Beef-A-Rama

The first thing I saw was a majestic white-tail deer with a beautiful rack of antlers springing into motion in the crisp autumn air. The beast had a terrified look in his eyes. From behind I saw a large bear, probably a grizzly, growling with bared teeth. It stood on its hind legs with forelegs outstretched, claws ready to tear into the deer's flesh. It was an exhilarating moment: would the deer escape the clutches of death or would the bear get a decent meal?

I never found out the answer because these animals were dead and stuffed--perpetually stuck in a game of the hunter and the hunted. These were among the dozens of dead animals that adorned the hotel in Minocqua, Wisconsin, where I just spent a long weekend for my nephew's wedding. There were many antlered-heads on the walls of the hotel lobby: deer and moose, mostly. Many fish were also to be found collecting dust. On the mantle piece of the great stone fireplace was an interesting collage of five trouts swimming vertically up a piece of drift wood! The hotel was slightly reminiscent of the Overlook Hotel and I was afraid I might meet Jack Nicholson carrying an ax in the corridor.

Minocqua is a picturesque resort town situated on an island in a lake surrounded by many other lakes. The German restaurants and bars downtown tell of the heavy German ancestry in the area. And the above average real estate prices tell of moneyed folks from Milwaukee and Chicago who own second homes on the area's lakes.

In addition to my nephew's wedding, the big do of the weekend in Minocqua was the 44th Annual Beef-A-Rama--a major street festival and celebration of...well...beef. The restaurateurs of the town grill meat right on main street. Some of the events that I tragically missed included a "Beef Eating" contest at Culver's Restaurant, the Rump Roast Run, the "MOOnocqua" Moo Calling Contest and the Famous "Parade of Beef."

On Saturday morning a bunch of us went to Paul Bunyan's Restaurant for the all-you-can-eat "Logging Camp" breakfast. For a fixed price you get platters of hearty breakfast food served family style at your table. You eat off of tin plates, just like the old lumberjacks. The logging camp decor was even more rustic than the hotel.

As for the wedding, the bride was very beautiful and radiant, and my nephew didn't look too shabby, either. The party they threw for us was memorable and I wasn't making too much sense by the end of it. I was happy that all six of my siblings could be together in the Wisconsin woods, however briefly. That doesn't happen too often anymore.