Thoroughly Modern Michelle: Week five, live from the Windy City.

This week marks the first of a three week tour of the Midwest. Right now, I'm on my way home from Chicago...after a quick stop in Wisconsin. A state I haven't been to in a very, very long time. So long in fact, that I don't ever remember going to it in the first place.

To be honest, all I know about WI is:

1) They have the Green Bay Packers. (A team the Hawks have already beaten this year. Just saying. #12).

2) A number of the girls' baseball teams from my all-time favorite movie, A League of Their Own, were from WI towns. (And I want to visit them all).

3) Russell Wilson played for a University in WI.

4) Madison is apparently one of the best college towns in the US.

When I told people that I was going to WI, they all responded that I just had to try the cheese. And the beer. Since I can't drink the beer, I obviously had to get my hands on some of that squeaky cheese.

Through some googling, I found a place called "Mars Cheese Castle." I mean, come on. Who wouldn't stop?!

It turns out this place is not a castle made out of cheese, but a glorified grocery store with a large mouse state and a lot of random trinkets. It is, shaped as a large castle though. It may have taken me longer to drive my way through the construction then it did for me to visit the store, but still a good stop.

Here is what I learned about WI from my brief visit:

1. They are obsessed with a pastry called a "Kringle." For what I could gather this has nothing to do with Santa Clause. But it is a large, ring shaped Danish-esque treat. Didn't try it, but they looked pret good.

2. The state is filled with adorable towns, with cute little houses that remind me of my childhood dollhouse. No cookie cutters here.

3. People weren't kidding about the cheese. It's good.

After WI, I found myself back in Chicago. As I couldn't get a flight back to Oak Town that night, I wanted to take advantage of being back in the land of Oprah. As we all know, I love theater and Chicago is a fantastic theater town. I got last minute, half-price tickets to Steppenwolf's production of "The Night Alive" I had no idea what the show was about, but I did know that I would someday need to see a show at this iconic theater company. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. I ended up scoring a front row seat. It turned out to be an odd show, filled with great acting. Glad I got to see it.

After the show, I went on a little hot dog venture before making my way to my hotel. I'd never had a Chicago style dog before (I'm more of a plain, costco hotdog kind of girl) so for this trip, I wanted to finally get my hands on one of those fancy dogs. I searched for the best hot dog in Chicago...and found a place called, Gene and Jude's. This place had a ton of press. It had been on the food network, Rachel Ray, countless food magazines and best of lists. I'm guessing Obama has probably eaten here at one point.

The tiny little drive-in pretty much only served 1 type of hotdog...it had peppers, onions and mustard on it. The dog was also topped with French fries (crazy.) All for under 3 dollars. Holla'.

Let me tell you. It did not disappoint. America May have gotten this one right. That hotdog was damn good.