Cheese de la Birthday

While I am excited that Lady Gaga is coming back to town this winter and despite being very distracted by the start of this season's Dancing with the Stars, those things will have to wait. There is a cheese head's birthday event to review.

The wife is still talking about her birthday trip to the mecca...land of green and gold....in fact, she had such a good time that she is thinking this should be an annual tradition.

For those of you not in the know, we packed a pile of Packer gear into the Civic (Packer coats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, pajamas) and hit the road this weekend on the wife's birthday.

The destination? Green Bay.

The reason? To visit the hallowed halls of Ray, Bart, Reggie, Curly.....and, to go to a Green Bay Packer game.

As the wife was uber-excited, we did indeed leave at noon on Saturday, her actual day of birth. With no stops to slow us down and absolutely perfect weather, we made it in what had to be record time--just over three hours. (Okay--I admit to speeding, but it still was amazingly fast even if I hadn't been speeding.) Before she had time to say "Brett who?" she was standing on the grounds of her beloved team. We didn't waste time going to the hotel--we went right to Lambeau Field. Total awe, oozing with excitement, nostalgia and respect (and most probably a tear), the wife strolled slowly toward Lambeau. Plenty of time was available for visiting the Pro Shop, wandering the atrium, staring at the gates to the historic field.

I am here to tell you: Packer fans are really, really serious about their team, their field. There were all sorts of people milling about, all decked out in their team colors, all snapping photos, all spending money in the Pro shop.

As it was her birthday, I asked the wife to pick something out as her gift--she decided on a Packer baseball jersey. (Is it just me or does anyone else find it humorous that a football team sells baseball jerseys?) Here is a photo of the carpeting in the Pro Shop--like everything else in the town, it shouts GREEN BAY PRIDE!

Yes, those are the wife's shoes. You didn't think I was taking photos of some stranger's feet, did you?

I couldn't go home empty handed and thus purchased a baseball hat. I do not look good in hats but couldn't resist taking home a little something and a hat seemed just as good as anything else. I also got a glo-orange stocking camp...in case I ever go deer hunting, I suppose.

After checking in at the hotel (which was rather non-descript but did have a view of Lambeau if you stood in just the right place in the parking lot), we ventured into the tundra better known as downtown Green Bay. Purely by accident, we ended up at the one place we most certainly should have ended up--Titletown Brewing Company. Talk about the perfect place to eat dinner; talk about the best beer bread on the planet. I felt right at home with the train theme; the wife felt right at home with the entire Titletown theme. Can I just say the food was awesome? Beer drinkers would love the place--plenty of beers to choose from--mix and match at your leisure. If you are ever in Green Bay, make sure to stop by this place. I guarantee it will be worth it. And, get a loaf of sliced beer bread to take home. It's like a giant brick of happiness.

Speaking of beer, Freckles Warrior Princess and Bitty Bichon seemed to be having a good time while we were out of town. Dang dogs were partying without us! At least they were drinking good beer and weren't driving anywhere.


Game day was absolutely delightful. Perfect weather, tasty free hotel breakfast, free event parking (now THAT'S awesome!), super fabulous seats, vegetarian brats (who knew?), real brats smothered with kraut and brown mustard, fly by during the National Anthem, electric crowd, home opener victory. I'm not sure it can get any better than that....that said by someone born and bred in Bear's country.

There really is no happier place to watch a football game. Everyone at Lambeau is so happy and so colorful and so involved. They talk in "we." It really is their team, as bizarre as I might find this. They embrace the culture of green and gold. They live and breath what happens on that turf. It's no wonder they are so crushed by ol' Number Four. This is more than a game to them. It's the Packers. No wonder the wife is always crying at one time or another during Packer games.

I think we've found a new tradition for the wife's birthday. I can live with that....they just need to keep making those vegetarian brats.

Cheese curd, anyone?
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P.S. Lady Gaga tickets go on sale Friday. Who's with me?!!