Tootsie Yr2: Milwaukee, WI part 2
Jun. 12th, 2023 08:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taz_39So much for the art museum today :/
I had a bit of a rough night, mostly because I am absolutely terrified of getting sick right now (we have two band members with a cold/flu thing) and I woke up feeling run down and sneezy, so decided to take it easy today. Feeling sick, or having sick people around me, makes me supremely anxious, and sometimes I need to take a step back and grapple with that.
Understand that both my parents died of illness; I was punished for being ill when I was young; and I was raised to believe that you are a burden on others when you are ill. Just thinking about having to call in a sub during the last few weeks of tour horrifies me to no end. But I'm freaking out over the Worst Case Scenario. The much more likely reality is I'll probably get a cold and that'll be that.
Anyway, I took an allergy med to see if that would help.
Breakfast and working on this and that project, before walking down to Bavette La Boucherie for lunch.
They have a softshell crab BLT on the menu, but it sells out quickly so I was careful to get there early.
TOO BAD, though, because they were still completely sold out and won't have it again until next week after we leave. Argh!
It kind of works out, though, because another place that I wanted to try, Allie Boy's Bagelry, has so many great menu options that I had been considering eating there twice. Well now it's decided!
It's a cute little shop on a quiet corner.
Look at this tiny mouse-door at their entrance!
Inside the bagels were in baskets against the wall and I couldn't get a good pic.
I got there right at noon so it was quite busy with in-person and pickup orders.
Still, I didn't have to wait long for my sandwich.
The Rikki Tikki Tavi: grilled chicken breast tossed in a kale coconut curry, with pieces of apricot, date, raisin, almond, and tamarind-pickled onions, topped with crunchy friend shallots, cilantro, and mint. Served on a honey wheat bagel.
Very, very, very good. I would have eaten the chicken salad alone without the bagel too.
It was perfectly balanced. I like my chicken salads dry, and everything just had the perfect coating of coconut curry. The sweet dried fruits went beautifully with the savory pickled onion, and the crunchy shallots gave incredible texture.
I think this restaurant is fairly new because they don't have many reviews yet. This sandwich was WAY better and more sophisticated flavor-wise than I expected. I hope that this restaurant sticks around for a LONG time!
I was still feeling under the weather as I walked back, but tried to enjoy the beautiful sunny day.
And the wildflowers! Here is a thistle, one of my favorites.
This one is a "nodding thistle", and it won't have a fluffy "plume" like some other varieties.
And one of my mother's favorites, crown vetch. I was surprised to see it...it's been years since I've come across this flower in person.
I think of her every time I see it. She used to point it out to us on walks and ask us it's name, and we had SUCH trouble remembering.
Not any more, though.
Feeling down and stressed as I've been, it cheered me to come across it today.
Back at the hotel I drank lots of liquids and worked on my part for Spamalot before taking a nap.
I was awoken by the phone ringing; it was the Disney interviewer! The same guy who was supposed to interview me on Wednesday! I couldn't help but ask, "Hey, so...what happened with that!" He thinks something went wrong with the automated scheduling system. He says my interview never came across his radar, wasn't added to his calendar at all. This is quite believable because A) the scheduling AI doesn't have a human supervisor, and B) many people are looking at and choosing time slots at the same time, and if two people click on the same time slot at the same time weird stuff can happen.
Mostly I had been worried that I'd done something wrong, or that the interviewer had some sort of emergency. Gladly, neither was the case! So we had our interview, which was mostly just them confirming things like work authorization and scheduling me for next steps (background check, orientation, Traditions which is Disney's training/onboarding.)
After the interview I received a few emails with paperwork to fill out, which I did.
And now we wait. I'll hit the ground running with most of this stuff the day after I get back to Orlando.
The evening show went just fine. Paul's (drummer) parents have been sitting in the pit to watch us play, and I feel like I play better when there are people actually watching what we do :)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, we have two shows!
I was feeling significantly better, though still a little post-nasaly and headache-y.
Would love to continue NOT being sick in ANY way.
I wanted to go get another bagel from Allie Boy's, but the one I wanted had been removed from the menu this morning!
Lol.
But that's ok, they have sooooo much great stuff on their menu.
The bagel I'd wanted was a dessert one: deep-fried carrot bagel rolled in spiced sugar with raisin walnut cream cheese, toasted coconut curd, meringue, and crumbled gingersnaps. I mean COME ON. Who wouldn't want that??
What I ended up with was a tartine, a pumpernickel bagel with chicken liver mousse, date molasses, chicken skin granola, bacon, and green onion. My god it was so good. Again, the combination of flavors and textures was perfect. Smooth earthy chicken mousse, crispy salty bacon and granola, and the sweet smoky molasses. OMG. And it was only $7!! Milwaukee is lucky to have this place!!
I may or may not have also picked up an enamel pin, because seriously, this food has been so good that I want to remember it for all of time!
Anyway, the rest of the day was fine. Two shows, probably the best audiences we've had all week!
-----------------------------------------------
Sunday, today the weather was about 20 degrees colder and windy and rainy, but I finally felt better.
The change in weather may explain why I have been feeling crappy; I'm often ridiculously sensitive to barometric pressure changes.
In addition to the two shows I did all of my usual pre-travel stuff, like packing and wiping surfaces in the hotel room and Googling groceries, restaurants, and laundry for the next city.
Since it was an uneventful day, here are my reviews of the snacks I picked up at the grocery this week:
- NuGo Protein Bars: 8/10 Nutritionally pretty balanced, good texture, filling, and delicious! I only wish there were less sugar, otherwise these are a really good choice and I'll keep an eye out for them in the future when I don't have time for a meal.
---------------------------------------------------------------
It's Monday and we're leaving late because the bus ride to Madison is only 90 minutes.
The hotel may not have rooms ready because we're arriving before 3pm, but that's ok if they'll let us drop luggage off.
Today I hope to walk to Madison Sourdough for my bread for the week, then to a local co-op.
For dinner I might be indulgent and have Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, since we don't have a show and I'll have a full day to recover from any lactose effects.
For the rest of the week I have a few more foodie finds to enjoy, and then there are thrift stores, a botanical garden, and a vintage toy store that I'm excited to explore!
Random photos:
A cliff swallow that I found sitting in some mulch next to a sidewalk.
There were no apparent injuries but it seemed dazed, perhaps hit by a car or flew into a window.
It did flinch away when I picked it up, but I only wanted to move it to a safer location.
I found a hose nozzle on the side of the apartment building and trickled some water into a leaf for the bird, left it within reach, and set it gently in that quiet corner to go on in peace, whatever that may mean for it.
Mural near a brewery:
Cute paddle boats on one of the rivers that feed into Lake Michigan. It has been fun to watch these ferrying drunk tourists and college kids all over, and to watch the bridges and street-bridges raised and lowered for yachts and ferries much larger than this.
Another thistle, this one is creeping thistle which is considered an international problem because it can blight entire fields of crops.
Wow! I still love it.
I left my phone unattended for like five seconds, and the trumpets got their grubby little hands on it and used it to take selfies.
So I gave them a makeover.
I had a bit of a rough night, mostly because I am absolutely terrified of getting sick right now (we have two band members with a cold/flu thing) and I woke up feeling run down and sneezy, so decided to take it easy today. Feeling sick, or having sick people around me, makes me supremely anxious, and sometimes I need to take a step back and grapple with that.
Understand that both my parents died of illness; I was punished for being ill when I was young; and I was raised to believe that you are a burden on others when you are ill. Just thinking about having to call in a sub during the last few weeks of tour horrifies me to no end. But I'm freaking out over the Worst Case Scenario. The much more likely reality is I'll probably get a cold and that'll be that.
Anyway, I took an allergy med to see if that would help.
Breakfast and working on this and that project, before walking down to Bavette La Boucherie for lunch.
They have a softshell crab BLT on the menu, but it sells out quickly so I was careful to get there early.
TOO BAD, though, because they were still completely sold out and won't have it again until next week after we leave. Argh!
It kind of works out, though, because another place that I wanted to try, Allie Boy's Bagelry, has so many great menu options that I had been considering eating there twice. Well now it's decided!
It's a cute little shop on a quiet corner.
Look at this tiny mouse-door at their entrance!
Inside the bagels were in baskets against the wall and I couldn't get a good pic.
I got there right at noon so it was quite busy with in-person and pickup orders.
Still, I didn't have to wait long for my sandwich.
The Rikki Tikki Tavi: grilled chicken breast tossed in a kale coconut curry, with pieces of apricot, date, raisin, almond, and tamarind-pickled onions, topped with crunchy friend shallots, cilantro, and mint. Served on a honey wheat bagel.
Very, very, very good. I would have eaten the chicken salad alone without the bagel too.
It was perfectly balanced. I like my chicken salads dry, and everything just had the perfect coating of coconut curry. The sweet dried fruits went beautifully with the savory pickled onion, and the crunchy shallots gave incredible texture.
I think this restaurant is fairly new because they don't have many reviews yet. This sandwich was WAY better and more sophisticated flavor-wise than I expected. I hope that this restaurant sticks around for a LONG time!
I was still feeling under the weather as I walked back, but tried to enjoy the beautiful sunny day.
And the wildflowers! Here is a thistle, one of my favorites.
This one is a "nodding thistle", and it won't have a fluffy "plume" like some other varieties.
And one of my mother's favorites, crown vetch. I was surprised to see it...it's been years since I've come across this flower in person.
I think of her every time I see it. She used to point it out to us on walks and ask us it's name, and we had SUCH trouble remembering.
Not any more, though.
Feeling down and stressed as I've been, it cheered me to come across it today.
Back at the hotel I drank lots of liquids and worked on my part for Spamalot before taking a nap.
I was awoken by the phone ringing; it was the Disney interviewer! The same guy who was supposed to interview me on Wednesday! I couldn't help but ask, "Hey, so...what happened with that!" He thinks something went wrong with the automated scheduling system. He says my interview never came across his radar, wasn't added to his calendar at all. This is quite believable because A) the scheduling AI doesn't have a human supervisor, and B) many people are looking at and choosing time slots at the same time, and if two people click on the same time slot at the same time weird stuff can happen.
Mostly I had been worried that I'd done something wrong, or that the interviewer had some sort of emergency. Gladly, neither was the case! So we had our interview, which was mostly just them confirming things like work authorization and scheduling me for next steps (background check, orientation, Traditions which is Disney's training/onboarding.)
After the interview I received a few emails with paperwork to fill out, which I did.
And now we wait. I'll hit the ground running with most of this stuff the day after I get back to Orlando.
The evening show went just fine. Paul's (drummer) parents have been sitting in the pit to watch us play, and I feel like I play better when there are people actually watching what we do :)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, we have two shows!
I was feeling significantly better, though still a little post-nasaly and headache-y.
Would love to continue NOT being sick in ANY way.
I wanted to go get another bagel from Allie Boy's, but the one I wanted had been removed from the menu this morning!
Lol.
But that's ok, they have sooooo much great stuff on their menu.
The bagel I'd wanted was a dessert one: deep-fried carrot bagel rolled in spiced sugar with raisin walnut cream cheese, toasted coconut curd, meringue, and crumbled gingersnaps. I mean COME ON. Who wouldn't want that??
What I ended up with was a tartine, a pumpernickel bagel with chicken liver mousse, date molasses, chicken skin granola, bacon, and green onion. My god it was so good. Again, the combination of flavors and textures was perfect. Smooth earthy chicken mousse, crispy salty bacon and granola, and the sweet smoky molasses. OMG. And it was only $7!! Milwaukee is lucky to have this place!!
I may or may not have also picked up an enamel pin, because seriously, this food has been so good that I want to remember it for all of time!
Anyway, the rest of the day was fine. Two shows, probably the best audiences we've had all week!
-----------------------------------------------
Sunday, today the weather was about 20 degrees colder and windy and rainy, but I finally felt better.
The change in weather may explain why I have been feeling crappy; I'm often ridiculously sensitive to barometric pressure changes.
In addition to the two shows I did all of my usual pre-travel stuff, like packing and wiping surfaces in the hotel room and Googling groceries, restaurants, and laundry for the next city.
Since it was an uneventful day, here are my reviews of the snacks I picked up at the grocery this week:
- Japanese BBQ Jerky: 7/10 The flavor is very good, lots of sesame and umami with BBQ! However the texture is surprisingly WET for jerky and may take some getting used to. This brand is better eaten with a fork than your fingers.
- Brothers Nuts Spicy Basil Pepitas: 8/10 Flavorful and crispy! They'd be awesome on a salad. I had them with plain wild rice and they were a wonderful texture and flavor element.
- Banana Bread Crisps: 7/10 Tasty! You have to use your imagination for "banana bread" though, they mostly taste like sesame/tahini. Nice texture and overall a nice snack.
- Moo-less Strawberry Shortcake: 9/10 It blended very well and was not chalky at all, AND it didn't hurt my stomach or cause any kind of lactose reaction! The flavor was kind of artificial-y to me, but mixed with a smoothie or some oatmeal it may not be as noticeable and I'm excited to try the other flavors. Definitely a product that I'll look for in the future.
- Sweet Earth Plant-Based Turkey: 2/10 I hate to waste food but I had to throw this out. The smell was so bad, and so strong, that I immediately checked the expiration date after opening it. I couldn't believe it's supposed to smell this way but other reviews online complain about the same thing. The smell was like dog or cat food mixed with a LOT of garlic powder. It took three days for the smell to dissipate from the tupperware I'd stored it in. I did eat some and it was "ok", but the smell was really difficult to overcome. Definitely avoid, get Tofurky instead.
- Byte bars: 5/10 These are ok but they have a sandy texture, I assume from added fiber, that isn't very pleasant. I also feel like for the cost, there are other bars that offer a better flavor and texture with similar nutritional profile. Nothing special and not really worth the cost of eye-catching packaging.
- Lenny & Larry Strawberry Shortcake Cookie: 7/10 pretty good! I still like Snickerdoodle better, but this one has a good flavor too 
---------------------------------------------------------------
It's Monday and we're leaving late because the bus ride to Madison is only 90 minutes.
The hotel may not have rooms ready because we're arriving before 3pm, but that's ok if they'll let us drop luggage off.
Today I hope to walk to Madison Sourdough for my bread for the week, then to a local co-op.
For dinner I might be indulgent and have Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, since we don't have a show and I'll have a full day to recover from any lactose effects.
For the rest of the week I have a few more foodie finds to enjoy, and then there are thrift stores, a botanical garden, and a vintage toy store that I'm excited to explore!
Random photos:
A cliff swallow that I found sitting in some mulch next to a sidewalk.
There were no apparent injuries but it seemed dazed, perhaps hit by a car or flew into a window.
It did flinch away when I picked it up, but I only wanted to move it to a safer location.
I found a hose nozzle on the side of the apartment building and trickled some water into a leaf for the bird, left it within reach, and set it gently in that quiet corner to go on in peace, whatever that may mean for it.
Mural near a brewery:
Cute paddle boats on one of the rivers that feed into Lake Michigan. It has been fun to watch these ferrying drunk tourists and college kids all over, and to watch the bridges and street-bridges raised and lowered for yachts and ferries much larger than this.
Another thistle, this one is creeping thistle which is considered an international problem because it can blight entire fields of crops.
Wow! I still love it.
I left my phone unattended for like five seconds, and the trumpets got their grubby little hands on it and used it to take selfies.
So I gave them a makeover.
