Mornin’ All,
Happy Friday, Happy (almost) Weekend, and Happy End of the Week!😃
Train Fest is back this weekend (Model Railroading…an adored and revered Milwaukee indoor winter activity)! After a long COVID hiatus Milwakee’s Train Fest is back and bigger than ever (it’s one of the biggest train shows in the country)!! And I have a feeling that most people don’t know how much I love trains and model railroading. It all started when I was a very little boy. I don’t know if it was a Christmas or Birthday gift but my Mom and Dad gave me my very first train set: Lionel O scale (O scale is pretty big in size and the locomotives can exceed a foot in length). It was big and it was beautiful (and I still have it BTW). It had a classic Santa Fe locomotive (with that distinctive red war bonnet nose) and several different types of cars including a red caboose. I would sit on the floor for hours watching my train go by. The sound and that little whiff of ozone were pure kid heaven. And Dad and I always mused about how we’d make a train layout together (a layout is when you affix the tracks to a board and build scenery).
Well, O scale trains are really big and expensive. And as a kid I didn’t have money and space for my beautiful O scale Lionel train. I needed to think smaller. So in high school I took all my bonus money I made from selling Boy Scout Christmas wreaths and started buying HO scale trains (which are smaller and less expensive than O scale trains). And now my Dad and I started to get really serious about a train layout because we could do a lot more for less money and in a smaller space. In fact, we’d go to all kinds of model train shows (like Train Fest) together and dream of the cool scenery we’d make. And in the interim I set up my HO scale trains on the floor in the upstairs of my Grandma and Grandpa’s house. That was my zone. I built little structures, I added more and more track, and, no matter what, if I was having a bad day I could always hang out with Grandma and Grandpa and run my train and dream that I was on that train going to new and beautiful places.
Time passes and life changes. Off to college. Grandma and Grandpa pass away. Mom and Dad move. And my trains and train dreams get packed away. And life continues to change. Go to dental school. Get married. Move around the country. Practice dentistry. Become a dental professor. And then something happens. Life events sometimes remind you of where you once were and what your most special dreams used to be.
Back in 2014 had a life changing event: I had spinal fusion (C4/C5/C6) and double carpal tunnel surgery. During my long road to recovery (months!) I rediscovered model trains and immediately felt like I arrived back at a happy place. And unlike the past I wasn’t (and I’m still not) putting my trains and train dreams back in a box. Plus, I have a little more money and space than I did back in high school. And, well… since 2014 I have been collecting model trains like a mad man (I have such a patient and supportive wife who doesn’t ask me about how much $$$ I’ve spent…yeah, don’t ask). I started out by collecting N scale trains which are smaller than HO scale trains (N scale locomotives are 4 to 5 inches long). And in 2019 I bought my first (of many…🤷♂️) Z scale train which is the smallest scale of them all (locomotives are 3 inches long) but we don’t refer to them as cute!
But enough of my self-indulgence. What’s going on in Milwaukee this weekend? Well, without further ado, and in no particular order, here are a few Milwaukee weekend things to do (weekend of November 11th, 12th, and 13th):
-Have I mentioned anything about Train Fest this weekend???😊
-Winter Wonders drive through Holiday lights at Boerner Botanical Gardens has their FREE preview this weekend (and it opens in earnest $$$ next weekend).
-Native American Heritage Month continues at the Milwaukee Public Museum (through November 30th).
-Passions Project in Racine.
-Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra presents Fresh Air & Beethoven’s Eroica (Symphony No.3).
-Armistice Day Event at Milwaukee City Hall.
-re:Craft and Relic Holiday Market at the Milwaukee County Sports Complex.
-Clothing Sale Saturday at Second Hand Purrs Cat Shelter (Maui approved).
-Second Saturdays in Downtown Kenosha.
-Sunset Playhouse presents Fairy Godmother’s (Song) Book of Wisdom (this weekend only).
-Carthage College Music Theater debuts “Hair” with performances through November 19th.
-Carthage College Theatre presents New Play Initiative: Momento Mori (last weekend).
-Renaissance Theaterworks wraps up its performances of The How and the Why this weekend.
-Interchange Theater presents: Glitterbomb and Rotary; and Broadminded.
-Marian Art Gallery at Mount Mary University continues its presentation of Ashley Lusietto’s Personal Solar Systems art show (through November 18th).
-Beyond Monet: The Immersive Experience continues at the Wisconsin Center through January 8th, 2023.
-Racine Theater Guild wraps up its performances of Drop Dead this weekend.
-Milwaukee Repertory Theater presents Beehive: The 60’s Musical (this weekend only).
-Milwaukee Admirals are at home against the Wild (Iowa Wild that is).
-Angelic Roots presents: 11/11Gateway Activation; and Beaded Bracelet Workshop.
-North Avenue Market Sunday Artisan Pop-Up.
-Schlitz Audubon Nature Center presents Word With a Bird (and hiking).
-Concerts/Live Music/Comedy? Holy Crap Everywhere! Venues include ComedySportz, Shank Hall, Rave, Cactus Club, Jazz Estate, Ally’s Bistro, Red Rock Saloon, Da Bar, Helene Zelazo, Miller High Life Theater, Nashville North, Colectivo, X-Ray Arcade, Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, Bar Centro, Miramar, Potawatomi, Anodyne, Blu Milwaukee, Sharon Lynne Wilson, Riverside, Pabst, etc., etc., etc.
Hike? Drive north to the Pike Lake trails in the Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest?
Whew!!! And there you have it! 😃
Please, please, please enjoy your Weekend. And please take care of yourself and your friends. Get out and enjoy all the good that life has to offer. And always know that being still and quiet and relaxing and renewing is ALWAYS an outstanding accomplishment.😊
Best regards and I’m hoping to see you around town.
Doc
PS: Happy Note will be taking a little break during Thanksgiving week.😊
Doc's Writing Refuge 