Cheesecurds and Cheeseheads

On Wednesday 10/13 after we drove back from Minneapolis, we met Tom down by the UW Eau Claire campus for lunch at Mogie's. Peppermint had talked about the burgers at Mogie's for a while now, so it's an obvious stop on our Burgers of the USA Tour.



I got my first taste of Wisconsin fried cheese curds. They sorta taste like mozzerella cheesesticks, but not in stick form.


Todd and I decided to share the Cajun burger and french fries, because we were not as hungry as we thought we would be. Naturally, the Cajun burger comes with provolone cheese. Todd told our waitress "no cheese please". So what happened when the burger arrived? Cheese was melted all over it. Todd had to send his portion of it back. I guess in some places in Wisconsin, the "no cheese" is not adhered to, because we must be kidding, right? I fell down on my food-photographing job and didn't take a photo of the burger. It was delicious and had cajun spices on it!

After lunch, we got a "Peppermint's Life Tour" of Eau Claire. Saw where Peppermint lived as a kid. Saw her old elementary school. Saw the courthouse, where Peppermint dropped off her marriage license. The amazing thing was, there was no lines at the courthouse. She just walked in, talked to someone, and walked out.

After Peppermint picked up Nicholas from school, we headed to Phoenix Park to enjoy the Chippewa River trails. I told her that we needed to "walk with purpose" due to all the food we'd eaten lately, LOL.

It was such a beautiful fall day. All photos were taken by Todd.







The infamous black squirrels of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Apparently there are albino squirrels in Peppermint's neighborhood too, but we didn't see any. :(

We found this big hand that Nicholas decided to have some fun with.


Peppermint on the scooter, with Nicholas chasing after her, ha ha!


Peppermint and I, walking "with purpose".


More scenic photos.




Then it was dinner time. All of us piled into Peppermint's car and drove down to the Taco John's drive-through. We got enough food to feed an army, including Tom's food, and met Tom at home. Taco Johns has good tater tots! No photos again.

The next day, Thursday 10/14, we watched a lot of TV and basically lazed around. But we did make it to Peppermint's office at the family business.


We also ate at Culver's for lunch. No photos, but it was not the highlight of the trip. The best thing I had there was the spiced pumpkin milkshake. It really tasted like pumpkin pie!

We also went to Target, where Todd the non-cheese-eater put on the cheesehead with some fear and trepidation.


For dinner, we ordered and took out from Green Mill. It's Peppermint's favorite pizza in Eau Claire. Todd and I shared a salad and a thin-crust pizza. It was yummy! No photos again.

After dinner, we took to the couch again and watched TV. After all, we needed to save our energy for going to Madison the next day!