My trip to Newburg, Wisconsin 2009

West Allis, Wisconsin is where I was born. I lived in a suburb of Milwaukee for the first 13 years of my life, then we relocated to hell, or what some refer to as Spokane, Washington. Regardless, I turned out just fine, sort of...

My dad still lives in Wisconsin, 30 some miles north of Milwaukee in a village called Newburg where he lives with my step mom in a very rural area. My dad is also a firefighter and the local fire department holds an annual fundraiser every year in June. This "picnic" is a 3 day beer drinking, cover band featuring, carnival ride having, greasy food serving insane party. This year, myself along with my brother and our significant others took the trip to visit and support my dad. Below are a few pictures and comments from the trip including some insane food sampled along the way.

first night at my dads and he wanted us to get in on the schlitz because apparently
its back and better than ever. Not bad.

after a few beers we drove to Cousins for some sandwiches. These sandwiches are so good and so simple.
Its gotta be the bread or oregano. I had the club sandwich.

the following day we drove to Port Washington (where Dustin Diamond lives, and yes, I did see him at the grocery store)
and we got down on Friday Fish Fry at Newport Shores.

I started with a dinner salad, it was pretty standard along with the honey mustard dressing

i also decided to go with the blatz in a bottle, my grandpa use to drink this by the case when we were kids.
it tastes pretty good ice cold, pretty malty...but when warm, its a bit much.

for lunch i had the baked potato with the fried lake perch. The fish was decent, a bit dry but nothing like a local favorite.

the restaurant is right on lake michigan with a pretty nice view of the water.
the decor is dated but it works. average age of other patrons about 85.

Later that evening...

later that night we went to the first night of the fireman's picnic on the park grounds in Newburg.
we drank at home and then took it to the streets. First stop, the carny food wagon for a walking taco.

basically you get taco fixings on top of a bag of smashed doritos.
apparently i ate a lot of this, i dont remember.

the next day...

the next day we went to another part of the area called Grafton and we hit up a spot called Vino 100 for a Saturday wine tasting.

with our australian wine's we shared some garlic jack. wisconsin sure makes some good cheese.

Saturday night was fun, b. and I worked in the beer tent and served hundreds of people pitchers of beer and mikes hard. It was a lot of fun, didnt take any pictures... but feel free to check out the fire department's photos here.

sunday is the finale of the picnic, they have a parade including all the firetrucks and a lot of other things
like tractors, dancing grannies, kids, classic cars and marching .bands


after the picnic we headed to the park grounds to hang out and drink a few beers.
we stopped by the carny food wagon and got a snack. they were out of deep fried pickles so i got the deep fried cheese.

i swear this is american cheese, my brother said it was cheddar...regardless it was a
bit much. the first bite was hot and tasty, after that it became thick , strange and solid. damn, what a healthy snack.

Monday...

monday everyone wanted to go get some custard, naturally we went to Kopps.

you can read my other posts about the amazing custard at kopps. i ate mine so fast i didnt take a photo, it was hot and it was melting. I got the standard vanilla. the flavor of the day was mint chocolate chip or this other monday mystery special of chocoalte custard with chocolate covered peanuts. my brother and L. also got a burger. b, loves these burgers, they are huge and greasy.

that night we went to the firehouse to say goodbye to the locals and watched my dad cook steaks for the guys.


the last thing i remember about monday night is playing quarters with my family and a few brave locals. i fell on the floor.



Well that was it, 5 days of kicking it in the midwest.
Below is my favorite random photo from the trip:

Captain Blacks

For a brief moment in time I was really having a hard time figuring out where to go eat on captiol hill...because I burned through all the places up here and most of them were not worth going back to again. I am excited to have so many new places popping up in my neighborhood this summer, so why not check one out and get back to this really awesome blog.

Captain Blacks just opened on belmont ave just down the street from half priced books on an otherwise worthless block. Before Captain Blacks took over the space I did take advantage of the restaurant that occupied the space for a short time prior to the current deck funfari. I wont go into it but the Healthy Hedon was an overpriced veggie spot that had good sunday brunch buffet with bomb ass oatmeal. Now onto Captain Blacks...

My first thought when I heard this place was opening was how rad it was going to be to have a pirate themed bar down the street. (I love Pirates of the Carribean.) But, I was quickly informed it was not going down like that. The decor does touch on what could have been a sweet ode to Goonies. I love you One Eyed Willie.

crazy wall paper, totally 3-D

I made my way to the deck to test drive this spot with a few friends. The back deck is pretty good sized and sits above the local businesses below so you get a spacious view of all the tall apartments surrounding the block. The sun tries to shine down onto your face but is quickly blocked by the cluster of umbrellas on just about every table. Nothing fancy here, just some metal tables, chairs and the sweet Seattle air.

The first request from everyone at the table was a drink. Because the menu suggests their specialty cocktail we all ordered it. Ladies and Gents...here you have the "Captains Tea" which stars a sweet tea infused vodka. I really liked this, pretty much the best thing I had that night. For $6 its a pretty decent choice. Happy Hour from 5-7pm also gives you the option of $3 wells. Not bad, not bad at all...


A few people were curious about the food so they ordered. In the back is the oyster po' boy and upfront is the shrimp po' boy. Both came out with some french fries and were served with the sauce of your choice (cajun mustard, tartar, spicy aioli, mustard vinaigrette, ranch or blue cheese). I tasted L.'s shrimp po' boy...not bad pretty traditional with the lettuce, tomato and pickle but the lack of shrimp on the sandwich gives this dish a boo. The fries were tasty, but not why you ordered the sandwich. Other sandwich options are cod, portobello or chicken cutlet. These sandwiches will set you back $10 or $11 for the oyster. The spicy ailoi was a good taste.

L. also ordered the White Cheddar mac and cheese because I kept talking about how I wanted to try it. I was impressed that it came out steaming hot and for $6 this looked like it was going to be a sure bet. The crusted cheese on top ended up being the best part. The rest of the mac was a bit bland. More cheese please. Everytime I have mac and cheese at a restaurant, I end up thinking about how rich I would be if I just opened a mac and cheese restaurant. What do people have against american cheese as a binder?


Just when I thought it was over, M. rolled in and ordered the signature dish. The highly anticipated Chicken and Waffles. For $11 the menu claimed you would get chicken breast and a waffle with pure maple syrup. And here it is...

The waffle was small and a cut up chicken cutlet was sent out as replacement for the typical sold out chicken breast on the menu. Dont get me wrong it all tasted pretty good, but having had chicken and waffles at other spots including roscos see picture below...

...I was just expecting something amazing to come out that secret hidden kitchen in the back. I am not going to write this spot off because just like most restaurants time should help them work out the kinks. In the mean time get your meal in a can and taste something new... grab a can of Old Chub, a Colorado born strong ass scotish ale. We couldnt stop laughing at the can...I couldnt get down on the taste but for 5 bucks and 8% alcohol by volume it was a sure fire winner for a few of the crew.


I will go back and try the food again in a month or so to see how things pan out. Check out the whole menu here. The multiple decks and friendly staff are also a reason to return. Welcome to the neigborhood Captain, I get your concept now fix your galley.

I cant figure out the hours but the address is here:

129 Belmont Avenue E.
Seattle, WA 98102

The website is also saved but the page contains nothing as of today.
http://www.captainblacksseattle.com/

World Sports Grille

We were waiting to go see a movie and decided to grab a beer at World Sports Grille located inside Gameworks. Because some sort of sports were playing on the mega tvs all over the bar they had some sort of special on bud light. I think the huge glass was only 3 bucks. Not bad....

We also decided to order some snacks so we got down on some fries...

These fries were okay. They came out kinda warm but the presentation made them look worse. The fries came out on a small bread plate...they looked helpless and weak.

We also tried the hot wings...

The wings were okay. The kind of wings that they must have deep fried the hell out of and then just basted them with lots of sauce. The wings didnt have that much meat on them and a few of them looked like the chicken exploded rather than being cut up. The ranch was on point, which in my opinion is a huge plus for eating hot wings.

I think because of the special beers we made it out of there for just under 20 bucks. I guess this spot has beer specials when sports are on. If you are downtown and are looking for a cheap beer, its worth stopping by. Not sure if I would recommend eating there, unless you are really hungry or you prefer you chicken exploded rather than butchered.

1511 7th Ave
Seattle, WA 98101
Open 11am-10pm, on Sat. they stay open til 11pm.

soft serve beach

the other day we took a short field trip to stinson beach about 30 miles southwest of novato. the way in, we took the long, twisty road through fairfax to the beach....i seriously thought i might lose my cookies in the backseat if i didnt reign it in and mentally conquer my motion sickness. i was pretty quiet for those first 45 minutes until the road opened up to more exposed terrain, and i was most thankful at the sight of the beach.

oh, wait, did i mention that we got the idea to go to stinson beach after seeing a story on the news about a great white sighting? yeah, that's right, pep, a damn shark warning. this is the permanent signage at the beach.

and this is the swimming/surfing closure notice as of 8/28. awesome. the news reports and closure warnings didnt seem to deter children and adults from playing in the waves as far out as 50 yards, though. i was jealous, though, the waves looked perfect for surfing.

after walking a great length of the beach (beautiful!), we were all thirsty and decided to stop at the turfside cafe where they serve burgers, fries, shakes, and other beach-appropriate fried foods.

this bastion of burger delights was the perfect beachy/60's-authentic food shack. cash only, walk-up window, take a number.

i was thirsty, but mostly i wanted a vanilla, soft serve cone. i love that shit and probably hadnt eaten one in at least 5 years. also, the sun forced my hand, and i had to devour the melting tower of delicious, semi-frozen goodness. rats.

Claim Jumper...OMG

L. and I were invited to a movie at the new southcenter mega center and dinner at one of the fine dining establishments surrounding the mall. We agreed to Claim Jumper because we had never been and heard how entertaining it can be. The place looks like you walked into someones den with over the top woodwork and excessive taxidermy. Dim lighting also fills the room with a creepy daze making it hard to focus especially when you walk out ready to puke.

Sitting on the table is a huge saloon guide that includes something like 100 drinks. I decided to try their bloody marry. When it came to the table, I was speechless...the picture is not capturing the reality of how big this was. The drink was not half bad, but the 12 inch celery stalk was a bit much. I do think that it is partly a scam as far as how much drink is in the cup with the loads of ice and 1 inch thick glass...but overall visually it was laughable.

I still have no idea why we ordered an appetizer. But since our friends had been there before we let them pick the best one. They choose the Southwest Eggrolls: chicken, cilantro, black beans, and mixed peppers. The chicken was really good, and the deep fry on the eggrolls was perfect. The dipping sauces were interesting. One was like a ranch salsa, something you would decide to make at your house after partying all night and the other one was sort of watery and salty.


Then our meals started coming out. B. got the chicken strips and fries, something they let her order "off the menu". I am still not entirely sure how they have off menu items when the menu is like a small novel. Sorry the picture is blurry, I think this is when I was prepping for a food coma. The chicken was good, almost as if they cut up whole chicken breasts then lightly coated them with a flash fry. I also tasted the shoestring fries, not bad.

I ordered the chicken and biscuits, which again were chicken breasts coated in batter and then deep fried. The dish came with two big buttermilk biscuits and two big chicken breasts. They were all coated in some sort of country gravy along side mashed potatoes. I didnt really care for the gravy, it lacked flavor. I did however like the honey butter they served on the side. I barely ate on whole breast and biscuit. The serving was insane.



L. ordered the Braised Short Ribs which came out looking quite small compared to the amount of food they were sending out to the rest of us. However, I think I was deceived because of the mound of mashed potatoes the ribs were sitting on. His also came with some steamed vegetables, looking just like school lunch, and the buttermilk biscuit.


When the last dish came out we all about died because it came with three plates. The first side were cheese potato cakes. These were deep fried mashed potatoes with some of that ranch salsa. They were good, Im not going to lie.


Second came out the garlic cheese toast.


And then the Beef Back Ribs!!!!!!!!!!!


Someone got the bright idea that we should try some of these random cocktails while we were trying to put down all this food. I lost the damn receipt and the website wont give up the saloon guide so I am not going to be able to tell you much about these damn cocktails. The one I had was some sort of 151 drink with banana and pineapple or something. It tasted like sun tan lotion.
This was some sort of specialty margarita, which was WAY too sweet.

This was a pina colada, which was lackluster and another overpriced specialty margarita.

L. should have been punched in the face for closing our meal with a dessert. We couldn't even finish our meals! But, alas he loves dessert and wanted to see what it was all about. I took one bite of what was later described as black sludge it tasted like brownie batter.

This was the Brownie Finale.


I can honestly say, I have no desire to go back here. I ate there on Sunday and I still don't feel good. Overindulgence is rough.

TUKWILA
5901 S. 180th Street