2019 Kim’s Wedding Road Trip

When I was invited to my niece, Kim’s, wedding , I decided to make the wedding part of a long road trip that included some of my “Bucket List” destinations.

That trip would take 3,289 miles and I would go through 11 states (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee and Arkansas).

Here is the route:

I wanted to attend the wedding, of course, but I also wanted to eat at my favorite place in Omaha, Joe Tess’ Restaurant, to see baseball games with the Brewers, White Sox and Astros in Wisconsin, Chicago and Houston. I also wanted to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and Elvis’ home at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee.

I managed to do all of these things, except Joe Tess. The heavy rains and bad weather in Oklahoma and Kansas delayed my trip so that I reached Omaha too early in the morning to have the “Famous Fish Dinner” at Joe Tess.

On the first half of my trip it rained and rained and rained. I spent a lot of time looking at this view from the front of my car:

When I stopped in Omaha, I drove by the Yambor’s house on 21st Street. It looked like this:

The house is falling down. It looks like no one was living it it or even could live in it. Very sad.

When I got to Saukville, the site of the wedding, some of us went to a nearby city called Ft Washington. It was right on Lake Michigan and we had an excellent seafood lunch at a place called Schooner Pub. Here are some pics:

Of course, as usual, I got a T-shirt to commemorate the occasion:

In every Shanahan Family gathering there is a Poker game, a Craps game or a Blackjack game. The day before the wedding there was a Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournament. My brother-in-law, Ron, took first place. I came in second. I will take my winnings, as usual, and buy a T-bone steak dinner at a nice restaurant. Fewer meals taste better than a dinner bought with OTM (Other People’s Money). Thank you John, Rose, Dave, Jason and Dustin.

On the morning of the wedding. Dave, Jason and I went on a 15 mile bike ride. Halfway through, we stopped to fuel up at a place called Milwaukee Ale House, right on the Milwaukee River. (You can store calories as long as you burn them off). Here is what I had. It was called:

Wisconsin Pretzel Bun Knuckleburger

“Usinger’s pork brat with sauerkraut, sauteed onions and a side of beer cheese. Served on a pretzel bun.” Mmmm …..

Getting ready for the wedding there was a “Twirl” photo op. (They didn’t ask me to twirl. I would have declined anyway.) Here are Bridget and Anna twirling:

Here are some of the pictures I took at the wedding. You won’t see any pictures of me dancing because … well, I was taking the pictures, so I couldn’t very well take any pictures while I was ‘getting down’. If you have any pictures of me “busting a move” feel free to send them and I will post them here.

Mark and Kayla dancing. Kayla had some good moves … Mark … not so much.

The wedding had a “Harry Potter” theme and who decided to show up, but the bespectacled Wizard himself, Mr. Potter. He waved his wand and, like magic, the day of the wedding was the only day of my trip where there was no rain. Thanks Harry!

Milwaukee Brewers vs Philadelphia Phillies on May 26 (the day after the big wedding).

Some family members decided to go to Miller Park in Milwaukee to watch the Brewers and Phillies play some baseball. We saw quite a game. 5 Home Runs in all. The Brewers won 9-1. Here are some pics:

Here is a place for kids to play before (and during) the game. Pretty cool.

Here is Rose at the statue of her favorite baseball player – Robin Yount. (Just kidding .. her all-time favorite player is Pete Rose) … (Just kidding, she is not a fan of “Charlie Hustle”) She had one job at the ballpark … remember where we parked. Needless to say, we got lost looking for the car.

On Monday, I headed for Chicago. I wanted to watch the White Sox play the Kansas City Royals. I actually wanted to watch the Cubs at Wrigley Field, but they were on the road. Ironically, they were in Texas playing the Astros.

The first thing I noticed in Chicago was the price of gas. On the day I left Austin, gas was $2.39 a gallon. Here it was $3.49. That is a difference of about $17.00 a tank. Wow!

I did stop by at Wrigley Field. I had to.

Here is the only tailgate party I found at the White Sox ballpark. Quite a difference from Milwaukee where the tail gate parties went on forever.

In the 5th inning, it started to rain. It rained so hard that they eventually had to postpone the game to the next day. I was headed for Memphis on the next day, so I was cheated out of at least 4 innings of baseball.

The scoreboard clearly shows the Astros were winning at this point. (They did win the game).

On Tuesday, it was off to Cleveland, Ohio and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Class of 2019. I guess the world of Rock and Roll has passed me by. I know who Stevie Nicks is and I have heard of Janet Jackson (I think she has a famous brother).
The others … Don’t know who they are and don’t really care.

Very disappointed. You would think someone known as the “King of Rock and Roll” would have a bigger exhibit.

Off to Memphis and Graceland.

He was born in Tupelo, Mississippi in a 2 room shack, the son of a truck driver.
He grew up to be so rich that he could give away Cadillacs.
He could sell out any venue until the day he died, on August 16, 1977
He died in Memphis, Tennessee in a mansion on a street named after him.

I have loved his music since the first time I saw him on the Ed Sullivan show when I was about 12 years old. I have been to Graceland several time, both before and after he died. I wanted to go one more time and I did it today, May 30, 2019.

Here are some pictures: