Peckish Travels

Bob and I left Wauwatosa today and one of our favorite housesits. Some housesits are just special — Thornhill, Scotland, Green Valley, Arizona, Oakland, California, Cambridge, England, where the homeowners, pets, and location are all super special. We hope to do another sit in Wauwatosa.

As a catch up from the last blog, we have learned (via our homeowners) who won the $20,000 prize at the art festival.

The cats also made this housesit special. They were 4 of the cutest, softest cats ever.

Also while we were on this housesit, we were able to watch the University of Texas women win the National Softball Championship and watch the men compete to go to the Men’s College World Series. The homeowners also subscribed to Britbox, so we got to watch the “Vicar of Dibley” as well as the latest episode of “Shrinking” on Apple TV.

After a rainy day yesterday and a much needed hair appointment for me late this morning, Bob and I walked down to the Village to check out ART 64 for which our homeowners had left us information. It is the 5th year that The Village of Wauwatosa has hosted the nation’s largest bracket-style painting tournament. Over the course of two days, 64 artists paint 3 paintings live for a set period of time — 60 minutes for round 1, 75 minutes for round 2, and 90 minutes for round 3. Virtual and live spectators vote for their favorites to advance to the next round. The grand prize for this year is $20,000!

There was no cost for entry. While we were there, it was well attended, but not crowded.

Here are some of the artists and their third painting of the competition, so these are the best of the best or at least those who received the most votes to move forward.

We popped into The Village Cheese Shop while we were there.

While we didn’t do another full self-guided historical architectural tour, Bob and I did walk to the next street over to check out three mail-order homes. Mail-order homes were available from 1908-1940 through companies such as Aladdin Homes, Harris Brothers, Montgomery Ward, and Sears, Roebuck, and Company. During this period, more than 200,000 families purchased catalog homes.

Catalog companies sold homes in “kits” which typically included lumber, roofing, siding, framing, wood flooring, porch materials, finishing lumber (millwork and interior doors, trim), windows, mantels, design hardware, and paint and varnish. Kits were sold at various price levels. In 1908, Sears mail-order home prices ranged from $650 to $2,500. In 1921, the prices had increased to $460 to $5,100.

Bob and I split up today. Bob went to watch the Milwaukee Brewers play the San Francisco Giants at the nearby American Family Field. It was a gorgeous day for a baseball game — mid 80s F with very little humidity.

Sadly, although the Brewers are currently ranked first in the National League Central Division, they lost today’s game 12-9.

While Bob was at the game, I checked out the shops down in the Village and later walked to Hoyt Park, about 20 minutes from the house. Hoyt Park is known for its large pool and outdoor beer garden. It also has walking trails along the Menomonee River.

Before I get to today’s outing, Bob and I walked ourselves down into the Village of Wauwatosa (about 20 minutes) to a restaurant called Buckatabon Tavern and Supper Club. Supper clubs are a thing in Wisconsin. They began in the post-prohibition era and traditionally combined dining with entertainment to offer a full evening out experience. Now, they are mostly known for their Friday night fish fry’s, wood decor, and drinks such as a Wisconsin Old Fashioned and dessert type drinks such as Grasshoppers and Pink Squirrels. Bob and I went for their happy hour and to check out the local WI style establishment, but after reviewing the drink menu we ordered martinis instead.

We had a good chat with the friendly bartender and enjoyed seeing the restaurant and some locals.

Today, we drove about 30 minutes to River Hills, WI, through more road construction (The Milwaukee area is working on its roads!) to the Lynden Sculpture Garden, which I had seen mentioned in the April edition of the “Milwaukee” magazine that the homeowners have. The sculpture garden is a 40 acre outdoor museum featuring over 50 sculptures set in a natural setting of gardens, woodland, and a small lake. It is free to visit. It was lovely to walk around, as the setting is just as nice as the artwork. The artwork is primarily metal based, and sadly for Bob, did not contain any big heads. Since we came on a Wednesday, we were able to see the bonsai exhibition as well.

A couple of samples of the many bonsai on display.

Bob and I had a great 3+ hour walk around Wauwatosa today to check out some of the murals that adorn buildings along the busy North Avenue as well as some homes on one of 5 self-guided walking tours put together by the City of Wauwatosa Historical Preservation Commission to showcase local examples of Arts and Crafts, Bungalow, and Mail-Order homes.

But first, we went back to the library, as it was in the desired direction, and Bob had found a cut-through from “our” neighborhood that we were interested in checking out. It was a lovely mid-70s F day for a walkabout.

We then started walking east on North Avenue from Wauwatosa Street.

We walked through a number of neighborhoods to get to the architectural walking tour, but the Washington Highlands neighborhood was especially lovely. So many trees, beautiful homes, and well landscaped lawns and/or gardens.

We mainly chose the Tour A tour today because it was closest to the other things we had planned. However, the guide described this route as offering examples of the full range of Arts and crafts and bungalow styling. The homes on the route were built between 1908 and 1928.

First, a couple of brief definitions. Arts and Crafts is a style that can appear in many forms of architecture. It can be in the use of materials, overall styling, simplicity of elements, or decorative details. Bungalows are a building form rather than an architectural style. They are typically a1.5 story home with a broad, low-gabled roof with overhanging eaves and a prominent porch.

Bob and I have been seeing a bit more of Wauwatosa (or Tosa as the locals call it) and a bit more of our shy cat as luck would have it. We have discovered his favorite hiding places — behind the washing machine or among some boxes in the basement.

We are loving this area and thrilled that the cats are continuing to warm up to us. They are an amusing bunch.

Saturday, I drove 1.5 hours to Janesville to see my mom. We got some cleaning done at her house and some errands run as well. Bob did errands of his own here.

Wauwatosa is a town of about 49,000 that is a suburb of Wisconsin’s largest city of Milwaukee. It is known for its historic village, parks, and diverse housing. Yesterday and today we walked to and explored a couple of its parks, and tomorrow we hope to do a portion of one of the 5 neighborhood self-guided walking tours to see some of the varied housing styles throughout the town.

Yesterday’s walk to Hartung Park took us through more lovely neighborhoods with large (but not huge homes) and by a small college.

Today began with a lovely surprise.

Bob and I then walked to another pretty neighborhood park — Firefly Grove Park. It looks very new and includes a bicycle pump track, play area, walking paths and pond, and a Thomas Dambo troll, which was the main attraction for us.

Most of our walk was along busy North Avenue, but homes in “our” neighborhood continue to catch my eye.

There were some artistic benches around the park.

This type of sculpture is typical of Thomas Dambo, as he is known for his installations of giant wooden sculptures (usually trolls) made out of recycled materials. We have seen other Dambo trolls including one in Austin, Texas. Sadly, that troll just burned down in the last couple of weeks.

Bob and I visited the Mitchell Park Domes Horticulture Conservatory today. Our homeowners kindly left us their membership card, so it was a free visit. They have 3 domes of plants — the tropical dome, the desert dome, and a show dome which has a seasonal display. Sadly for us, we’re here during the transition from the spring exhibit to the summer exhibit, so we only got to see two of the domes. Still, a lovely way to spend a bit of time and fairly close to the house.

On the drive over, we passed by the ball field for the Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Team.

Some pics from the tropical dome.

Some pics from the desert dome.

Bob and I have had a bit of a dramatic start to our current housesit. After the homeowners left yesterday, Bob and I got settled in and had a great afternoon and evening until we decided it was time for bed. The cats haven’t been left before and are still trying to decide if we’re okay people, so they are keeping their distance. We were able to locate 3 of the cats, but try as we might, and we did try for an hour (including walking up and down all 3 floors shaking a bag of treats and calling his name), we could not find the fourth cat.

We were almost positive he hadn’t scooted around us out the door the one time we went outside last night, so we finally decided to go to bed and get up for their 5:00 am automated feeding to ensure that all 4 turned up. It was a logical plan but didn’t lend itself to a great night of sleep.

The story has a happy ending. All 4 cats turned up for breakfast, although we still don’t know the location of the elusive hiding place. Here is a better look at the 4 cute, but currently wary of us cats.

We hope we will have won at least some of them over before we leave on the 8th.

Today, we walked about 10 minutes or so to the area of Wauwatosa considered “The Village of Wauwatosa.” We then walked along the Oak Park Trail in both directions before stopping at the cute local market near the house.

The Village of Wauwatosa seems to be where maybe the town originated as there are a number of older buildings in this shopping and restaurant district.

The Oak Leaf Trail is a mostly paved 135 mile multi-use trail that encircles Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. On the part that we walked in Wauwatosa, it runs along the Menomonee River and the train tracks. It runs alongside volleyball, pickle ball, and tennis courts, as well as a football stadium, amphitheater, and a couple of children’s play areas. It was being used by cyclists, runners, and walkers with and without dogs and children in strollers.

Note: On our walk, we saw at least 3 references to fireflies. Turns out, the name Wauwatosa is from the Potawatomi word that means fireflies. The area used to be filled with swarms of fireflies in the summer.

Bob and I left Niceville, Florida, in a thunderstorm this morning for a rainy 6.5 hour drive to Brentwood, Tennessee, as we make our way to Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, for our next housesit. Tomorrow, we’ll have a little bit shorter drive to Fair Oaks, Indiana. Oddly enough, although we are currently in the Central Time Zone and will land in the Central Time Zone tomorrow in Fair Oaks, most of our drive through Indiana tomorrow will be in the Eastern Time Zone.

The last couple of days in Niceville were pretty quiet, with cleaning, errands before departure, and time with Seasame. Some photos from the last few days in Niceville and the 3 cats.

Friday we walked about 25-30 minutes in the neighborhood to The Blue Tee, the bar/restaurant on the neighborhood golf course.

We ended up going back to The Blue Tee on Saturday night for a drink. We had a great bartender and had decently priced and good drinks ($8 for a vodka martini!). However, a couple came in for dinner and were the only people eating, and they still managed to mess up their order by sending the entrees out before the salads and then they had everything at once.

I think it stuck out to us also because when we checked out the restaurant Friday on our walk over, a guy was complaining that they had put onions on his burger and he had specifically asked for no onions. At the time, we thought he was being a bit of a jerk about it, but with the second occurrence we began to think maybe there are some service issues with the restaurant side of things.

We had a lovely time in Niceville. It was great to be right on the water in a lovely, quiet neighborhood.