I spent five years living in Appleton, Wisconsin. Yeah, I didn't know where it was til I got there, either.
Anyhow, the one thing I can absolutely, wholeheartedly recommend about the place is the drinking. It's a city of about 80,000 people, and it has something like 125 licensed drinking establishments. There are about 30 bars - not restaurants with bars in them, although there are those as well - just in the eight-block "downtown" main drag.
Just right there, you pretty much have your choice from traditional Irish bars to pool halls to dance clubs to McBars to island-themed bars to martini bars to hole-in-the-wall dives to wine bars. But that's not even the best part.
The best part is that the booze is ridiculously cheap. I actually think it's in the state Constitution: "Alcohol shall remain plentiful and available to all, regardless of wallet fatness." I'm not kidding, you can get a pint of Captain and Coke - one of my standby drinks - for $2.50 at quite a few places. And trust me, you can taste the rum.
At a place called The Checkered Flag on the north side, there's an hour every Friday night when men drink free, beers and rail drinks. Seriously.
Anyhow, all of this is my way of saying I'm heading back for a night next week, and going from a place where a double Capncoke in a plastic cup goes for $10.75 to a place where you can get obliterated for $20 or less is the sweetest gift I'll get this year. I'll try and keep you posted.
2 comments:
Is there really anything else to do there?
Depends on your interests. Lots of outdoors stuff - hiking, biking, hunting, off-roading, boating, fishing, etc. The biggest mall for 100 miles in any direction is in Appleton, and there's a $45 million performing arts center that was just built a few years ago that hosts Broadway shows. It's also got a Single-A ballclub that has had players like A-Rod and Big Papi come through. Not to mention Packers games, cuz Green Bay's just 30 miles away.
No, it's not a metropolitan city, but it's actually a nice burg.
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