get your fixx

Frozen custard: it's a Milwaukee staple. There are state-reknown (and perhaps even Midwest-reknown) custard stands all across the metro area. The stands that everyone's heard of? Kopps. Gilles. Leons. Oscars. Admittedly, I have been to all of them on more than one occassion.

However, there is one custard place that seems to get lost in the shuffle. But to us east side dwellers, it's the place to get our fixx...our Lixx Fixx.

Lixx, on the corner of Belleview and Downer, has been a cornerstone of the upper east side for as long as I've been in Mil-town. The great thing about Lixx: you can create your own Fixx from a list of numerous ingredients from heath bar to blueberry to peanut butter...well, you get the point. Of course, my mom went with her standard rasberry. My personal fave...cinnamon apple bits and caramel.

You really can't go wrong with a Lixx Fixx. It's a delicious treat for people...and canines...of all ages. Just ask Caye.

ah...the Pinecone

While driving back from a facility visit on Wednesday, I stopped by to see an old friend: the Pinecone. For those of you unfamilar with this magical place, it is a gas station off I-94 (WI-26/Johnson Creek exit). But it by far is not just any gas station (or "travel plaza", if you will)...

It is the home of the place where elephant ears are as big as one's head and as a result, one could find crumbs from said delicious delight in the backseat of a car for months after the indulgence; where cookies rival the size of manhole covers (ok, maybe not that big, but they are impressive); where eclairs are so gimorous that it can potentially take three days to finish, speaking from experience (note to self: do not try to drive while eating a gimorous eclair ever again).

However, it's much more than the baked goodness...

I first stumbled upon the Pinecone years ago, but was re-aquianted with this icon in April 2006 en route to Camp Wawbeek in the Dells...thanks Danny and Andrew! The Pinecone is a, dare I say "mandatory", stop when travelling to/from camp (or any other destination). It's "the" place:

• to get just the right amount of sugar/caffeine needed for a weekend of no sleep and to get than last "rush" to actually make it back to Milwaukee (and then catch up on sleep)
• to discover how many things you really can decorate with a Packers logo
• to find a greeting card with a Badger picture
• to laugh at the above "findings" (and more) with like-minded, fun-loving people
• to begin and/or end yet another fabulous adventure

It's about good friends and good memories...yes, all that from a little 'ol gas station in Johnson Creek.