Before I had even completed my last Houston trip, I was assigned an additional trip with just two days break in between. Like some sick joke, the first leg took me back to Minneapolis. Fortunately, it was a "warm" day in Minneapolis at 37ยบ when we landed. From there we did a short hop over to Green Bay, Wisconsin. Despite growing up a mere 30 miles to the south, I can probably count on one hand how many times I've been to Green Bay. There was never any real reason to make the trek up north. Appleton had just as much if not more.
Contrary to what some may think, Green Bay is not a large city. The only reason anyone has even heard of it is because some sports team plays here. It was always a bit odd growing up amongst such diehard Packers fans when I myself was rather indifferent to the whole thing. People would always discuss the Packers in the first person as if they were on the field squaring off against a 350 linebacker. "Oh yah, we shoulda concentrated more on da runnin' game this week." This obsession with the green and gold is evident throughout the city. Before I had even landed, I pulled up an approach chart on my tablet and noticed the name of the final approach fix is "Favre," named for the former quarterback of the Packers turned quarterback of the Jets turned quarterback of the Vikings turned Wrangler Jeans salesman and dick pic texter. Streets, parks, and businesses throughout the city are named in a similar fashion. For lunch, I walked across the Fox River to a brewpub called Titletown Brewing Co. Naturally, there was a giant statue of a packer player out front. It just won some award for best brewpub in the United States. Such an honor comes with high expectations.
I ordered sweet potato fries and I got regular fries. This is not how you climb your way to the #1 spot. Any establishment calling itself "Titletown" should know this. The red ale I ordered was flavorful and the burger was fine, but it didn't blow me away. This is the risk you face when you tout the fact that you're #1. After my lunch, I walked across the street to the Neville Public Museum. I feel as though I may have been there once before when I was in elementary school, but can't remember for certain. It was a relatively small museum recounting the history of the region.
To summarize: the ice melted, the fur trade began, and the Green Bay Packers showed up. There were a couple other exhibits in the museum such as shipwrecks that occurred in the nearby waters, some examples of area architecture throughout the centuries, and (I'm not making this up) an entire room of artwork devoted strictly to cats. By 2:00, I had run out of things to do. I took a short nap and headed out to find more food. The Yelp reviews for a place called, "Taco Burrito Mexico" were quite high, so I decided to try it.
The outside was rather unassuming, as seen here in this Google street-view image, but I was quite happy with my food. I had a sort of combo plate with a taco, tostada, and chimichanga. I washed it down with some horchata. Admittedly, it rivaled some of the better Mexican establishments in Los Angeles and was considerably cheaper. And best of all, there were no references to the Packers.
The outside was rather unassuming, as seen here in this Google street-view image, but I was quite happy with my food. I had a sort of combo plate with a taco, tostada, and chimichanga. I washed it down with some horchata. Admittedly, it rivaled some of the better Mexican establishments in Los Angeles and was considerably cheaper. And best of all, there were no references to the Packers.
