Last weekend Ryan and I stayed in Spooner, WI to watch my dad race The Birkie (
American Birkebeiner) ... a 50K cross country ski race, the largest in North America! The race was in Hayward, WI but since it was such a large event the closest place we found to stay was the Ritz in Spooner, also know as the
Country House Motel ... or as my dad said it best, "the motel on the right after the stop light."
The place was very clean and cozy, but looked like it was straight out of a 1970's horror flick.
When we got there on Friday we met up with my dad and ate dinner at a cute little restaurant called
Pillers Poor Boys. My dad got a good nights rest before the race and Ryan and I stayed up for some hot tub action, and then ran across the street for some wine and snacks. Notice the Holiday Gas Station literally right across the street. Ha, ha :)
And then enjoyed some OnDemand and Netflix on our laptop since we weren't able to settle for the awesome TV in the room.
Not sure what evoked us to have the bottle of wine so eagerly in the photos ... anyway, the next morning Ryan and I ate a wonderful breakfast at
Nick's Family Restaurant, a cute little diner with the biggest pancakes I have ever seen!
Then, we were off to Hayward ... or so we though. Just a short 45 minutes out of the way until we noticed we were headed in the wrong direction, at least we made it! We feel very acclimated in northern wisconsin now :) Hayward is a super cute town, the skiers crossed the finish line down main street which is lined with shops and bars. My dad was in a late heat so Ryan and I frequented most of the bars since we got there in plenty of time before my dad was planning on crossing the finish line.
Our favorite hot spot was
Anglers Bar with an awesome outdoor patio serving cold
Spotted Cow and warm heat lamps. We were in heaven!
I found this video that really captures the energy, excitement and fun of the day. Don't feel like you need to watch the whole thing though .... kinda boring after the first 60 seconds
It was so much fun to see everyone cross the finish line! Especially my dad of course :)
After he crossed we celebrated with some more brews at the
Angry Minnow. The town erupted and was crawling with people and bars were packed and there were 2 hour long waits for food. So we headed back to good ol' Spooner to
Tony's Riverside Bar for some great nachos and burgers. My dad was pooped after the long 4 hour 15 minute race (great time!) and headed to bed early again which gave Ryan and I the option of an early evening or a late night adventure ... we chose the later. We decided on wine, beer, cards and YouTube. No joke. In doing so we stumbled upon one of the most amazing videos ever that I had to share. I love the song 'Somebody That I Used to Know' by Gotye, but love it even more by Walk Off The Earth!!
After so many YouTube vids, we got bored and started playing cards and I got inspired and shot this awesome video ... it's my 'scary movie'
Sadly, after 2 rounds of speed, Ryan and I realized he bought some jacked-up cards ...
Needless to say our gaming was over. So it was back to OnDemand on the lap top for some season catch-up of The Office and Parks & Rec.
Such a wonderful weekend with the two favorite men in my life :)
S.B. (side blog ... for those who have forgotten!):
Here are two more great videos we discovered of songs we love.
Ryan and I both share a great love for music, I grew up playing the piano and I'm proud to say I was in band class all through high school playing the saxophone! Ha ha, Ryan was 'The King' in his school's performance of Joseph and will make you watch the video if you bring it up. We love going to concerts and to see live music together. Music has always been something special we share.
I always have wanted a piano in our house but never thought the day would come as soon as it did. When we got home on Sunday, Ryan noticed an estate sale across the street so we headed over to check it out. Right in the entry way there was a gorgeous old 1907 P.A. Schmitt piano. The women noticed me eyeing it up and offered $200, and by the time we left she was willing to sell it to us for under $100, "everything must go, and it needs a good home," she said. We came home and started chatted about it, and realized an opportunity like this doesn't come around often. We went back and offered $50 thinking she would want to bargain with us and instead she replied, "you just bought yourself a piano" I couldn't believe it! With slight tears in her eyes she said, "it needs a good home and you're the perfect person to have it." Awwww, so sweet. It needs a good tuning, but is in amazing shape. We are so thrilled to be able to share the love of music together with our new (old) piano!
