Maybe because or despite my visits to Michigan's Upper Peninsula (U.P.) as a child I have always been filled with wanderlust... While a paperboy at 11 years old, I signed up enough new customers to win a trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the Milwaukee Clipper. I don't remember much about that boat trip across Lake Michigan, but do remember being confronted by the choice to see the Milwaukee Braves play or to go to an amusement park.. The Pinocchio in me persuaded me to take the tickets to the amusement park. I would later regret not seeing such Hall of Famers at Henry Aaron and Warren Spahn play.. And as our curfew ( remember I was 11 at the time) approached one of the other boys gave me tickets he had not used. My mind was spinning with choices of rides; roller coasters and others to ride before we were herded back onto to the bus for our hotel... I rain out of time and left with a pocket full of tickets with no time to ride..
Years later I would return to Milwaukee on the Clipper, with friend and high school classmate Tom Davis.. We booked a hotel for a couple of nights as we planned to see Chuck Berry play at a local night club.. And we did see him. We sat in a small bar at a small table about 10 feet from this amazing musician and soaked up the famous cords from his guitar as the worked his way through all his hits; Maybelline, , Johnnie B Good, and Rock and Roll Music... I was 17 and Tom was 18.. He was old enough to drink according to Wisconsin law.. I was not.. He drank and relished asking for mixed drinks like "Tom Collins" and "Old Fashions". I just "grooved" to the music. It was a preview of another adventure Tom and I would have north of the border in Quebec a year later..

The year after my cruise with the paperboys to Milwaukee I won a trip to Florida for signing up more new customers than any other paperboy in the state, except one.. More about that next time...