Things I Learned In Milwaukee

• Mike is famous in Milwaukee. He insists he isn't, but everywhere we went it seemed everyone knew him.
• Aloft hotels have amazing showers, but no bathtubs. The hotel was beautiful, and we had a magnificent view from our river facing room, but next time I think we'll stay where I can get in a tub soak.
• Bloody Mary's are served with a side of beer. I mentioned this in another post, but it's worthy of repeating. It's not like you order a Bloody Mary and a beer either ... if you order a Bloody Mary, a "side" of beer is coming with it.

• Girls not only travel to the restroom together, they share a stall. Now I'm not at all modest (5 years in the Army will do that), but sharing a stall when sharing isn't required? Just caught me as a little odd.
• I am too old to drink cheap, bad beer. There were an awful lot of young'uns drinking PBR. Just EEUUWWW!
• Snow Shoots! I thought these were for trash, but Mike tells me they are for snow removal from upper level parking garages. He also tells me they dump truckloads of snow on the beaches of Lake Michigan, but I have yet to see that.

• Taking turns with the bartender,throwing a cup-full of dice, results in someone handing me a shot. I have no clue what the rules are of this game, I just know that when Mike plays I get drunk ... quick.
• I did not feel old while hanging out with Mike's friends. I was actually quite worried I be the old woman out, but discovered that Mike has a diverse group of friends, some of whom are actually my age *gasp*
• Alterra > Starbucks (or any other mass-market coffee chain). Just driving by the building borders on orgasmic as you can smell the beans roasting. 

• It's never a good idea to meet new people when hungover. We got together for breakfast at the Red Dot - where you can get poutine and a drink called a C-Note (a Pearl screwdriver mixed with Emergen-C), but you can't get a milkshake - with one of Mike's good friends the day after his birthday. It was all that I could do just to make eye contact every 60 seconds or so. I'm certain they were impressed.
• Right Lane Ends signs are an invitation for a drag race. I'm one of those drivers who moves to the left lane when I know the right lane ends, and curses those drivers who stay in the right lane to get one or two cars ahead. If I held tight to that pattern in Milwaukee, I'd have been doing nothing more than cursing all weekend long.