Dear Wisconsin

Yesterday, as I made my last airport run of a perfectly busy relative season, I wrote a little thank you note in my head to the great state of Wisconsin and to all my loves who made such efforts to travel here.

Our spontaneous family get-togethers require planes to take off and land on time; reservations to ride on them; toddlers to stay buckled in their seats; calendars to accommodate both the visits and the journey here; skies to stay clear and winds to follow.

Wisconsin hosted our family beautifully. It even invited our shadows to join us for morning hangs.

We got to meet some baby cows on a working dairy farm, say hello some baby goats and donkeys at the Plamann Park petting zoo, ride the Bay Beach train, stroll on over to Erb Park any time we wanted, float down the Oconto River, enjoy front porch hangs, listen to live music, play driveway basketball, tailgate and take our little New Jersey bagel to her first Packer game.

Go Pack Go!

Wisconsin weather keeps us honest. It can be finicky at times. But, man oh man, did it show up for me and my fam on this trip!

And the food! Well, Wisconsin, your August menu is the best. We ate sweet corn so fat and juicy it tasted like dessert, fresh tomatoes, melons, peaches and cheese — so much cheese.

We re-introduced our granddaughter to Culver’s frozen custard and Tom’s Drive-in cheese curds, and let her taste the wonders of Amish hand pies, Primal Eats brisket and a giant Whisk and Arrow lemon and raspberry cake.

We added the extenders to our tables and then set up another one in our family room to accommodate our friends and family. We went to the mattresses on some nights when all the beds were full. (Thank you to the gracious people who slept in our living room).

Beyond all of that, we got to enjoy your people and, let me tell you, Wisconsin, your people are the best.

Thank you to our friends the Fishers and Wussows, who let us visit their baby cows whenever we want, and my friend Beth and her delightfully spunky daughter Violet, who gave up their Saturday night to watch Margo so her parents could go to the show, and the team of people who hooked in that car seat for us, and my bosses and co-workers, who don’t mind when I work remotely, and my friend Sandy, who offered us extra Packer tickets, and Dave Willems, who opened up the Gibson Community Music Hall to host the Parachute Show, and all of our high-fiving, dog-pausing-so-we-can-pet-them, hello-yelling, basil-sharing neighbors.

If summer days have to come to an end, it sure is nice to spend the last of them with such swell people.

Thank you Wisconsin. You’re the best.