of bacon with the omelette. 

It took about fifteen minutes for our food to show up.  We both got toast made from their homemade sourdough bread.  The omelette was very, very good.  The sausage had great flavor to it, the mushrooms were fresh and not canned, and the cheddar cheese, was, well - we were in Wisconsin.  Can cheddar cheese suck in Wisconsin?

Cindy really liked her quiche.  The ham was cubed and the spinach was very fresh.  She was really happy we stopped there for breakfast. 

We took a quick look in the bakery as we were getting ready to leave, looking to see if there wasn't something that we absolutely couldn't live without.  Actually, there was a lot of goodies to choose from, but we will-powered ourselves into not buying anything for the road.  Next time.

I love finding little places like Scaturo's for breakfast.  I could tell a lot of the locals like the place, as well.  My adage is if the locals like it, it's good enough for us.  The food was very good, the ingredients were fresh and it was a pleasant dining experience.  Man, there's just so much to choose from in Door County when it comes to restaurants.  Scaturo's Baking Company and Cafe did a very fine job in keeping up with the other great places to eat in Door County.l

The Inn at Kristofer's - Door County

As our stay in Door County went on, we seemed to find even better and nicer restaurants to eat in.  One place that we passed a number of times during our travels up and down the peninsula was The Inn at Kristopher's in Sister Bay (see map).  It intrigued Cindy enough that she wanted to have dinner there. 

The Inn at Kristofer's began in 1993 when Terri and Christopher Milligan opened the restaurant, wanting to use Midwestern foods made in a French culinary style.  (Terri Milligan is pictured at the right.) The restaurant is elegant with white table cloths, a large Steinway piano in the dining area and floor to ceiling windows looking out into Sister Bay and beyond into Green Bay.  They have a smaller private dining area on the second floor that had a great view of the bay, as well. 

We were casually dressed as we drove up to The Inn at Kristofer's.  Cindy was apprehensive that we may get turned away in our shorts and casual shirts.  As we pulled up, she saw an older company in the front window - the man was in a navy blue blazer and tie, the lady was in a dress.  Cindy said, "Oh, God.  This place may be too formal."

I pulled into the parking lot and I said, "Cindy, our money spends just as well as that guy in the sport coat.  Do you want to go in or what?"

She sat there for a second and she said, "Well, I guess all they can do is say that they have a dress code and not seat us."

I said, "They'll seat us."

As we were walking into the restaurant, a family of five, including three kids in shorts and sandals, walked out.  The mother had a sun dress on, the father had khaki shorts and a polo shirt on.  I knew we'd get seated - if they had space. 

We stood at the host stand for a moment and the host - in a full suit and tie - came over to greet us.  I asked if they had room for us and he said, "Well, I can either seat you here (at a table close to the stand), or it would be a 20 to 30 minute wait for a table up by the window."

Actually, the table that was open wasn't all that far from the window.  I said, "Well, this is fine, here."

As we were being seated, Cindy said to the host, "We didn't know if we could get in dressed as we are."

The host said, "Door County is pretty casual.  As long as you have a shirt and shoes on, we'll take you." 

I was somewhat embarrassed Cindy said that.  After the host left us, I said, "Cindy, you're making a much bigger deal about this than need be.  You shouldn't worry about how we're dressed when we go into a restaurant.  And if they don't want to seat us, it's not the type of restaurant we want to eat at, anyhow."

Our waitress, Sara, came by and introduced herself.  She was very busy and said she'd be back with us momentarily.  In the meantime, the host came over and asked us if we'd like anything to drink.  I thought a Scotch would taste real yummy at that point and I asked if they had a MacAllen 12 year old single malt.  The host said, "We're only a beer and wine restaurant, sir."

I was incredulous.  "Really," I exclaimed.  OK, so I just got a beer.  Cindy wanted wine so she got an iced-tea for the time being while we looked over the wine list.  Sure enough, I looked around the place and there wasn't a bar in sight. 

As I said, the menu at The Inn at Kristofer's consists of a somewhat traditional Midwestern fare that is inspired by French culinary recipes.  The menu mainly consists of fish and seafood items, beef, lamb, wild game and poultry dishes.  While the menu isn't large, it was varied enough as to where you had some pretty diverse choices.  

While I was looking to get a bottle of red wine, Cindy said that she wanted white that evening.  I found a bottle of the 2005 Sonoma-Cutrer chardonnay that I thought we'd try, so I ordered that.

Cindy wanted seafood and she ended up ordering the grilled salmon served with a saffron reduction and fresh corn salsa.  I was having trouble making up my mind as to what I wanted, but I settled for the grilled tuna - a tuna steak brushed with olive oil, herbs and garlic and cooked medium rare.  We each got dinner salads before the meal. 

While we weren't next to the window, we did get a good glimpse of the bay as it changed from daylight to twilight.  The lights in The Inn at Kristofer's were subdued and you could see outside pretty easily as the day changed to night.  It was a beautiful evening in Door County.  In fact, the weather was just beautiful the whole time we were there. 

Our meals showed up soon after we finished our salads.  My tuna was cooked perfectly.  I loved the garlic-herb taste along with the tuna.  I need to try that on my tuna at home sometime.

Cindy really liked her grilled salmon.  She gave me a bite of it and it was very tasty.  The corn salsa was a nice compliment to the seafood dish. 

All the while we were in The Inn at Kristofer's, we saw a variety of people coming and going.  Some were dressed very casually, others were dressed up.  Most of the people that were dressed up were much older.  I told Cindy, "See?  You really didn't have anything to worry about."

She said, "I know.  Sometimes I get a little weird about it."

The Inn at Kristofer's was excellent.  Each place we had dinner in Door County was excellent.  My credit card was smoking after we left Door County, but we had a great time and ate a lot of great food.  I was pleasantly surprised at the number of very good restaurants in the area.  The Inn at Kristofer's was no exception.  In fact, it was the best place we ate at while we were in Door County.  And don't worry if you feel like you're under-dressed.  Your money spends just as well as the people who are dressed up. 

Wynkoop Brewing Company - Denver

When in Denver recently for the CEDIA Expo, we went to dinner at The Rodozio Grill the first night we were in town.  While it was still good, it didn't seem to be as good as when we were there last year.  And we hardly got to try any of their unbelievable garlic beef.  Still, the amount of food satiated us and a couple of my colleagues talked me into walking caddy-cornered over to the Wynkoop Brewing Company after dinner.

The Wynkoop Brewing Company bills itself as the world's largest brewpub.  I don't quite know about that, but it is pretty big inside.  But one thing I do know is that it's the first brew pub in Denver and the state of Colorado.  Wynkoop Brewing Company is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. 

I always thought some guy named Wynkoop started brewery, but it turns out the Wynkoop in the name belongs to one of the founders and first sheriff of Denver, Edward (Ned) Wynkoop.  Wynkoop was appointed sheriff of the area in which Denver eventually became incorporated by the territorial governor of Kansas, James Denver.  When the city was incorporated, Wynkoop suggested naming the town after the governor.  

The brew pub was started by five people, including current Denver mayor John Hickenlooper.   It's housed in the historic former J.S. Brown Mercantile building in the Lower Downtown (aka LoDo) area of Denver (see map).  In the 90's, the Wynkoop organization began an aggressive push to establish brew pubs in historic buildings across the nation.   They set up partial local ownership and some of their "chain" restaurants include the Upstream Brewing Company in Omaha, Titletown Brewing Company in Green Bay, and Raccoon River Brewing Company in Des Moines.  I've been to all three, but I have to admit it's been quite some time since I've been to Upstream and even longer since I've been to Raccoon River.     

First of all, I'm not a big fan of most Colorado brewed beer.  I think most of them are overrated and I don't care for the taste of some of them.  The Wynkoop beers are OK, but I wouldn't call them anything special.  The brewery makes about a dozen different types of beer, including a root beer.  I went with their most famous beer, the Railyard Ale, a marzen-style Oktoberfest beer that's their signature brew at Wynkoop.  One of my colleagues went with the B3K Schwarz ale, a dark German-style ale that has a good forward taste to it, but was a little too heavy for my tastes.  And the other colleague got a St. Charles Extra Special Bitter, a malty English-style beer. 

We walked around the main floor of the Wynkoop Brewery which houses the brew pub and restaurant.  The restaurant/brew pub area has an old style quaintness to it.  I took a look at one of the menus and found their offerings to be similar to what I've found at other brew pubs.  Wynkoop prides itself upon serving Colorado raised meats and produce.  Given the amount of people in the restaurant having dinner on Labor Day evening, I'd say the food must be pretty good.

We ventured upstairs to the second floor to look around.  The whole second floor is one big pool room with dart machines and other games.  I'd have to say there was 20 pool tables up there, all the big fancy ones that you'd find in upscale pool halls.  It was a pretty large room, to be sure.

I got another beer - this time I got one of their India Pale Ale, a English-style pale ale with a load of dry hops.  It was much better than the Railyard Ale.  Before I ordered the I.P.A., I tried a sample of their Chili beer.  They add 3 1/2 pounds of Anaheim chili peppers to each barrel and let the peppers mix with the beer.  It had a nice bite to it, but I'm not big on chili beers except for throwing some in with my homemade chili from time to time.  

I also gave try to their Scottish Ale, which I liked, as well.  It had a nice roasted flavor to it.  In fact, I couldn't decide what to get and I ended up getting the I.P.A.  One of my colleagues ended up getting the Scottish Ale while the other opted for the Sagebrush Stout, a very forward tasting beer made with a number of varieties of grains and hops.  I tasted it and it was OK, but too heavy for my tastes.  

While the brewpub was impressive, I'd have to say Wynkoop's beers were middling, at best.  I thought the I.P.A. was good, but it just didn't have the bite that I normally like out of my pale ales.  I don't know what it is about Colorado beers.  Maybe I'm just partial to the Germanic style beers of Wisconsin.  Everyone is different, that's for sure.  Given the amount of people in the Wynkoop Brewing Company, there's a lot of people who like their beers.  And if they've been in business for over 20 years, they must be doing something right.

The "New" XM Radio

As I said in my post from a couple three weeks ago, after living with XM Radio for three months there's a lot to like about it.  Yesterday, it got even better as a number of Sirius satellite radio programs merged with XM programming.  I spent a good portion of the day in the car listening to what's new.  And what's good. 

The selection of good music channels on XM grew precipitously yesterday with the addition of "Little Steven" Van Zandt's Underground Garage, Bruce Springsteen's E Street Radio, Jimmy Buffett's Radio Margaritaville, BBC Radio 1, Outlaw Country and Jam On (a channel featuring jam-bands), just to name a few.  The 60's on 6 channel added some Sirius personalities in addition to some of the XM Radio people who were on the air. 

There are now six comedy channels on XM Radio with the addition of Jamie Foxx's "The Foxxhole" channel and the Blue Collar comedy channel.  Both channels are uncensored raising the number of uncensored comedy channels on XM to four.  Blue Collar comedy channel features American comedians while "The Foxxhole" features African-American comedians. 

XM's old X Country station was replaced by Outlaw Country.  It's not quite as edgy as X Country was, but it's more eclectic with performers such as Lyle Lovett, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Lucinda Williams playing on it today. 

I thought Radio Margaritaville would be Jimmy Buffett, all the time.  But it was actually pretty good as I never heard a Buffett tune during the times that I was listening. 

I really liked the Underground Garage.  The programming was all over the place from the Beach Boys to the Kinks to White Stripes to the Ramones.  It reminds me a lot of the Deep Tracks channel on XM, playing a lot of obscure "B" side tunes.  It's a fun channel to listen to. 

I was under the impression that I had NBA play-by-play on XM prior to today, but I couldn't find any games, save one - New York at San Antonio - the other night when I was driving down the road.  I knew there were other games on, but that was the only one I could find.  Now, there are five channels that are dedicated to just NBA programming and I'm sure some of the other sports channels XM has will be used for NBA games if more channels are needed.  Not that I like to listen to NBA games (not like I like to listen to Major League Baseball games), but I thought it would be good to listen to for a while while driving down the road.

When I bought my new car, the sales guy pointed out that I had a 36 station pre-set on my radio.  He said, "I don't know why anyone would need 36 pre-sets on a radio."

Well, now that there's all this new programming on XM, I wish I had a radio with 50 pre-sets. 

If you were on the fence on getting a satellite radio, now's the time to hop off.  The choices are broad and varied, the programming is stellar and for $12.95 a month it's a bargain.

The Curtis - Denver

While in Denver for the annual CEDIA Expo, we stayed downtown this year at a very interesting hotel, The Curtis.  The Curtis, named after the street it's on (see map), is a retro themed boutique hotel.  The hotel is part of the Sterling brand of hotels which offer affordable upscale rooms worldwide.  And the Sterling hotels are under the umbrella of the Preferred Hotel group, offering some of the finest independent hotels in the world.

The Curtis offers 13 themed floors where the hallways and rooms are decorated around a pop cultural icon.  For example, there's the Sci-Fi floor that had posters and items from science fiction movies and television shows.  The 13th floor is the "Dun dun DUNNN!" floor which is the horror floor (13th floor - get it?).  And another one is Floor of Champions, which is sports themed and features sports icons from the 60's and 70's.

I was on the 14th floor - TV Mania - which featured pictures and posters from television shows from the 60's and 70's.  There were covers of TV Guide magazines from the 60's and 70's in the hallway to the room.  And in my room there was a picture of Johnny Carson on the desk. 

Being on the 14th floor, I had a great view of the front range of the Rocky Mountains, as well as a good view of Invesco Field, the home of the Denver Broncos.  The room was very comfortable and it featured a 37" LCD flat panel television.   The bathroom was very European with a glass enclosed shower with wooden shelving under the sink.  The clock radio was a miniature model of a Volkswagen Beetle convertible.  I still couldn't figure out how to work the damn thing.  I guess that's what happens when you cross German technology with Chinese technology.

The lobby of The Curtis looked a lot like the set of a game show from the 60's.   It had a number of art deco chairs and a flat screen television adorned the wall.  The also featured a small library full of books from the 60's and 70's and books that celebrated the pop culture of that period.  It was actually kind of fun to look through the books to see what they had while we'd be waiting for our group to congregate. 

Parking at The Curtis is in an adjoining garage.  There was nothing cheap about parking there - self-park was 18 bucks a day while valet parking was 24 bucks a day.  I went with the self-parking to save a few bucks and I have to say more than once I had a hassle getting out of the garage because I either didn't have a ticket to exit (the front desk didn't give me one), or I had the wrong ticket.  Paying the extra 6 bucks a day was almost worth it to have the valet park the car. 

The Curtis featured a very good restaurant - The Corner Office Restaurant and Martini Bar.   The waiters and waitresses were young, hip and hard workers.    You could get virtually anything off the menu at any time.  One of the things they had were blueberry cheesecake waffles.  I waited until the last day to try those as I'm usually not a big breakfast person.  It was two mid-sized waffles with cream cheese sandwiched in between and topped with fresh blueberries.  God, was it wonderful!  But - oh! - so rich!  I couldn't eat half of what I had on my plate. 

The Corner Office bar was a neat place, as well.  We always take liquor and beer into one of our colleagues rooms for everyone to congregate in after a day at the show, just to relax and relate stories of our day on the show floor.  But for a change of scenery, we hit the bar in the hotel, too.  A lot of people connected with CEDIA were staying at the hotel, so I spent some time in the bar catching up with some old friends. 

But the best thing about The Curtis is that it was a two block walk from the Colorado Convention Center (right).  That was so much better than the hassle of driving in from the Loews hotel we stayed in near Cherry Creek.  The Curtis was much nicer than the Loews, as well.  And I'll also say, the breakfast service was much faster than Loews.  We always had to figure on an hour for breakfast at Loews.  It was much quicker at The Corner Office - when we could get in. 

And the good thing about The Curtis was the price.  Usually during trade shows, the hotels jack the price up on their rooms.  My room, with a queen size bed and all the amenities, was only $142 a night.  Regular price on the room is $156 a night.  Given it was right downtown, I thought the price was more than reasonable. 

Cindy has said that she'd like to go out to Denver sometime and also to go up into the mountains.  When we do go, I'd like to stay at the Curtis again.  There's good restaurants in the area, it's a two block walk to the 16th St. Mall tourist area, and it's a healthy walk, cab ride or car drive to the LoDo section of town.  The Denver Center for Performing Arts is right across the street.  It's very centrally located. 

The service at The Curtis was great (including the 60's retro candy they'd put on your pillow during their nightly turn-down service), it was in a convenient location, and it was sort of fun and funky at the same time.  Oh, yeah.  I'd stay there again. 

Trouble in the Electronics Industry

The announcement of Circuit City filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday sent shock waves through the electronics industry.  The bankruptcy announcement was on the heels of an announcement last week that Circuit City would be closing 155 stores, including all stores in Kansas City and Phoenix, all but one store in the Atlanta area, 14 of 17 stores in the region, and 10 of 14 stores in the San Francisco Bay area. 

This is also after regional electronics retailer Tweeter sold their assets to a liquidation company and filed for bankruptcy protection last week.  This is the second time in two years Tweeter had filed for bankruptcy.  

While Tweeter is going through a company-wide liquidation of product, Circuit City just got a $1.1 billion dollar loan to help keep it going through the Christmas selling season.  The loan will allow Circuit City to continue to procure products while liquidating the inventory of the closing stores and hopes to emerge from bankruptcy protection in 2009.  

Circuit City's bankruptcy filing came after their major suppliers cut off all credit terms to the Richmond, VA-based chain over the weekend.  Circuit City owes Hewlett-Packard nearly $119 million (couldn't happen to a better company), Samsung about $116 million, Sony Computer Entertainment (PlayStation 3) $60 million, LG Electronics (Zenith) $41 million and Toshiba $18 million.  

The Circuit City bankruptcy announcement was anticipated for quite some time.  There were a number signs leading up to the announcement that Circuit City had been losing money for quite sometime.  Over a year and a half ago, Circuit City fired over 3400 salespeople because the company deemed they were making too much money.  They then hired a number of salespeople making just over the minimum wage.  Many of these new salespeople were not seasoned in the art of sales and Circuit City sales began to fall.  

Circuit City reported even wider losses than anticipated for their fiscal quarter that ended on August 31.  The chain lost over $239 million in the period, compared to losses of $63 million in the same quarter in the prior year.  Sales dropped nearly 10% during the quarter. 

Tweeter announced toward the end of October they had closed all their distribution warehouses, told employees to cancel all deliveries and installations scheduled after November 14, and sold the inventory to a liquidator.  Tweeter had reported a loss of $40 million dollars in an Oct. 20 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy court. 

While Tweeter's losses weren't as large as Circuit City's, the company knew that if Circuit City announced store closing, liquidations and bankruptcy first, Tweeter would have little to no chance of recouping any money through sales of their inventory.  Tweeter did a pre-emptive strike in the audio/video world by announcing their intentions first giving them a head start over Circuit City. 

Tweeter was a major retailer for my company.  We sold them Focal loudspeakers and Cambridge Audio electronics.  While they owe our company a lot of money, it's not as bad as others.  Sony ($1.7 million owed), Samsung ($865K) and Pioneer ($554K) topped the list of manufactures Tweeter owed money to.  Let's just say I don't anticipate getting any type of a Christmas bonus this year. 

Although the Chicago area stores that I called on for Tweeter were profitable - well, 7 of the 8 stores were profitable - many of the stores in Arizona, Texas, Georgia and Florida were not.  They were caught up in the housing crunch in those areas and custom installation sales dropped dramatically.  Schultze Asset Management Group, who bought the assets of Tweeter during a bankruptcy auction last year, had recently gone through a change of upper management.  They brought in an expert in corporate restructuring to head the company on an interim basis, but less than two weeks later they had pulled the plug. 

There are two major concerns within the industry with the bankruptcy filings and liquidations from both Tweeter and Circuit City.  One is for the short term, the other for the long term.

The short term concern is more for smaller A/V retailers this fall and holiday selling season.  The market is literally getting flooded with televisions, audio gear and computers selling as little as 60 cents on the dollar.  Tweeter had a total inventory of $400 million in their 94 stores across the nation, while Circuit City listed inventory assets of over $3 billion dollars in their locations.  While 155 of the 714 stores in the United States will close, Circuit City hopes they'll be able to raise $350 million in cash from sales in those closing locations. 

The long term concern is more for manufacturers and vendors.  Many in the industry feel that if Circuit City doesn't come out of bankruptcy, the amount of retailers that will sell national brand names suddenly becomes much lower.  Best Buy, WalMart and Amazon.com are the three biggest electronics retailers.  The less avenues manufacturers or vendors have to sell their goods, the more power the larger retailers have over the manufacturers and vendors in regard to inventory, pricing and even model selection.  

We're hoping the downturn in the economy will bottom out and begin a slow climb back toward levels we saw in previous years.  But for now, the consumer will be the winner when it comes to buying electronics, while retailers, manufacturers and vendors will be paying the price.  Am I concerned for my job?  Yeah, a little.  But we're a strong company and we have other irons in the fire to help us get past this major bump we've just experienced with Tweeter.   We'll be fine. 

A Return to Chuck's - Des Moines

 One of my all-time favorite pizza places is Chuck's Italian-American Restaurant in Des Moines (see map).  I initially wrote about Chuck's here, but I wanted to provide some pictures of the experience this time.

Chuck Bisignano started Chuck's in 1956 along with his wife, Elizabeth.  His brother, Babe, ran the famous Babe's restaurant in Des Moines for years.  The Bisignano family has continued to run Chuck's since the day it opened with Chuck's daughter, Linda, running the day-to-day operation.  In fact, Linda started working in the restaurant when she was only 12 years old.  She had hoped to eventually move to New York City after graduating from college in 1971, but after her father died she moved into the small apartment upstairs and ran the restaurant.  Linda, who never married, is also a breast cancer survivor.

(Update - I'm sorry to report that Linda Bisignano passed away from breast cancer on Nov. 11, 2013.  She had earlier announced her intentions of selling Chuck's to a "hands on" owner, but a sale was never completed up to the time she passed away.)  

At the end of our vacation this summer, we ended up in Des Moines for the Iowa State Fair.  The night before we went to the fair, we met up with my cousins Tom and John Wehrle, and John's significant other, Bonnie Loman.  We knew we were going to meet up weeks in advance and plans were made to all go to Chuck's for pizza, beer and greasy onion rings that Friday night. 

Here's the happy group entering Chuck's anticipating great pizza, cold beer and the greasiest onion rings this side of Joe's Garage.  Chuck's has been in business since 1956 and I'm not certain they've ever done any remodeling or updating to the place.  It definitely has been a neighborhood mainstay in the Highland Park area of Des Moines. 

We got a table in the back of the restaurant and immediately ordered up onion rings and beer.  The waiter was sort of slammed with other tables, so the service wasn't as prompt as we'd like it.  In fact, when the onion rings showed up, they were sort of lukewarm.  My cousin, John, told the waiter that these were too cold and made him take 'em back.  About five minutes later a new batch came out, definitely warm this time.  But we wondered if they didn't just throw 'em back in the fryer and warm 'em up that way.

We ordered three pizzas among us.  Cindy and I got a sausage, pepperoni and mushroom on one half, and sausage, pepperoni and jalapeno on the other.  Cindy's been on this kick of getting jalapenos on her pizza, then she picks about half of them off.  I can't exactly remember what John and Bonnie got, but I think they got the Chuck's supreme with everything on it. 

And Tom got a pizza, of which I can't remember.  All I know is that it looked great when it came out to the table.  Here's a picture of Tom's pizza.  Man, how come they don't have pizza like this in the Quad Cities?

And here's a shot of our pizza cooling on the table.  Doesn't that just look great?  Chuck's pizza has such a great taste to it.  The crust is light and crisp, but not cracker crisp.  And the toppings - especially the sausage - are just wonderful. 

It's certainly tough to beat a Chuck's pizza any where.  I'd put it up against some of the best neighborhood pizza places I've eaten at in Chicago.  The service was a little iffy that evening at Chuck's, but they were very busy.  It definitely didn't detract us from the great taste of the pizza. 

God, I hate writing these blog entries on an empty stomach.  Those pictures of the pizzas are making my stomach do jumping jacks. 

A Final Return to Duffy's Cherry Cricket - Denver

As I pointed out in my earlier post reporting on the CEDIA Expo in Denver recently, this would be the last year the trade show would be held in the Mile High City.  And that also means it would be the last time for a long time that I would be able to savor the taste of my most favorite burger in the world - The Cricket burger from Duffy's Cherry Cricket (see map). 

I've written about Duffy's Cherry Cricket here and here, and proclaimed it to be the best tasting burger I've ever had here.  From my first visit, I have been one of the biggest cheerleaders for the Cherry Cricket and have turned on a lot of people to its existence.  And no one has left the place saying, "Aw, he doesn't know what he's talking about."

The past two CEDIA Expos, we hosted a hospitality room after the show ended for the day.  Each evening, however, I'd make sure that I'd just snack on some appetizers rather than having food from the buffet line that we provided to our dealers.  Then I'd go out to Duffy's for a cheeseburger.  And I was like the Pied Piper - at first one or two of my colleagues would come with me.  Then it was up to 10 to 12 people showing up after the hospitality room.  

This year, we didn't have a hospitality room because we were going to be doing some evening events with one of our national distributors who sells Mordaunt-Short loudspeakers for us.  It turned out that one event was going to be open to just a couple of our guys, so the rest of us decided to go to Duffy's for a burger that evening.  It was just as good as the previous times we went.  

The following day, a few of us were standing around our booth and we were talking to people who were in from England for Cambridge Audio, and some French people in from Focal loudspeakers.  We were raving about the burgers at Duffy's Cherry Cricket and it got the attention of the Europeans.  The next thing we know, everyone wanted to go to the Cricket for a burger that night.

When we got everyone rounded up, it turned out there would be 20 people in our group.  I didn't know if the Cricket took reservations, so I called out there.  I talked to the manager, a lady whose name I can't remember, and told her that we had 20 people, including Canadians, French and Brits, who wanted to come to the Cherry Cricket for a burger.  I asked if the one back room would be available and she said, "Well, we normally don't take reservations, but we'll set something up when people start to move out of there.  We'll get you in."

We took three vehicles out to the Cherry Cricket and I was driving one.  I dumped my group off by the door and went to look for a parking spot, which, on a Friday night, is sort of tough in the Cherry Creek area of Denver.  I finally found a space and walked a block or so back to the place. 

Our group had congregated in the outside patio area.  It was a nice night out, probably in the low 60's.  But it was too cold for James Johnson-Flint - the CEO of Cambridge Audio - who joined us that evening along with the international sales manager, the director of marketing, the head of engineering and a couple other people in for the show from Cambridge Audio.  From Focal, we had Dominic Baker, the international sales manager and chief engineer for the company, along with Rafael Triomphe, the project manager for the new Focal Utopia III loudspeakers, and one of the marketing ladies from Focal.  

I went to the bar to talk to the manager and I told her that we were all here and ready to be seated.  She said, "Yep, I've got everything under control and we're working to fit some tables together.  If we have to fit some people in a booth, is that OK?"

I told her it was fine and dandy.  I went back to our group to let them know that we were going to be seated shortly and one of my colleagues, John, told me that everything was under control.  I said, "What do you mean?"

He said, "I just gave a gal $200 bucks to get us seated as soon as possible."

I said, "Huh?  I just talked to the manager and she said they were working on getting us seated.  Who did you give the money to?"

John said, "The lady at the door.  When we told her that we were 20, she said, 'Oh, we couldn't possibly get you in for about 90 minutes.'  I opened my wallet and gave her $200 bucks and said, 'Think you could get us in sooner, now?'  She said she'd see what she could do."

I said, "Oh, John.  Geez, I had everything under control with the manager.  You didn't need to give that girl $200 bucks."

John felt kind of foolish and said, "Well, I guess the girl at the door got a great tip for doing nothing, it looks like."     

It wasn't 20 minutes before we were seated in the back room at the Cherry Cricket.  We had 16 people at one table and four in the booth next to the table.  It was a huge party with lots of beer and laughter going on. 

The problem with the Cherry Cricket is that they have too many different types of toppings to put on a burger.  And I was torn as what to get for a burger that evening.  Their pepperjack cheese burgers topped with jalapenos is always a favorite for me.  But I was wanting to try their mushroom and Swiss cheese burger, as well.  

It turns out that the Cherry Cricket has these Little Cricket burgers on their menu.  Instead of a half-pound burger, they're quarter pound burgers.  Since I wasn't going to get fries or onion rings, I thought, "What the hell?  I can just get two different burgers!"  So I ordered a Little Cricket burger with hot pepperjack cheese and jalapenos, and one with swiss and mushrooms. 

Here are the burgers just after they were brought out to me.  Don't I look like a happy camper?  Or as my colleague Todd said, "You look like a hungry and deranged man!"

God, I'm glad I got two burgers.  The two different burgers were equally great.  I loved 'em both.  The mushrooms on the swiss burger were so fresh, and the jalapenos on the other burgers had a great bite to them, without detracting from the taste of the burger.  They were just killer.

The "Cricket Virgins", of which there were about 9 in the group, including my boss, Daniel, all thought the burgers were excellent.  I said, "I'm telling you.  I've had burgers all over the place and I don't think there is a better burger any where."  They all seemed to agree. 

The bill for the 20 people came to about $500 bucks.  That was for beer, food, appetizers, sides and other stuff.  We had one waitress work the big table and the corner booth.  My colleague, John, picked up the tab for the company and he gave her a $200 tip.  He said, "Well, I may have gotten screwed on the first $200 bucks I spent in here, but I certainly didn't get screwed on the second $200 bucks.  That girl worked her ass off." 

A few of us were able to hit Duffy's one more night before we all went home.  There's only one trade show annually in Denver for our industry - the Rocky Mountian Audio Festival, a small high-end show.  I have yet to attend that one, but I'm sure I will at some point.  Cindy has been wanting to go out to Denver for a vacation and we will do that at some point, as well.  And I'll guarantee you, I'll be at Duffy's Cherry Cricket at least twice when we do go out.  It's simply the best burger I've ever had.

One Final Word on Hewlett-Packard

One final entry regarding the ongoing saga of my battle with Hewlett-Packard.  You can read the earlier very maddening entries here and here. 

I did write a letter a couple of weeks ago to the head of consumer affairs for H-P concerning my problems with Hewlett-Packard technical support.  It was nearly three pages in length and I documented the good, the bad and the downright ugly service I received up to the point when I just decided to pull the plug on my laptop.  Honestly, I really didn't expect to get an answer. 

Last week, while I was on the road, I received a telephone call from someone at H-P who said they received my letter, but they couldn't find my laptop's serial number in the system.  The lady who called said, "We know it must be in the system as you went into great detail in your letter about the problems you had."  She gave me a number to call and an option number to give when I called in. 

I was doing some stuff in my office on Monday of this week and I came across the note I had written after I'd gotten home last Friday evening.  I thought, "OK, let's call Hewlett-Packard and see what's going on."

I was put on hold after dialing the number and I was connected to a lady who sounded like she was a kindly old school marm.  She had trouble finding my case in the computer, but when she finally did find it, she was asking questions as to the problems I had previously. 

I went through the sequence of the good and the bad.  Each time I pointed out something bad, she gave me a cursory, "Oh, that's too bad", or an "Oh, my goodness."  I knew there was going to be nothing she was going to do.  And I closed by saying, "And that's why I'm looking at my old H-P laptop sitting on a shelf here in my office, and that's why I typed that letter on my new Toshiba laptop."

Finally, she said, "It says here in your letter that you own two Hewlett-Packard printers.  What models are they?"

I gave her the model numbers and she said to me, "What I'd like to do is to send you two ink cartridges for your printers."

I said, "Excuse me?"

She said, "Yes, I'd like to send you two ink cartridges for your printers for all your trouble."

I couldn't believe what I heard.  Did I think they'd own up and say, "Yes, sir, we screwed up, big time.  We'll fix your laptop for free"?  Hell, if she'd said, "We'll send you two cases of ink cartridges," it would have got my attention.  Two ink cartridges?  I was completely incredulous. 

I said, "You really want to send me two ink cartridges to show how sorry Hewlett-Packard is for the trouble they put me through?"

She said, "Well, yes.  It would be a token of our appreciation for the trouble you've been through."  

I said, "Actually, that's a very small token for what I've been through.  The most logical token of appreciation you could show is if you fixed my computer for free." 

She sort of laughed and said, "Oh, goodness.  We certainly couldn't do that." 

I said, "So, you want to send me two ink cartridges that cost $9.00 bucks each at Best Buy (I'd just bought one over the weekend) to show how truly sorry Hewlett-Packard is for the time and hassle I put up with trying to get my 18-month-old computer fixed?"

The lady said, "Yes, that's right."

I said, "Look, if that's all you're going to do, don't bother sending me the cartridges.  I'm sorry, but that's an insult for the time and trouble I had to put up with.  No, I don't need your cartridges."

And that was it.  I'm seriously thinking of writing ANOTHER letter to Hewlett-Packard to let them know how insulted I was for the measly offer.  Not that I was expecting stock options or a trip to the California wine country for two, but I would have thought they would have, at least, done something more to try and get me back in the fold.  H-P ink cartridges probably cost them a buck to manufacture.  That's just absolutely amazing on Hewlett-Packard's part to basically piss me off even more than they have.  

Good God...  

The Inn at Cedar Crossing - Sturgeon Bay, WI

Our first meal when we got to Door County was a late lunch at The Inn at Cedar Crossing in downtown Sturgeon Bay (see map).  We didn't really know much about the place as we just got into town and we sort of stumbled upon this place.  It looked nice from the outside and we decided to stop in.

The Inn at Cedar Crossing is a combination inn and restaurant.  The hotel part of the place features nine themed rooms and suites.  The restaurant, on the main level, is one of the better places to eat in Door County.  The Inn at Cedar Crossing is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  

The building dates back to 1884 when it was built at the corner of Cedar and Cottage Streets (now 3rd and Louisiana) in Sturgeon Bay.  Over the years, the building has housed a clothing store, a soda fountain, a drug store and doctor's offices.  In the mid-80's, Terry Smith renovated the building and turned it into a small inn and restaurant.  In the early 90's, Smith sold the inn and restaurant to Steve and Kathy Hellmann.  In this New York Times article from 1999, the Inn at Cedar Crossing was called the best restaurant in Door County.  Nine years later, I don't quite know if that's true, but we were willing to give it a try.  

Actually, for about 2:30 in the afternoon, we were sort of surprised to see the amount of people in the quaint and cozy dining room.  It was well over half full with families, couples and small groups of women having a late lunch.  We were sort of amused by a family who sat next to us - it was a mother and father, probably in their 30's, with a baby in a carrier and a two year old in a high chair.  Both parents had their lap top computers out and were e-mailing or looking things up on the Internet.  Cindy said, "If that was you doing that while we were on vacation, I'd crown you."  

I said, "I'd hope you'd crown me with the computer."  

We got our lunch menus from our waitress and I ordered a Coke and Cindy got an iced tea.  The food at The Inn at Cedar Crossing has an American/Italian flair to it.  You can get any number of traditional sandwiches, but they also offer pasta dishes at lunch.  They also have salads, steaks and an interesting roast duck confit on the menu for lunch.  I wasn't all that hungry but I wanted to get something. 

Three or four things caught my eye for sandwiches.  Their basic burger with Wisconsin Havarti dill cheese was one.  But I wasn't really in the mood for a burger.  One other sandwich I looked long and hard at was the Reuben - slow roasted corned beef topped with Wisconsin Swiss cheese and sauerkraut on homemade dark rye bread.  They really do make great Reuben sandwiches in the state of Wisconsin.  And they also had a pastrami on homemade grilled sourdough topped with a horseradish Brie cheese.  Man, my stomach is doing jumping jacks as I write this! 

I ended up, however, with the tuna melt - albacore tuna mixed with capers, onions and tomatoes topped with Wisconsin cheddar and Havarti dill cheese and served on homemade sourdough bread.  

Cindy had a similar problem figuring out what she wanted.  She ended up getting a soup and half-sandwich lunch special - a bowl of chicken and wild rice soup with a half of turkey and swiss on homemade sourdough.  

It didn't take long for our sandwiches to make it out to us.  And since it had been about six hours since we had breakfast, we were ready to eat.  My sandwich was very good.  The tuna was light and the mixture of capers, onion and tomatoes gave it a great flavor.  The combination of the cheddar and Havarti dill didn't overpower the taste of the sandwich.  And the sourdough bread was very, very good. 

Cindy liked her soup and sandwich.  She especially liked the chicken and wild rice soup.  She offered me a bite and it was very good. 

Our bill came to a little over $25 bucks with tip - sort of expensive for lunch, but it was very good.  Before we left, I took a look at the dinner menu to see what they featured.  It wasn't much different than the lunch menu - they took some of the sandwiches off the menu and added about 8 more main entrees.  Some of the entrees sounded pretty good, but nothing really jumped out at me.

Now, in doing some research for this entry, I found out that the Inn at Cedar Crossing had a very interesting breakfast menu.  Had I known they had an extensive breakfast menu, we probably would've gone back there for breakfast.  A couple things that jumped out at me while reading the menu on line was an andouille sausage burrito, as well as beef brisket hash.  And I'm always a sucker for fresh blueberries on pancakes topped with real maple syrup.  But I really perked up when I read about their Hazelnut French Toast - homemade brioche bread that's dipped in a hazelnut liqueur and egg batter, grilled and served with hazelnuts on the top.  Yow!

Actually, our experience at the Inn at Cedar Crossing was pleasant.  The food was good, service was good and the ambiance was fine.  I don't know if it's the best restaurant in Door County, but for our first experience for food in the area, it sure didn't suck. 

Election Day

It's Election Day in this great country of ours.

All I can say is, "THANK GOD!!!"

Living in Iowa, we've been tortured more than the average voter due to Iowa's "First in the Nation" status with the confusing and somewhat comical caucus system we have for Presidential primary elections.  We've gotten hit with a volley of visits from Presidential hopefuls, along with advertisements, fliers, unsolicited phone calls, door-to door canvasing, and continual political rallies and town hall meetings across the state - all of which started OVER TWO YEARS AGO! 

I swear, John Edwards started his Presidential campaign in Iowa the day AFTER the 2004 election.  Christopher Dodd actually rented a house and moved his family to Iowa during the months leading up to the Iowa Caucus.  Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama spent a lot of time in Iowa before Obama's big win last January in the Iowa Caucus.  While it proved that Iowa can be a great launching point for a Presidential bid, John McCain hardly campaigned here before the Iowa Caucus, looking to shore up support in what he deemed as more important states. 

It worked out well for him in his bid to get the Republican nomination.

Now, I'm about the biggest apolitical person there is.  I don't like to talk politics, I don't show my politics on my sleeve, I don't even like to put political signs in my yard.   I'm a registered independent voter and if there is such a thing as a moderate - which hard-core conservatives and bleeding-heart liberals contend there is no such thing - I'm the quintessential moderate.

The Presidential elections are bad enough.  Add in Senate and Congressional elections, as well as state and local government elections to this mix.   I really don't know if I fully understand the issues and I really don't think it matters.  Everyone talks about change, but I see little change that happens after each election.   Government on all levels continues to work on the status quo principle. 

While I want lower taxes and less government getting in my way, I think there's an on-going obligation for certain services that government must provide to the people.   

I'm also for the right to bear arms, but I don't necessarily think people need assault rifles. 

I'm for a woman's right to choose and the separation of church and state.  I believe in religious freedom, even though I'm far from being a religious person. 

I'm for a strong national defense, but I think diplomacy is the first and foremost way to resolve disputes. 

I fully support our troops in Iraq, but I don't agree with the war in Iraq.

I'm all for law and order, but I think the government is going out of their way to make most people feel like common criminals.  Sort of the old "Guilty until proven innocent" adage. 

How's that for a quintessential moderate? 

I am so glad this day is here.  The only problem now is that the talking heads on television and radio will now have to dissect the results, which polls were right, which ones were wrong.  There's going to be the incessant second guessing by the media of the losing candidate's campaign.  I predict there will also be some who will be handicapping the 2012 race for the White House in the days after the election. 

While I think it's sort of neat that Iowa gets the attention every four years, it's just maddening how the press continues to portray the people that live in the state.  According to many in the press, everyone is a farmer here.  There's nothing to do here after 5 p.m.  Iowa isn't a representative state in terms of demographics compared to the rest of the United States.  It's stupid, condescending and somewhat bigoted on the part of the media who come to Iowa every four years to portray us the way they do.   

But the Iowa Caucus helps the local economy and people in Iowa are just wishy-washy enough that candidates continue to spend a lot of time and money in this state leading up to the general election.  Much of the state - especially the rural areas - are strong conservative strongholds.  The larger cities tend to lean to the left a bit.  We get bombarded from all angles when it comes to the caucus and the election.  It's no wonder people here in Iowa regularly change their mind on candidates.  You really don't know who to believe.  

And isn't that true with most politicians? 

Donny's Glidden Lodge Restaurant - Door County

When we were finishing our dinner at Schartner's on the Shore that one evening, a family of four people came in and said they were hungry and tired of looking for a restaurant that came highly recommended to them.  I heard our waitress talking about the place to them and I asked her when she came back to give us the bill what restaurant were they looking for.  She said it was Donny's Glidden Lodge Inn that was located on the other side of the peninsula from Schartner's (see map).  I figured that if this family was looking for a place like that, we needed to see what it was all about.

Donny's Glidden Lodge Inn is part of the Glidden Lodge, a very nice hotel on the south shore of Door County on Lake Michigan.  The restaurant is actually not part of the lodge, but privately owned.  We soon found out that Donny's is one of the top places to eat in Door County.

The Glidden Lodge has been serving vacationers to Door County since 1937.  The restaurant has been in existence since the 1960's.  In the 90's, Donny and Rita Zellner bought the restaurant after running their own supper club for over 15 years in a small town south of Door County.  They specialized in both steaks and German food.  In 2005, Donny and Rita retired and leased out the restaurant to their son, Tim, who was the bartender at the restaurant; and Andy Mueller, a young chef who had worked at lodges in the northwest part of Wisconsin.   Tim and Andy did away with the German food, offering only sampler platters on Wednesday nights, and sticking to mid to upscale recipe items.  Steaks and seafood are the main items on their menu. 

After a winding, 20 minute trip down the very scenic Glidden Road, we came up to the Glidden Lodge on our right.  We pulled into the parking lot at Donny's and went inside the stone-walled restaurant.  We were met by Tim Zellner and he told us it would be a couple minutes before they were able to clear a table for us in the dining area.  We took a seat in the bar area, which featured a large stone fire place, a small bar and a couple televisions.  It wasn't long before a waitress came and got us and sat us in the smaller of the two dining areas in the restaurant.  

This picture is a panoramic view of the main dining area at Donny's.  It truly looked like a north woods establishment made with stone walls, wooden ceiling beams, hardwood floors and tons of windows to look out onto the lake while you're eating.  It was elegant, but not very pretentious at the same time.  We felt very comfortable wearing our shorts in the place. 

It turned out they were serving prime rib that evening and that's what I ordered up.  Cindy got the seafood special that evening - a whitefish platter with a lemon dill sauce.  Boiled potatoes and vegetables came with Cindy's, while I opted for rice with my prime rib.  Along with the meal came a very good salad bar that featured in house dressings and a very good homemade chicken noodle soup.  The waitress explained to us that a number of years ago Donny took out the salad bar and put in additional seating in place of the buffet.  She said that some long-time customers were so upset, they boycotted the place until Donny brought back the salad bar.  Within months, the seating was gone and the salad bar was back. 

Not long after we finished our salads, our main entrees showed up.  My prime rib was a perfect medium rare, a nice full juicy cut.  Cindy's whitefish platter was also plentiful, and the lemon dill sauce was very, very good, but also very, very rich.  I was overly happy with the meal. 

Cindy wasn't able to finish her fish because of the richness of the sauce and the large portion she was served.  The waitress, however, didn't hesitate in asking us if we'd like to see the dessert menu.  Cindy was about ready to explode and decided against it.  I wanted to see what they had for dessert just for kicks and while some items were tempting (the homemade cherry pie, among others), I declined on additional food after downing a good-sized prime rib. 

With some wine for dinner, the bill at Donny's came to about $120 bucks for Cindy and I, including tip.  The waitress was friendly, efficient and had a great sense of humor.  We thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the ambiance at Donny's Glidden Lodge Restaurant.  It was definitely a very good meal.

Another New Look for Road Tips

As promised earlier this week, I wanted to change up the look and design of Road Tips and try to get another color palette.  I was able to significantly change the layout, but I'm not having a good go of finding a color combination that I really like.

I was able to change the header, but I'm still on the hunt for the "perfect" picture to use.  I don't know if I can Photoshop something up that would be a collage of travel, music, food, etc. - the things that I usually write about in Road Tips.  First of all, I have to get Photoshop. 

I decided to drop a number of the old right column items and concentrate on a two column format with archived posts, categories and recent posts.  The Best of Road Tips is also in the column as it is one of the most popular features on the site.

I found that not a lot of people were looking at the pictures, nor were they using the blog links that I had.  Actually, the "Fun Pictures" part of the old column was the most highly looked at of the "Photos" page.  I may bring that back if the populace demands it. 

I've wanted to have a wider column for the posts.  The pictures are too small to look at without clicking on them and making them bigger.  Plus I can add videos and not have to crop off a good portion of the picture making it tough to see when you play it.  I also think it's a little easier to read as the flow of the text isn't so choppy as it was with the more narrow column. 

The look of Road Tips is going to be an ongoing dynamic for the next few weeks as I struggle to find the right picture for the header, and as I try to find the right color combination.  But for now, this is the new look and I hope you enjoy it.