Last Bunny Berigan Jazz Jamboree

Sorry that I never blogged about last weekend, but it would mostly be about the wonders of beer. This weekend Travalon and I started off with a mini-craft beer event when we went to Octopi on Thursday for pizza and beer. Friday we cleaned for an hour, as we have been doing, and I spent my hour cleaning in the plant room. It was very satisfying because now the plant room looks much neater. Then we went to Macha Tea for a popup pasta lunch. We hiked on the boardwalk in McFarland and then flew our kite near our house. It was such a relaxing day! In the evening we went to Karben 4 for more craft beer.

Saturday Travalon and I joined three Slow Food buddies in Milwaukee: first we went to the public market, then we took a boat ride down the Milwaukee River and went out into the lake just in time to see the “wings” on the Art Museum close, and then we had dinner at a small plate restaurant. We kept ordering one or two dishes at a time and would pass them around, and that worked perfectly. For some reason their menu was divided into sections that were listed in English, then maybe Spanish or Italian – it was hard to tell because the words are often the same in both languages – then in Irish, and then in some Southeast Asian language, maybe Thai or Javanese. Even odder, the Asian language was missing from the dessert menu. I meant to ask about that but forgot. 

Yesterday Travalon and I went to the Bunny Berigan Jazz Jamboree in Fox Lake, and we were so sad to find out it will be the last one ever. The festival has been going on for virtually my entire life, but they are low on funds and the demographic of the attendees is aging out of existence. Are there really no young swing fans anymore? We did see a few younger people there, but truly most of the audience members were quite advanced in age. The bands were excellent, as always. The weather had been cold and rainy, so we didn’t mind being inside all day, but it was lovely out by the time we left, so once we got back to town we took a walk on Governor’s Island. A bittersweet memory for Travalon, because that was where we took Rodney on his second-to-last walk ever. He says the stuffed animals comfort him through this time of loss, and when we got home, the latest addition to his family had arrived: a stuffed honey badger! Her name is Kizi, like the character from Roots. She is very cute.

Famous Hat