Our Trip to IL.....Part 4 PTSD, Old Stuff & ERs

Monday and Den went to work although he felt like crap still.
So what did Hubs, Sonya and I do?
Why we went off on an adventure north to Wisconsin to an Apple Farm/Destination called Apple Holler.

This was a Pick Ur Own Apple Orchard/Farm with Fall activities for the kids, Pumpkins, Animals, etc.
They also have a fresh bakery, a gift shop with food/drinks and a restaurant.

Of course we couldn't find the entrance once we got off the interstate and made a big circuitous 5 mile drive around the place before finally finding the entrance.

The place was packed with cars and school buses full of little kids and I had a brief PTSD episode in the car before we went into the restaurant.
You see, when College Boy was in Kindergarten I was a classroom mom for his class and had to chaperone a field trip to a local to us place just like this one.

I had to watch 5 little 5 year old boys on that trip and one of them was totally out of control.  2 of my little charges spent half the day tracking down ADD Boy and dragging him back to the group with me. ADD Boy was climbing on buildings and ended up in the fenced off area with some animals(wasn't suppose to be in there of course).  All those little kids running around took me back to that bad, bad day.....

Anyway, after I got over the flashback, we wandered around outside and waited on Sonya's mother in-law, Donna, to arrive.

The plan was to meet here for lunch in the restaurant and then us gals would go off thrift store shopping for the afternoon and Hubs could drive back alone to Sonya's house for some quiet downtime.

The restaurant was cute and country-ish and we sat out on the enclosed porch and stuffed ourselves.

Here's a photo from across the table.......

Donna insisted on paying for lunch.  That was so sweet and totally awesome!

We wandered around the bakery and gift shop for awhile.

I have no clue why I took a photo of this jar of pickles. lolz

After lunch we bid goodbye to Hubs and went off in 2 minivans to hit the Goodwill Circuit in this part of Wisconsin.
Hey, we were in the neighborhood so why not, right?

We had a devil of a time finding the first store as it was hidden behind and to the side and down a hill from a Walmart.  But we persevered and finally got there.

I think I bought a few things(including 1 of the items in the Giveaway this month)and some books.

These aren't all the books I got in IL/WI at the thrift stores and a couple I got other times/places but this is what I was working through in November.  Missing are a biography on Cole Porter and a book I finished before we left Sonya's house.

I found a set of interesting music cds of music from the War Between the States Era.....

While in the second Goodwill Store we hit Sonya got a phone call from Den.  Still not feeling well he had left work early and gone to the clinic.  They were sending him to the Emergency Room as his throat was almost closed up! Donna gave me a lift back to Sonya's house and Sonya hightailed it to the ER.

As it was dinner time Hubs and I went down the road for a meal at Culver's.

If you have to have fast food, Culver's is the way to go.  I sure wish they had these in PA.
I had Hubs get me a "concrete" for dessert but he came back with an XL one and I could only eat 1/4 of it.  Seems a shame to throw out good ice cream but oh well......

Sonya came home a couple of hours later with Den.  They had to scrape an infection in his throat, sent him home until the next day and put him on a myriad of pills.
Hubs went with Sonya that evening to an all night pharmacy that they had to call the meds into since it was in a bad part of town.
What a guy........

On Tuesday Hubs and I made an excursion into Wisconsin.
We hit some bad traffic heading north....

But soon hit the state line........

We hit the Sprecher's Brewery gift shop for a few things but Hubs didn't want to buy anything until after we had lunch at their restaurant a few miles north of the brewery.

So we went a couple of miles into downtown Glendale Wisconsin to the "mall" for lunch at the Sprecher's Brew Pub Restaurant.......

"Mall" is a misnomer.  It's really a shopping district downtown with not much parking(outside of the parking garage which we didn't see until we were leaving the town).  Hubs dropped me off at the restaurant and I waited outside for him to find a place to park and hike back to where I was.

Hey! What's that across the street?
A Vera Bradley store......I was tempted to take off for it but I resisted.

I hung out with Rooty the Griffin instead.......

The parking was metered so our leisurely lunch wasn't so leisurely.
We did have time for some drinks however........

Why oh why did we get this fried cheese curds appetizer?!?
By the time we chowed down on those I was full!

But I still had a cheese curd topped burger to eat, not to mention the side of beer cheese potatoes.......ugh.

Hubs had a duo of Wisconsin sausages and a jalapeno cole slaw.

OMGosh.....I got a quarter of the way through that burger and had to fly the white flag of surrender.
I don't think I've EVER said it's just TOO MUCH CHEESE before until now. lolz
So I just ate the meat outta the sandwich.

We waddled back to the car in a cheese coma.  After another stop at the brewery gift shop to actually BUY things this time, we hit the road back to IL making a quick stop at the outlets in Pleasant Prairie WI.  I wanted to check out the Pepperidge Farms outlet there.  The skies opened up and I stood out in a lightning storm waiting for Hubs to notice me on the curb and come pick me up in the car.  He must of been playing with his phone though and I ended up running to the car before a bolt of lightning took me out.

A strange massive inflatable at a car dealership seen on the way back to Sonya's house.

Later that day we found out that the infection Den got started at his dental cleaning.  They must have nicked his throat during his appointment and by Monday the infected place was so big it was closing up his airway.
Yikes!  I don't blame him if he never wants to go back to that dentist!!
He was on meds the rest of the time we were at their house which cut down on the amount of drinking that went on. ;-)

With Den on the mend by Wednesday and back to work Sonya and I had some "girl time".  Hubs took a trip east to visit an Indian Museum by himself and Sonya Ann and I hit the road to check out her personal thrift store circuit.
Yep, SA has all the thrift shops scoped out in these parts.

I lost count but I think we hit 5, or was it 6?,  of them that day.

This was one of my intriguing finds....an entire collection of Princess Diana calendars for every year for 15 years. All new and unused?!
Why people, why???

Just one of the innumerable Goodwill's we went into........

This penguin platter/tray was cute........but not something I needed.

We even hit a Salvation Army store.  We only have Salvation Army stores here and no Goodwills.  In IL SAs are a sad, sad affair......dark, dirty, overpriced and ramshackle.
The Goodwills on the other hand are well lit, organized and have good prices.

We even hit one of these thrift stores where the merchandise(and prices)were a bit more upscale. Unfortunately I didn't find anything here that met my needs.

Soon it was time for a late lunch and Sonya Ann took me to Portillo's.  She kept raving about this place so we did lunch there.

I had a really nice salad with chicken and Sonya had a soup and sandwich plate.  Next time(and you know, there WILL be a next time!)I need to try something Italian.  The smells in that place were amazing....

I got another couple of photos of Sonya Ann.  You know she REALLY detests having her picture taken but yah, I just keep torturing her....lolz

Smile SA!!

That's better....

So she returned the favor and took my photo outside.

And then we had another "selfie fail" in the wind........I think you can see a booger hanging outta my nose.......*snort*
And we can't even blame the drinking on this fail! '-)

After lunch we walked around Hobby Lobby.......

Aha! Santa's elves are pervs......

Ribs on a bbq grill ornaments........

I couldn't get this sock monkey hat on my big fat head, no matter how I tried but that didn't stop me from having Sonya take my pic in it.

And nothing says "Christmas" like a little chainsaw hanging on your tree..........

Unless it's a shotgun shell wreath and a rifle..........

We had a blast just poking around in stores and talking.
That night Hubs sprung for take-out pizza(and a sub for SA)and we just hung out.
So ended Day 7 of the trip.

Sluggy

Sluggy's Solo Road Trip.....Part 3......Hijinx in IL

Sunday morning dawned and I dragged myself out of bed at the crack of 10, after an evening of too much liquid refreshment.

Sonya Ann had big plans for us today!

I had spoiled one of her surprises because, well....I must be a mind reader.

I was poking around on Restaurant dotcom for some place to take her family out for dinner while I was there and was hopeful that I could find a gift certificate on that site being offered so my dollars would stretch a bit further.
Let it never be said that Sluggy turned down a deal on purpose. ;-)

I saw a place that looked like fun and it was right in Sonya's town-a real for goodness sake's Tea Room.

So I had emailed her about it the week before I had set out on my journey asking if she'd like to go to this place.
And she shot back that I had ruined her surprise because she had a Groupon for this place and SHE was going to take me there!
LOLZ
Great minds think alike, right?

So even though it was no longer a surprise we happily set out to have some tea on Sunday,  the three of us-Den, Sonya and me.

Our table ready nor not for us.

Sonya Ann had eaten at this establishment a few times in the past few years.
She warned me that if I got the Tea Tasting Service and not just an entre and a drink I would leave hunger.

I decided to throw caution to the wind and get the Tea Tasting Service anyway.

Well I must have pissed Sonya off for going against her advice because the next thing I know, she is knocking over the water goblets on the table and making a spectacle of herself!

Ok, maybe she just knocked over her own water goblet(hey!  they were plastic and top heavy!)by accident and soaked our entire table and place settings and the waitress and hostess had to come over and change the linens and redo the table setting.

Personally, I just think Sonya likes to be the center of attention wherever she goes......

I considered making an even bigger spectacle of myself and flipping the table completely over just to take some of the eyes in the room off of her because, yeah, I am thoughtful that way.

Sonya pre-spectacle reads her menu.

After the ruckus settled down and Sonya stopped turning beet red we ordered our food.
And this is when I noticed that our waitress was wearing a teeny tiny top hat, jauntily cocked to the side on her head.
Sort of like this.......

Me recreating our server's headgear at the Tea Room in the costume store down the block.

She reminded me of this SNL skit HERE and it was all I could do not to burst out laughing.

My very large tea setting.
My Tea Service started with a buttery scone, a plate of whipped butter, lemon curd and jam and a pot of Cranberry Rose Green Tea.
I drank 3/4 of that pot(each pot held 4 full cups), then my "main course" came.
This consisted of a 2 tiered silver serving tray with 6 muse bouche sized bites on it, 3 savory and 3 sweet selections.

Along with this course I was served another full pot of tea, this time a darker, richer blend that tasted and smelled of coconuts.
The tea was fab-u-lous and I drank it ALL!
4 more cups......

After 7 cups of tea and very little food I had to visit the ladies' room before we left.  I could feel the sloshing all the way on the walk to the back of the restaurant from our table.

The ladies' room at the tea room.  Full of tchotchkes.  (Make note of the hat on the shelf.)

So after looking around and photographing at all the crap in the bathroom, because that's just what I do...... what did I do?

I put on that hat and took a selfie.
Yikes!  What a face.....

More hats hanging in the hallway.....

The staff was very knowledgeable about tea.

There were many tea mixtures to choose from.

Hey!  This sign is wrong......after all, Sonya and I were in the room too.  8-)

Fancy teas in corked bottles lookin' very fancy(and expensive).

 

Where there is tea, there is happy Buddha.....actually this is not a Buddha but a Hotei(Japanese) or Pu-Tai(Chinese), a Zen monk.  See, you learned something on my blog!
You're welcomed.

Unfortunately while dining we overheard the owner telling someone that the Tea Shop is closing later in the month.  The owners are moving on in life and the shop is for sale.
What a shame.....it was such an interesting place.

And this kills me to say it but yes, Sonya, you were right.
I WAS hungry after we left!
And I had to pee like a demon the rest of the day.   7 cups of tea will do that to ya! ;-)

After we finished our lunch, we wandered down the main street of Sonya's town.
First we ducked into a thrift shop to browse.

I found a fascinating book I should have bought and sent to Ur-spo and Someone.......

 I am sure they would have learned many things from this tome.

Then I passed up this Jonas Brothers window valance......

 Not a good move, I know......


Uh oh!  The clown section......hold me please!

 

And there was no "Enter at Your Own Risk" warning signs either!
What's up with that?!

Sonya and I pose with her awesome find.....a rare piece of artwork.
Well maybe not so rare.
After all, she went home and painted over it.  I think the frame was worth more than the copy of a painting....

Next we went to Vegas!
Sonya Ann is always talking about going to Vegas, isn't she?
So we just went........

And it was nothing like I've heard it is like! lolz
Where are the free drnks?  Where are the Cirque shows?  Where is the gambling for gosh sakes?!

After that we headed back down the street.
Unfortunately(or maybe fortunately)for us the antique shop with the 300 creepy mannequins in it was closed on Sunday.
We can save that for next time.

So across the street we went to here.........Something Sweet ..............

A candy and chocolate shop.

And you know it was a high class joint by the photos of the owner on the wall with famous people.......

 The Soul Patrol stops here.

And famous has-been magicians too.

Of course he comes here!
After all Vegas is right across the street from here!!

Then I saw the sign over the chocolate production area that made this whole trip worthwhile.......

Well you know I had to say something about THAT now, didn't you?  ;-)

I had some local peach ice cream in the Chocolate shop and Den bought a box of truffles(which they say are most excellent!).  They should be.....they cost enough......

Then it was in the local novelties/costume/joke shop before we blew downtown......

Sonya Ann zeroed in on this product a little too quickly...hmmmm......

And the female version......."Wait!  Was that slutty?"

A bathroom log for the truly anal retentive.......hehehe

Cute puppy mugs......

Funny and suggestive hand soaps.....

A gift idea for anne marie........

Then we entered the "Must be 18 to enter" Section of the store.
Here are the "tame" things I can show you......

I wonder if these would look better on me than my Vera's?

I know a few men who should wear this shirt.....

And this so inappropriate on so many different levels......Mr. Penis Head (now with balls mustache)........

I dare not show y'all what I actually bought in this part of the store!

Then I found some new jewelry.....

Then it was over to the costume part of the shop......

I just had to try this shark fin on.


Look Lorraine, steam punk stuff!

And here is Sean's aisle.......

Sadly there were no Green Lantern outfits.

Is it me?.......

We bid goodbye to the Joke shop.  That was a lot of laffs.....

Then Den took us to a place that was even more fun just over the line in Wisconsin.......Woodman's!

This is a humongous grocery store but even better.......it has a humongous liquor store attached to it!!

A playground full of adult beverages of every kind.
If I was 20 years younger you might have seen me skipping through this place.

If you don't believe they are huge, go lookie at their FB page  HERE

That Dale's Ale is good stuff ya know.....

I was able to find the New Glarus Brewing award winning fruit beers that #1 Son wanted me to get him.
This stuff is very hard to find outside of Wisconsin.....

I found a section all for Jay......

And another one for Mark.
Boxed wine as far as the eye could see......

And this shot sort of sums up my life.....and is used as my FB cover page some days............

So I filled up a cart with assorted goodies for Hubs, #1 Son and myself.
Then I found a special on those pre-packaged fruity cocktails....you know the ones you throw in the freezer to make frozen cocktails--$1.60 each when you bought 10.

How could I not buy those?!?  Especially because they don't sell this around where I live in uptight and rigid PA....

(There are 12 in the picture because I picked up a few more later in the trip.)

Sonya saw me with my arms full of cocktails and just shook her head at me, and said, "You know, you look like an alcoholic."

Then a bit later I found Den with a cart and it was FILLED with Woodchuck Hard Cider....something like 8 6-packs (along with some other things too).
Den is a beer drinker, not a lightweight hard cider drinker like me.
What gives I asked him?

Woodman's had a special going on--$3 off every 6-pack.
A 6-pack was $6.99, so $3.99 after discount for 6 bottles!
And no limits.

So now Sonya.....who's the alcoholic now baby?!? 8-)))

Then we go to the register, Den paid for his cartful and they rang my cartful up.
And I tried to pay with my credit card.
That's when I found out they only take cash or debit cards.
WTF?!?!?

$91.47 stood between me and all that alcohol.
I really didn't want to part with almost $100 of the little pile of cash I had brought so early in the trip.
After all, I had 12 more days and about 2 thousand more miles to go and I don't have an account in a national bank!

Sonya Ann came to my rescue and swiped her debit card and I cut her a check for the amount later that day.
Crisis averted.

Good thing too because Woodman's really didn't want to see me go stark raving mad at not being able to buy anything now, did they?

After a quick stop at the Piggly Wiggly....can you believe they have one this far North!?!?.....we repaired back to Sonya's house and I was back on my designated drinking bench before long.
And we ate dinner....more yummies thanks to Den!.....and we talked until we just couldn't keep our eyes open.  Maybe it was tiredness from our full day or maybe it was the tall glasses of Smirnoff Sonya kept pouring us, I'll never tell!

Soon it was off to slumber and the anticipation of another full day at Sonya's House of Hijinx.

Sluggy