Today, we crossed into the beautiful state of Wisconsin! 

Grace, who used to live in Wisconsin, showed us around an awesome city, Cedarburg! We ate lunch at an awesome restaurant called Stilt House, and enjoyed local Sprecher's Root Beer. Walking around the town was fun and included two different candy shops (for Jack and Dan). 

We walked around the town, and found a wonderful local shop-  the Java House which had a magical drink called "Moon Milk"... a soothing elixer made with ashwagandha and other amazing ingredients like dragon fruit, cinnamon, cocoa, maca, lavender and flower petals! The drinks and the people were magical! 

We drove to Mayville, Wisconsin, where we checked into our hotel and our official Wisconsin "home", the Audubon Inn! This gorgeous historic botique hotel has a lot of character and we are so thrilled to have them as our Wisconsin sponsor for the show! 

After a quick check in, we drove to catch sunset overlooking Holy Hill- a beautiful hidden gem of Wisconsin we found out about from our friend Vicky! We found the perfect vantage point for Dan to catch the sun, and through his lens and met new friends- Mike and Debbie- who let us photograph in their front yard! 

Above is a pic of Dan taking our shot, and below is the amazing shot he got.  (Be sure to follow Dan Beckmann Photography's facebook page for photos in all 50 states along this tour)!

After the sun was down, we drove to Holy Hill to see it up close, then went to get some good ol-fashioned Wisconsin cheese curds at Culvers before turning in for the night. 

Today started out at the American Legion for the POKER TOURNAMENT! We had a great time playing for the baseball team, and Dan actually came in second place in the tournament! 

We've been to Three Oaks many times over the course of Letters From Home's time, and one of our youngest friends & fans is Aiden, who as a young kid LOVED the show, and was very into WWII History. Now, he's a teenager! And just as sweet. This is his mom, Jessica and Erinn at the same wall, 5 years apart. 

After the post, we went to Journeyman's Distillery. Grace, Tyler & Jack got whisky flights and we all had amazing food. Journeymans maple factory floors are from the 1800s, and they've used wood from the family barn in central Indiana, wood that was once the flooring in an early 1900s schoolhouse! A complete and total gem of Michigan. 

We had an incredible time at the Acorn Theatre! Jon Schmidt and his team of reenactors came and added SO MUCH to the show! They brought a jeep that was set up outside the theatre, and a TON of amazing WWII and Vietnam displays. They even had a bazooka! 

The show was incredible, and house was full of rowdy energetic audience members!   There were several Vietnam Veterans in the audience. Folks who we met at the beach the day before came! Our good friend from the American Duchess, John came and surprised Dan when Erinn brought him onstage! 

After the show, a dear friend brought Erinn a sweet tribute to Pat, 3 shell casings from a 21-gun salute  with the Coast Guard logon on the inside! 

There were some incredibly fun kids at the show, and many friends, new and old. The Quilt of Valor presentation, given by the very own Doug Chapman. We had the honor of giving the quilt to our great friend from Three Oaks, Mike Shannon, a Vietnam Veteran who does SO MUCH for this beautiful community. We are so thrilled that our Michigan quilt went to such a deserving veteran and friend! 

After the show, we went back to the legion and had a great time. Levi Lamberjack, our good friend who we worked with on the American Duchess played at the Legion and was incredible! It was great to see him again, and meet his two friends who came to the show as well from Germany! 

We also played pool and shuffleboard and laughed... a lot. Three Oaks is a community like no other, and we're grateful to feel like extended family here. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

March 17th was Pat Dearth, Erinn's father and the inspiration for Letters From Home's birthday. As many of you know by now, Dad's on tour with us- he's traveling for one last road trip with the tour, and he will be dropped off after our Colorado show at his final resting place. 

Today, we traveled outside of Chicago to a great little roadside diner in Gary, Indiana called the Great Lakes Cafe! Then we crossed the border into Michigan and arrived at Three Oaks, where we checked into a BEAUTIFUL new Air B&B (we HIGHLY recommend if you're ever in the area- CLICK HERE FOR THE LISTING)!

For sunset, Myra, Dan and Erinn went to the cold of the New Buffalo beach for an epic sunset along Lake Michigan through the sand dunes so Dan could take his official Michigan shot (be sure you're following his account for his state by state adventures in photography)!

After that, we went to our favorite place in Three Oaks, the American Legion, where we saw many of our friends. For dad's final birthday with us, we took his ashes inside and all ordered a bourbon and 7 tall for him! He hung out in the bar all night, playing pool, shuffleboard, and dancing to Abba with our friends! Jack, our documentarian, was the king of the dance floor. 

What a great birthday for Pat. 

Thanks to the Williamson Herald for this review on our official Tennessee stop, accompanied with some amazing awards that the DAR gave out that evening! 
Click HERE for the article!

Another full day of adventure in the Windy City! Tyler went to the Lincoln Park Zoo, and Grace took the rest of us to her favorite Ramen place, aptly named "Chicago Best Ramen". It was wonderful! 

After that, we had a very "sweet" afternoon, walking around Wicker Park, heading to two different ice cream shops- Jeni's Ice Cream where Ted Lasso has his own ice cream, and Eli's Ark- where they have the most delicious and ADORABLE ice cream EVER! The ice cream is shaped into animal heads, so Myra got a monkey and a unicorn, Erinn got a little bear, Dan got a piggy and Jack got a Koala! We LOVED their service and the ice cream was out of this world. A Chicago favorite for SURE from all of us! 

Then, we went to The Fudge Pot for Jack, our king of fudge! We all got some special treats there as well. 

That evening, Grace, Tyler and Jack went to go see a show at Columbia University, and Erinn and Dan had dinner with Lisa at The Whale - a great restaurant! Overall, Chicago was as great as all the songs, and we're all so grateful for our time in the city!

Today's show at the Greenhouse Theater Center in Chicago was fabulous! We loved having so many people there from so many different walks of life. 

Our Chicago "squad", Lisa, Lindsay, Alain & Brendt, some awesome Winston-Salem friends who now live in Chicago, Heather, Greissy and Anna, great friends from the American Duchess: passengers Dale and Debbie, amazing musician Chris Valillo, incredible singer and great friend Michaelyn Oby, AND some new amazing friends from VetTix and Tickets For Kids! 

After we loaded out, we went next door to see some friends and had a lovely time hanging out, catching up and meeting new folks. Dan, Tyler and Erinn also went on an adventure from 1:30am-3:30am finding the perfect shot in Chicago at night... check out Dan Beckmann Photography's page for the final shot of Calder's Flamingo! 

We've arrived in Chicago! 

After a slight snafu with a screw in our tire, we were ready for a great time in Chicago! Erinn and Dan met up with their good friends Lindsay and Alain, Grace met up with friends from school and the team hand a very chill night in. 

The next day, we all headed to downtown Chicago where the beautiful Chicago River was dyed green for St. Patrick's Day! We met up with our good friend Anna and explored the city. 

Grace suggested her favorite Pizzaria for Chicago-Style Pizza, Lou Malanti's- and it was a great choice! Our friend Heather met us there, and we had a great pizza party and all left feeling full and happy.

We walked to Millennium Park, where we visited the famous Chicago Bean. Dan took pictures, and after we warmed up in Erinn's favorite hidden gem of the city, the Chicago Athletic Association. We got warm by the fire, talked about life and had wonderful coffee. 

Back at the apartment, it was movie night with Bullet Train. A great day off before our show tomorrow at the Greenhouse Theatre. Hope to see y'all there! 

St Louis was an incredibly memorable show! Being that it was Myra's home town, there were a lot of Miller's at the show, as well as our good friend Katherine who has been helping with the tour behind the scenes. Grace's family also came to the show, and a group of INCREDIBLE veterans from the St. Louis Veterans Home! We got choked up when the audience gave the Vietnam Veterans a standing ovation and welcomed them home. 

The Quilts of Valor again came through with a beautiful quilt for a 99-year old WWII Veteran named Sully. 

Our friend Bob mailed us COOKIES! We miss having him around for the tour but we couldn't be more grateful for the homemade goodness he sent along. 

After the cookies, Myra and Grace went off with family, and Tyler, Dan, Jack and Erinn went to the bottom of the St Louis Arch. It was a beautiful sunset at the arch, and we got some great photos. It was much larger than expected from the bottom! It is the largest manmade monument in the United States. 

Back at the apartment, we had an Oscar party with Dairy Queen. 

Thanks, Missouri for being a great fun city with lots of great memories. 

Today was the first day off we've had in a while, and it was well used! 

We all rested, caught up on work, phone calls and sleep! In the evening, Dan, Erinn, Grace and Tyler went to see To Kill a Mockingbird and the INCREDIBLE Fox Theatre in downtown St. Louis (right next to the theatre we are performing tomorrow)! 

The show was incredible, and starred Richard Thomas (from the TV Show The Waltons) as Atticus Finch. After the show, we drove by a view of the St Louis Arch across the river and Dan jumped out to get a cloudy shot. Who knows which St. Louis picture will make his blog.... we're excited to see!