Midwest Gaming Classic 2009
Let me note that in March 2009, I had the crazy (but successful) plan to swim at the gym every single day for the entire month. So before we left for the Midwest Gaming Classic, I had to go to the gym and do my laps. Then we left for the convention, which that year was being held in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, a town about 30 minutes past Milwaukee. The hotel we were staying at was called the Olympia Resort and Spa, named because Oconomowoc has 5 O's in it, which resemble the 5 Olympic rings. (Umm, yeah.)
Oh, and don't let the term "Resort and Spa" fool you. The hotel was kind of a pit. I mean, it was clean enough, but it was kind of in a sad state of disrepair. They did, however, have a nice playground with a sandbox, which was adjacent to a lake. (The lake had a large dead fish floating in it, and, I kid you not, Nathan was still talking about that dead fish like a year and a half later.) Here's Nathan at the playground, which randomly had a pretty cool fire engine toy in it:
Dead fish not pictured.We did peruse the convention a little bit and take a few pictures:
But Nathan was just barely 2 then, and he got bored quickly. So I was chasing him through the playground and swimming with him at the pool (not pictured) while Bill got a more in-depth conference experience. At that point I was exhausted from my morning swim, a three-hour drive, and chasing around an overstimulated two-year-old, and I was beginning to grow resentful of my husband and his leisurely solo stroll through Video Game Land. So Bill said we could go out for a nice dinner, and we found this German place called The Golden Lantern, which was right next to a lake. It was one of the best meals I've ever had, the high point being this appetizer, Shrimp Stuffed With Shrimp:
As my brother said, shrimp stuffed with shrimp is like "the nexus of the universe."
But Nathan was just barely 2 then, and he got bored quickly. So I was chasing him through the playground and swimming with him at the pool (not pictured) while Bill got a more in-depth conference experience. At that point I was exhausted from my morning swim, a three-hour drive, and chasing around an overstimulated two-year-old, and I was beginning to grow resentful of my husband and his leisurely solo stroll through Video Game Land. So Bill said we could go out for a nice dinner, and we found this German place called The Golden Lantern, which was right next to a lake. It was one of the best meals I've ever had, the high point being this appetizer, Shrimp Stuffed With Shrimp:
As my brother said, shrimp stuffed with shrimp is like "the nexus of the universe."And here's Nathan eating his chicken strips, which on the menu were called something like "fried strips of fowl" and cost $9.50.
The next morning Nathan and I went to the hotel breakfast buffet. Now, the thing is, the hotel was hosting two separate groups that weekend: (1) The Midwest Gaming Classic, which was largely attended by fat, white computer nerds, and (2) some kind of all African-American social club. So, that was the demographics of the morning breakfast visitors. Yay diversity!
Anyway I made Nathan this Pancake of Awesomeness:
The strawberry was the only thing he ate. He was probably still full from his $9.50 strips of fowl.Shortly after that breakfast, we packed up and left Oconomowoc. I was eager to get home in time to swim my laps before the gym closed. I do recall that we had to stop on the way home in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, so Bill could visit his favorite board game store. I took Nathan over to a nearby park. By the time we got home I was tired, but, dammit, I dragged myself to the gym anyway.
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Midwest Gaming Classic 2010
In 2010 the Midwest Gaming Classic moved back to Milwaukee, at a hotel that was a teeny-tiny bit nicer than the previous year's hotel. Our 2010 trip to the Midwest Gaming Classic was a little more complicated, though, because Bill was on a work trip to Texas the day before, so he flew straight to Milwaukee and didn't get in until about 11:30 Saturday night. That meant Nathan and I had to drive up to Milwaukee and hang out by ourselves on Saturday. I recall that Nathan also had swim lessons that morning, followed by the annual Easter egg hunt in our hometown, so he was sufficiently tired out by the time we began our drive. I had purchased the first two volumes of the Glee soundtrack to entertain us on the trip.
When we got to the hotel, we wandered around and went swimming, then went to Edwardo's Pizza for dinner. Let me paint the picture for you: Me, alone in a restaurant with a three-year-old who had gone to swim lessons, run around an egg hunt, sat in a car for 2.5 hours without sleeping, and swum in a pool. (Oh, and somewhere in there I recall my attempt to watch some kind of random 80s made-for-TV movie starring Sarah Jessica Parker, which Nathan was lobbying to watch SpongeBob.)
After a stressful dinner, during which I'm pretty sure Nathan did not eat, we went back tot he hotel and bathed Nathan in the hotel bathtub. Fortunately Bill was able to take a shuttle from the airport to the hotel, so Nathan and I went to bed.
The next morning we all went to the convention. The big excitement that year was that I entered the Tetris tournament, which required me to pay not only the $10 admission fee for the convention (which I would have otherwise been willing to skip, having seen it the year before), but also a $6 fee to earn me three tries in the tournament. The thing is, I have spent a lot of time in my life playing Tetris. I'm pretty good. But the tournament was on the old-school original Nintendo, which I hadn't played in awhile. Also they used the version where you start out with some random configuration of already-existing rows, the kind of rows you would only get if your cat fell asleep on the controller. I only ever play the version where you start with a completely blank screen, so I wasn't good at the version the tournament used. (Some guy next to me said this was called the "B-Game," which explains my poor performance, because don't people always refer to their best performance as their "A-Game"?) So, bottom line, my participation in the Tetris tournament was an embarrassing waste of money.
We only managed to get one good photo from the actual convention last year:
Pinball wizard!
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Midwest Gaming Classic 2010
In 2010 the Midwest Gaming Classic moved back to Milwaukee, at a hotel that was a teeny-tiny bit nicer than the previous year's hotel. Our 2010 trip to the Midwest Gaming Classic was a little more complicated, though, because Bill was on a work trip to Texas the day before, so he flew straight to Milwaukee and didn't get in until about 11:30 Saturday night. That meant Nathan and I had to drive up to Milwaukee and hang out by ourselves on Saturday. I recall that Nathan also had swim lessons that morning, followed by the annual Easter egg hunt in our hometown, so he was sufficiently tired out by the time we began our drive. I had purchased the first two volumes of the Glee soundtrack to entertain us on the trip.
When we got to the hotel, we wandered around and went swimming, then went to Edwardo's Pizza for dinner. Let me paint the picture for you: Me, alone in a restaurant with a three-year-old who had gone to swim lessons, run around an egg hunt, sat in a car for 2.5 hours without sleeping, and swum in a pool. (Oh, and somewhere in there I recall my attempt to watch some kind of random 80s made-for-TV movie starring Sarah Jessica Parker, which Nathan was lobbying to watch SpongeBob.)
After a stressful dinner, during which I'm pretty sure Nathan did not eat, we went back tot he hotel and bathed Nathan in the hotel bathtub. Fortunately Bill was able to take a shuttle from the airport to the hotel, so Nathan and I went to bed.
The next morning we all went to the convention. The big excitement that year was that I entered the Tetris tournament, which required me to pay not only the $10 admission fee for the convention (which I would have otherwise been willing to skip, having seen it the year before), but also a $6 fee to earn me three tries in the tournament. The thing is, I have spent a lot of time in my life playing Tetris. I'm pretty good. But the tournament was on the old-school original Nintendo, which I hadn't played in awhile. Also they used the version where you start out with some random configuration of already-existing rows, the kind of rows you would only get if your cat fell asleep on the controller. I only ever play the version where you start with a completely blank screen, so I wasn't good at the version the tournament used. (Some guy next to me said this was called the "B-Game," which explains my poor performance, because don't people always refer to their best performance as their "A-Game"?) So, bottom line, my participation in the Tetris tournament was an embarrassing waste of money.
We only managed to get one good photo from the actual convention last year:
Pinball wizard!Nathan and I left the hotel to do some Milwaukee sightseeing. We went to the Mitchell Park Conservatory, a.k.a. "The Domes," which is three separate greenhouses, each housed in a glass dome.
Show Dome, displaying the Spring Flower Show
Tropical Dome
First I bought my kid this pointless but adorable cheese hat
Where is that dang cheese? I'm hungry!
Show Dome, displaying the Spring Flower Show
Tropical DomeThere was also a Desert Dome, which I didn't take any pictures of. It wasn't that interesting to me because just housed all the plants my parents have at their house in California.
After the Domes, Nathan and I drove to downtown Milwaukee so we could go to the Wisconsin Cheese Mart. The parking was a hassle, the wind coming off the lake was freezing, and Nathan was whiny, but damn if I wasn't going to get me some aged cheddar.
After the Domes, Nathan and I drove to downtown Milwaukee so we could go to the Wisconsin Cheese Mart. The parking was a hassle, the wind coming off the lake was freezing, and Nathan was whiny, but damn if I wasn't going to get me some aged cheddar.
First I bought my kid this pointless but adorable cheese hat
Where is that dang cheese? I'm hungry!Here's Nathan enjoying the Aged Cheddar Flight:
The cheeses were aged 2, 5, 9, and 13 years. Note that 3 out of the 4 cheeses were older than Nathan was.
The cheeses were aged 2, 5, 9, and 13 years. Note that 3 out of the 4 cheeses were older than Nathan was. Close-up of the cheese flight, with the cheese information card:
Aaaaand I think maybe the abundance of cheese photographs might be evidence of my dysfunctional relationship with food.
After the cheese mart, Nathan and I drove back to the hotel to pick up Bill and his new collection of video game paraphernalia, and then we drove home.
1 comment:
Noah and I are only 45 mins from there. Since you mentioned this, I've been thinking we might check it out. We're into gaming here so it sounds like fun. Plus, I keep telling him there's fun stuff in 'scary' Milwaukee.
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