What a weekend that was! It was fordshepherd‘s birthday, and we were determined to celebrate it in style.

baja_hyena flew into Milwaukee International Airport (MKE) on Thursday night. I picked him up and we came home to a tasty dinner of fried chicken and mashed potatoes that Takaza had made.

Friday, we were joined by Ford, who arrived just in time for a great steak dinner and a relaxing evening of chatting and relaxing.

On Saturday, the fun really began! Following the surprise (to Ford, anyway) arrival of r_bear, the first stop was Whirlyball, a crazy combination of bumper cars and lacrosse with a really good bar. We were joined by perro, wolphy, deccadoggy, tozier_wah, justincheetah, calapurr, r_bear, linnaeus, and snickershusky. We were able to get in six 10-minute games, and we had a blast! We’ll definitely be going back, perhaps either during Wuffmeet or Memorial Day next year.

After Whirlyball we stopped for a tasty lunch at Eloise Chicago, then it was over to Nickel City Arcade, where after paying $2 admission you can play any of their 100 games for a nickel (OK, maybe $0.15, sometimes). I got an hour’s worth of entertainment on about thirty cents with a couple of games of pinball, an old version of Mortal Kombat, NFL Blitz ’99, and Puzzle Fighter. The place was of course overrun with kids on a Saturday afternoon, but it wasn’t too bad.

When we wrapped up there several folks took their leave, and it was down to eight – me, Dan, Baja, Ford, Linnaeus, RB, Cheetah, and Cala. We stopped by Linnaeus’ place to change and then it was off to dinner at Moto. Oh my god, Moto.

Moto Restaurant is one of the leading outposts of molecular gastronomy and “post-modern cuisine”. I was excited when Dan was able to secure a 5:30 PM reservation about a month ago. I figured we’d be there for a couple of hours, then after a good dinner go home and relax a bit. Silly me, I didn’t count on the meal taking five and a half hours. Don’t get me wrong – every minute of that was appreciated!

Our entire table opted for the GTM, “Grand Tour Moto”, a twenty-course tasting menu. Before I launch into the pornographic food descriptions, I will say that the most amusing thing that happened during the meal involved Twitter. Those who followed the Twitter accounts of those in attendance know that we were tweeting a lot as the night went on – commentary, descriptions and pictures of the dishes, etc.

At one point Dan asked the bartender for a non-alcoholic drink. The bartender was remarkably creative and came up with a grapefruit-based drink that had a peppery pop to it. It was a bit much for Dan, but Ford liked it so he handed it off. Dan mentioned in a tweet that it wasn’t quite to his liking.

About 15 minutes later, the bartender stopped by with another drink. “What’s this?” Dan asked. “Another drink, since you didn’t like the first one.” “Where did you hear that?” “Oh, I saw it on your Twitter account.” Busted! That set up a very amusing interplay for the evening between us and the restaurant staff. They were quite amused by some of our comments and re-tweeted them, and we remarked on the great food and incredible wine pairings.

And the meal itself? Astonishing. Simply astonishing. I was going to write a plate-by-plate review, but it’s simply too much (and would bore you all to death). This account from earlier this year, while differing from our menu by about half the courses, is a pretty good summation of the meal in words and pictures. I ordered the wine pairings, which was thirteen different wines (well, 11 wines, one beer, and one mead) that really went with every single course perfectly. Their sommelier, Matthew Gundlach, is a very talented and very personable gentleman who had a great depth of knowledge about every pairing.

We, um, shall not speak of the total bill. Safe to say it was impressive, and truly a once-in-a-lifetime meal for me. I was so pleased that Dan had the 20-course meal as well (with adjustments for his shellfish and garlic allergies) and even though not every course was to his liking, I know he enjoyed a surprising number of them.

We got home from Moto at about 12:30 AM, and staggered off to bed.

On Sunday, Ford, Baja, and Dan went off on a Top Secret Fursuit Mission while I stayed around the house to relax a bit and prep for the afternoon’s festivities. Eventually we assembled woodychitwn, roho and genet, as well as many of the folks from Whirlyball the day before, for a final get-together dinner to celebrate Ford’s birthday. I made Korean burritos and for dessert Dan, inspired by the previous night’s meal, made “Deconstructed Apple Pie” – pie dough covered with cinnamon and sugar, baked to a crisp, stewed apples, and homemade cinnamon ice cream. It was a great evening and I hope everyone had as great a time as we did seeing everyone. Alas, Ford had to leave at about 7 PM, but I was glad to see him on the road at a decent hour (he stopped for the night as planned in Lafayette, IN).

This morning I took Baja to the airport and then came into work, only a little bit late. I’m looking forward to a laid-back evening tonight. For the rest of the week, I have a few projects I need to work on around the house, but nothing too crazy. As for this week, there’s preparations for the LAFF Pizza and Theater Outing coming up, and the in-person MFF Staff Meeting on Sunday.

I have to say that while this was a whirlwind weekend, getting to spend time with Ford and Baja was really special. They’re both great guys and we really enjoy their company. I hope that we’ll be able to welcome them to our home again sometime soon!