The other Friday night we headed out north of Milton to a restaurant I have been keeping in my writing hip pocket for a while. As we wove our way down the cold, icy, snow-covered lake country roads I began to think I might should have called ahead considering the bad winter weather and the destination was a golf course. To our good luck the lights were on in the place, parking lot plowed clear of snow, and vehicles parked about the place.
I've passed the sign for
Koshkonong Mounds Country Club a hundred times and been to the bar a couple times. But, neither Heide or I have ever eaten there. We should have bought a lottery ticket because as it turned out, we picked the one night a week they open for business during the winter. In the more amicable months of the year they serve seven days per week.
Dinner started at 5:00 p.m. and we got there about 7:30 or so. The waitress said the night started out slow but by the time we got there quite a few tables were occupied. The restaurant and bar is a rather large affair under a vaulted ceiling with big wood beams. The bar area was carpeted, and the area near the windows had a nice wood floor. The three of the four walls in the large bar restaurant room have picture window looking out to the golf course and grounds. The fourth wall is covered by the entrance and a large stone fire place. The staff wore a type of uniform. I detected a Bistro influence with the whole presentation.
They had an all-you-can-eat salad offering. It was lettuce with cranberries and walnuts. A side of green beans came with the deal. There was a house salad vinaigrette. For all you heathens out there like me, I guess that means you get one dressing with your salad. There was a salad dude tending to the salad table.
Heide and I shared a dandy bowl of seafood chowder. A big loaf of warm white bread came out on a bread board. It was accompanied by a cup of tasty cinnamon butter.
Heide tried the hand-breaded Perch. She chose the sweet potato souffle as her side dish. She said the Perch was tender and flaky and had not seen it prepared so perfectly for some time. Heide even ate some of her tartar sauce - a component of the fish fry experience she rarely partakes in.
I tried the beer-battered Cod. It was tender and almost sweet. The breading was excellent and crispy. A good homemade potato pancake came with the deal. A cup of syrup and a dish of apple sauce accompanied the pancake. The tarter sauce was smooth to the palate.
Attention to detail was the name of this whole presentation. The pancake syrup came in a ceramic cup opposed to a fast food packet as would be the norm in many places. The waitress timed her visits to our table just right.
In retrospect, we should not have waited so long to make the short journey to this interesting place. I noticed a notation or perhaps it is better described as a logo. I saw it a couple of places like the menu and such: "KMCC since 1924." They have some history; the whole Lake Koshkonong area has some rich history.
Koshkonong Mounds Country Club is cool with Cool Dadio. Find them at W7670 Koshkonong Mounds Road, Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. The are off Highway 26 between Milton and Fort Atkinson. Call (920) 563 - 2823 for more information. Or, visit their Web site at
www.kmccgolf.com .
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army Second Lieutenant Tracy Lynn Algers, 30, New Auburn, Wisconsin, died on Thursday, November 1st, 2007, in Shubayshen, Iraq. An improvised explosive device detonated near her vehicle. Algers was assigned to Company F, 626th Brigade Support Battalion attached to 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. She was in a leadership position for supply convoys. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned Tracy was a barrel racer in school. Algers grew up in New Auburn, Wisconsin and went to Chetek High School. During college she studied graphic design at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. After college, she worked as a graphic artist and then a certified nursing assistant at a nursing home before signing up for the National Guard. Algers spent many years barrel-racing, a rodeo event in which horse and rider are timed as they maneuver around large barrels. Her horse was named Tango and boarded at Algers mother's property. Tracy was on the rodeo team at UW-River Falls and prior to going to Iraq she was president of the Wisconsin Girls Barrel Racing Association. The Journal Sentinel also mentioned Algers' sister Tanya had been in the Air Force, and her mother served in the National Guard. The Journal Sentinel went on to note Algers originally signed up for the National Guard after college and was the sixth woman from the Wisconsin military services to be killed in Iraq since the beginning of the war.
The Web site findagrave.com noted that Tracy was born on June 21, 1977. Algers graduated from Chetek Wisconsin High School in 1995. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls with a degree in graphic design. She took her basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and attended officer candidate school at Fort Benning, Georgia, and the United States Army Air Assault School. Algers had a goal of attending the United States Sapper School following her deployment to Iraq. She transferred to Fort Campbell Kentucky in 2006. Second Lieutenant Algers was deployed to Iraq two weeks before her death. She was a platoon leader in charge of convoys that transported supplies.
The Web site startribune.com via information from the Associated Press noted Algers was the 85th female military service person to die in Iraq. She At the time of her death, Second Lieutenant Tracy Algers was survived by her mom, Pauline Knutson; younger sister Tanya Leo; maternal grandmother Bernice Symbal; special friend Rick Hawkins; and her horse Tango. Second Lieutenant Tracy Algers was the 83rd Wisconsin military service person to be killed in Iraq since the spring of 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
99,393 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,830 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,436 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1472 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
843 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
32,037 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
10,264 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
103 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
27 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
145 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org.
