Fore!ward to summer in the great state of Wisconsin

Our summer muscles are achy and our Wisconsin bellies are full but, holy cow! we had a great weekend in the Dairyland.

How could we not, when the strawberry crops, the U.S. Open and Billy Joel all showed up at the same time?

Saturday, we took a sunrise drive to Hartford and enjoyed a lovely tramp though the fescue at Erin Hills.  Then we watched a bunch of well-dressed gentlemen do the same. Ironically, you can burn more calories watching professionals golf than you do playing it yourself. (At least I hope so as we treated ourselves to Wisconsin’s own Culver’s butter burgers, cheese curds and a small chocolate shake with bananas on our way home).

Later that day, we headed up to Lambeau Field, tailgated with a bunch of lovely people and enjoyed a 3 1/2 hour Billy Joel concert (with an opening act by Andrew McMahon). We spent the bulk of the concert on our feet, dancing and singing along. After a four-song encore, we dashed out to our car and ran smack into the entertainer himself, speeding past us on his way out of the stadium.

I yelled/croaked, “It was amazing! Thank you!” and Billy Joel leaned out of his open window, smiled and waved at us. It was a cool little moment, but the actual concert remained the highlight of the day.

Sunday morning, in what has become a Father’s Day tradition, we attended the annual Hofa Park St. Stanislaus polka mass, scored some booyah and homemade strawberry rhubarb pie, danced to the Maroszek Brothers polka band, and watched the tractor parade.

Here’s a little taste of what happened when Billy Joel came to Lambeau. (I am simultaneously trying to record the song, sing along, and hold my phone far enough away from my face so you won’t hear my voice. It was a challenge, let me tell you!) But, I loved that concert and I plan to play this little video every now and then to remind me of how much fun we had. Here you go: