My work and also often heading over to my wife's family's neck of the woods near Lake Geneva, brings me east down Highway 14 past Countryside Restaurant. It sits out in the farm fields at the Rock and Walworth Counties line. As the crow flies, I grew up back to the northwest across those fields a dozen miles or so out in Lima. There has been a restaurant there as long as I can remember. Today I stopped for their Friday fish fry.
They offer a two, three, and four piece option. With the fish comes soup, potato, and salad bar. I chose the clam chowder soup and the mashed potatoes. It was a good choice. The mashed potatoes came with butter running off the top just like I remember on the farm. They have a small but thoughtful salad bar. The battered fish came on a bed of fresh lettuce. The tater was smooth and creamy. My plate was totally empty when I finished. With the three-piece fish option, a cup of coffee, and tip, I got out of there for 10 Bucks.
The Countryside Restaurant is not open late on Friday so it is a lunch and dinner affair. Call (262) 724-3224 for more information on their times and meal offerings. I hear they are well known for their biscuits and gravy. They are just west of the Vegas Gentlemen's Club a mile or so on the way to Delevan. Countryside Restaurant is cool with Cool Dadio.
This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Lance Corporal Travis M. Wichlacz, 22, from West Bend died when a bomb was detonated while he was on patrol in a convoy in Babil Province, a region southwest of Baghdad, Iraq. Travis died on February 5, 2005. Wichlacz was a 2002 graduate of West Bend West High School. He was a member of the Milwaukee-based Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned Travis had married nine months prior to his death to Angela Coakley, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Lance Corporal Wichlacz was the 34th member of the military from Wisconsin to die in Iraq since spring, 2003.
3,887 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
464 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
28,629 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1,806 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
82 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
6 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
124 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
14 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Soldier of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; and, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
