Monday, April 11, 2011

Diorama Delivery Adventure Part 1 - Milwaukee

On Saturday morning, my friend, Hillary, and I left National Airport in DC at ridiculous o'clock. We flew direct to Milwaukee, as airfare to Milwaukee was $300 less than airfare to Chicago. (And Peeps/JustBorn did not end up sponsoring our airfare. So...don't buy Peeps. They suck. Unless they are still considering paying our airfare. In which case...Peeps -- yum! You are the  only bunny and chick shaped slightly stale tasting marshmallow best Easter candy out there.)

The plan was to drive from Milwaukee to Chicago (about 1.5 hours) after spending a little time driving around Milwaukee to take some photos with our Peeps diorama:


We asked three different Milwaukeeans (what are people from Milwaukee called?) what we should see in the hour we had to explore their fine city...and all three (independently of one another) said, "well, the Bronze Fonz is about it."

I beg to differ...I think another interesting thing to see in the area is exit 340 from Rte. 94. Is it home to both the Bong Recreation Area (completely true) and the Mars Cheese Castle (also completely true). That city planner is a genius.

It was gray and overcast in Milwaukee, and there were very few people out and about. We made our way to the Harley-Davidson plant, the Miller Brewing Company, and ultimately the Bronze Fonz:

Bronze Fonz should be a band name. Or my first tattoo.
We then headed south to Chicago....Chi-town...the Windy City...and drove straight to our hotel...the fabulous Palomar on State Street. I love Kimpton Hotels, anyway, but this particular Kimpton was especially gorgeous, not to mention reserved for us by Hillary's sister-in-law who works for Kimpton and therefore secured us an employee rate. We were checked in by John, who asked as he pulled up our reservation, "You're here for the Peeps contest, right?" as though he had checked in many other finalists already.

John.
Over the next two days, we got photos of us and our diorama with every doorman, porter, front desk staff person and manager at the Palomar. (One of whom was a man that I handcuffed myself to for the photo. Hillary immediately sent that photo to Canetto without explanation. You know, so he knew I missed him.)



More tomorrow on our adventures around Chicago, including all of the landmarks we visited and our unintentional media blitz that got us a spot on the CBS evening news in Chicago (really!).

In the meantime, please vote for our Larry Peep Live diorama: www.chicagotribune.com/features/peeps

Totally missing being followed by paparazzi,
Brutalism

To read about the Diorama Delivery Adventure Part 2 click here. And for the 3rd and final part, click here.

9 comments:

Sarah said...

Wow! Peeps is opening so many doors for you! I'm a little worried about the wear and tear on the poor, fragile diorama with all this traveling and picture-taking. I hope it's holding up well. The Bronz Fonz. I can't tell you how much I love that picture.

lacochran's evil twin said...

I voted! I know the peeps will fulfill their campaign promises.

beth barnes said...

Be careful with the Fonz. Your diorama might jump the shark.

Stacey said...

Vote early and vote often. I did. And did again.

Brutalism said...

Sarah - It held up beautifully. Well, other than through security at National Airport, where it sustained some damage.

Lacochran - Fortunately, the Peeps do not have to deal with lobbying groups, so I think they will fulfill their promises. Thank you so much for voting.

Beth - I'm pretty sure me talking about the diorama has jumped the shark...

Trucking T - Awesome! Thank you so much -- my partner Hillary thinks we can make it to 4th place...

Ed said...

Looks like a lot of fun for a bunch of marshmellows.

JenBC said...

The Phonz loves Larry Peep along with 3% of the universe... so far. When the votes from Pluto come in, 4th or better is yours.

Stacey said...

KC - isn't there a homage to Jeffrey Dahmer in MKE?

Brutalism said...

Ed - It is a lot of hype for a bunch of marshmallows. Now I know what it is like to be the PR person for Britney Spears.

JenBC - Pluto usually comes in for a big phinish. It appears that now 5% of the universe loves Larry Peep...and counting...

Stacey - Totally forgot that Dahmer was from MKE and did some of his most prolific work there.