Friday Night Fish Fry

Maeve attended her first official Wisconsin Friday Fish Fry last night. Mark will be sad to learn when he returns from his regatta tonight that we went to the fish fry without him. Because these two girls can never sit still, Maeve and I went with Sam, Silas, Helen, Jake and Milo. Speaking of not sitting still, a meal with three kids is full of acrobatics and interrupted conversation. Then there is the occasional break down. As long as you're OK with that, the meal can be quite enjoyable. All the kids did really well though. Maeve had a small taste of the fried cod, can't say if she liked it or not, but I'm sure we'll have another fish fry to give it a try. Milo eventually took a siesta in his mom's arms. And Silas, well, he could be found in Sam's lap, under the high chair, in the high chair and just about anywhere else around the table you chose to look.

Most of you reading this are not Wisconsinites so I thought I would give you a little background about the Friday Night Fish Fry and it's notoriety here in Wisconsin.

Despite Wisconsin’s fame and glory for being the nation’s Dairy State, Wisconsin is also home to a weekly tradition that has surpassed generations: the Wisconsin Fish Fry. The Wisconsinites love their fish fry about as much as the New Yorker loves their pizza. It's such a phenomenon that if you Google "Friday night fish fry" you will pull up over a million references, mostly related to this fair state.

Don't ask me who this is - Probably some German at the local fish fry
I thought a few more visuals would make the blog more appealing.

Apparently the tradition hearkens back to German Catholics in Wisconsin observing meatless Fridays. During the Prohibition era, taverns created this social weekly event as a ‘marketing’ opportunity; business was slow, and they needed to come up with a catchy concept to bring patrons into their doors. Featuring a Fish Fry quickly became popular, and gained statewide attention to become the best Friday pick!

Ironically we tend to spend much of our time with out-of-towners like ourselves. So I didn't really get what the big hoopla about Friday night fish fry was. I think most Coasties have the same thought. After now having been to one, I can attest to the fact that the social aspect of it is awesome. Folks chatting at their tables, chatting with folks at other tables, generations meeting other generations. It was great to just eves drop on a conversation and learn that the guy next to us, their with his wife and new baby, had grown up on the block of the older gentleman sitting behind us. They shook hands, talked for a minute about the younger guy's dad, and then went back to digging into their fish. Now the fish, well can't say it is my favorite fare. Mark on the other hand would beg, borrow and steal to get the Fried Walleyed sandwich at The Old Fashioned Restaurant.