Sun Drop, History, and Cooked Pigs

Moving into Wisconsin, spirits began to resurge and we picked up a little momentum.

Our top priority was calming Don and Marlin, who had started becoming agitated a few days before by the increasing proximity of cheese curds and Sun Drop soda. According to Wikipedia, Sun Drop is a greenish-yellow beverage available in Wisconsin and limited sections of the American South, originally called "Golden Girl Cola." Cheese curds are basically squeeky cheese.

When we crossed into Wisconsin, we stopped at the first grocery store we found, and there was deep disappointment at finding neither of these delicacies. Disappointment soon turned to anger, and all looked to be lost by the time we began driving through the Fond du Lac (Lake of Fond) reservation.

And then, a high-fat miracle occurred. Somewhere in that particular reservation is a little lakeside resort. There are some trees, a number of cabins, and some inflatable tubes for the kiddies. If you've ever been anywhere in northern Minnesota, you know exactly what this resort looked like. What set it apart, however, was a little restaurant for the campers; a kitchen set aside for the talents of Chef Dave. The Dave. Famous Dave.

Yes, gentle reader, we had found the original Famous Dave's BBQ. We ordered five or six pigs and got the ONLY group picture of the entire journey.

This was likely to be the last group photo, too, as Marlin's stomach exploded and we had to leave him behind by some rocks. He will be missed.

Despite the interlude of tasty barbecue, the simmering anger about Sun Drop continued. It was almost ready to make the jump into the "bargaining" stage when we (luckily) found a more appropriately-stocked grocery store the next town over. My van is now mostly devoted to carrying boxes of Sun Drop -- both can and bottle form.

I'm going to warp time a little, here. We then had two stops in Wisconsin, which I'll write about later; for now I'm skipping ahead to the day we crossed into Michigan. When we crossed the border, we almost immediately pulled to the side of the road and spread out a picnic consisting of our suddenly-imported Sun Drop and curds. There was a plaque nearby commemorating a war between the Minnesota Ojibwe and the Michigan Menomene over timber and fishing rights, and Marlin was happy to explain how the Obijwe "kicked ass" in various key battles. This detail had been forgotten by the sign-maker, no doubt a Michiganian.

Is Michiganian a word?

When it was decided that cheese curds and caffeine were not enough to sustain us, Don begrudgingly brought out a pack of a dozen hot dogs he'd picked up somewhere, as well as some mustard. They were eaten cold, but somehow it fit the situation just right.

At the conclusion of our picnic, Sun Drop was declared to be "off-brand ambrosia," which I though was much funnier than either Don or Marlin did.