Easy Resolutions: PBR with Fred Pabst, 1860s Baseball and a Kopp's Grilled Cheese

I’m not the best at keeping New Year’s resolutions, so this year I’ve lowered the bar a bit to give myself a better shot at keeping a few of them.

• I hereby resolve to go to more Milwaukee County supported attractions this year such as the Art Museum, Public Museum and Domes.  The lure of seeing impressionists, Cleopatra and cacti and palm trees in the winter should do the trick to fulfill this resolution, but I’ll have to hurry to see Seurat and Cleo.

• I also resolve to support Milwaukee County by completing the Milwaukee County quintet of pitch and putt golf courses.  I’m a veteran of Lake Park’s short yardage 18-hole course, but I’ve only played Doyne (9 holes) once and have never played Noyes (9 holes), Madison Park (9 holes) or Zablocki (9 holes).  These will be the “majors” for my very minor 2012 golf tour.

• I resolve to relax with a Pabst Blue Ribbon at The Best Place Tavern in the shadows of King Gambrinus and Frederick Pabst before summer officially starts June 21 and on the decks of Barnacle Bud’s on the Kinnickinnic River, Bimbo’s Italian Kitchen on the Fox River in McHenry, Illinois and The Dock at Montrose Beach in Chicago after summer officially starts.

• I resolve to swim in Lake Michigan every month of the summer.  E. coli infested waters and frigid water temperatures keep most people out of our great lake.  I don’t really mind either though.  I find the cold water refreshing in small doses and without any sharks or sting rays, the elevated bacteria levels are one of the few great lakes adventures we can experience.

• I resolve to spend one day of the year hosting a Dick Van Dyke Show marathon. I wasted half of my New Year’s Eve watching an “Oddities” marathon on The Science Channel.  If I can portray a potted plant for 11 hours transfixed to transactions for quack medical devices, animals in jars and grotesque geek tricks, I can certainly obsess over Laura and Rob’s New Rochelle predicaments and Rob, Sally and Buddy’s office issues.  And I have 154 of the 158 episodes on old school VHS tape!

• I resolve to attend baseball games in at least five different venues this year.  My goal will be to include major and lower league games as well as a Milwaukee Grays vintage base ball game using .  Cubs, Sox and Brewers home games will be easy, but if time, money and opportunity allow, I’ll try to get to a game in another city as well.  While I’ve gone to games at Tiger Stadium, Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium, old Busch Stadium and the Metrodome, I have yet to see games at any of the new stadiums in Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland or St. Louis and they are all within a day’s drive.  The 2012 debut of the Northwood League’s Lakeshore Chinooks in Mequon makes the lower level commitment an easy and must resolution to achieve.

• I resolve to celebrate National Grilled Cheese Month by eating grilled cheese sandwiches at least once a week in April.  Considering I ate a grilled cheese sandwich every DAY of National Grilled Cheese Month in 2010, I should be able to keep this less dramatic resolution easily.  Wisconsin Cheese Mart, Kopp’s, The Melthouse Bistro, AJ Bombers, The Harp, Schlabst Grilled Cheese and a homemade cheese pudgy pie will all be candidates for my artery clogging resolution.

Well, there they are.  I’m feeling pretty good about my chances to keep most, if not all, of these resolutions.  Hope you have as much success with yours.  Happy New Year!