Da Q-- Da Pack

Continued to snow and flurry all the way to Dodgeville. However, the snow was sticking to the trees, nature was doing its painting. Absolutely beautiful.

Checked into the Don Q Inn and stayed in a regular room for $60. The place features numerous Fanta-Suites, but that's just not our thing anymore, after 34 years of marriage.

We stopped at a local Wal Mart to buy Packer apparel, but only found five tee shirts, despite the fact that just about everyone was in full Green Bay dress. Perhaps they had bought all the gear. Fortunately, we had Packer stuff with us, so blended in. Imagine a Wisconsin store with no Packer gear?

Drove to downtown Dodgeville, with the beautiful old Iowa County courthouse, the oldest operating one in the state and built in the 1840s. Across from it is a block with three Wisconsin bars. We hit all three. What better place to watch the Packers play than in a Wisconsin bar packed with Da Pack fans.

The first one was The Red Room. Nice bar, but an hour before the game, there were only about six people. We figured this wouldn't be much fun. After a drink, we went over to Jeffrey's Sports Bar. This place was so packed, we could only find seats at a table and would have had to go to the bar to get drinks. Even worse, there were quite a few unfriendly euchre players at the other tables. They were entranced with their game. Decided to leave.

Went to Jimmy's, and were the only ones in the place. Hey, what gives? This is Packer Country. Where are the Packer fans? A couple people came in and we watched the first five horrific minutes of the game when running back Hugh Grant fumbled twice and the Seahawks were up 14-0. What happened here?

Not much to cheer about, and not many folks to cheer with anyway. So we left and went back to The Red Room. Walking across the parking lot between the bars, we heard Jeffrey's erupt in cheering and yelling and figured the Pack must have scored. They had.

The Red Room was now full, but some folks moved so we were able to get a seats at the bar. From then on, we had a lot better time. Not only were the folks friendly, but also the Packers started dominating. Thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Watched the first half of the New England game at the House on the Rock Inn and Thym's. The House on the Rock Inn is fairly new and epitomizes the North Woods with all the wood and exposed beams. In the bar area, there are three huge ship-of-the-line models hanging up by the ceiling.

Thyms is a traditional Wisconsin steakhouse, dating to the 1960s. This is always a definite stop when we visit the Dodgeville area. We didn't order anything, as were still too full from the meal in Mt. Horeb and all the snacking we did in the bars earlier.

Fun and Games in Cheesehead Land. --RoadDog