Bread and Circuses be hanged

Back in the days when the Colosseum was THE place for Romans to hang out, the concept of "bread and circuses" was first realised. The principle was simple. The Emperor of the time (Flavius was the biggest culprit) used to basically bribe his subjects with fresh bread in return for their paid attendance at his massive amphitheatre featuring bloody battles and gladiatorial combat (the circus). But hey, that was entertainment back then, and the Emperor did very well by it.

I have just come back to Chicago from having spent a fantastic weekend in Wisconsin with Lexie and her family and friends. I knew I would be going there to celebrate Lexie's mum's birthday with a family dinner at a beloved restaurant. But I didn't know what other circus activities I might be invited to engage in, so I was really looking forward to a fun weekend. And I wasn't disappointed.

Lexie's mum is an identical twin, and the meal we shared at the restaurant (about 20 minutes away from Lex's house) was just beautiful. At a family owned restaurant, with a killer bar at the front, we were seated in about 10 minutes and the service was great. I had peppercorn crusted Yellow Fin tuna cooked medium rare - yummo - with steamed veggies and washed it down with a couple of vodka/lemonades (slightly heavier on the vodka than was probably good for me!).

And then I joined Lexie and her friend Amber at Craig's house where many of Lexie's friends had gathered for beers and laughs. [Craig actually came to stay with us for a weekend about a month ago, and he is a scream. Good fun and a really good friend to Lexie, so of course we had to make an appearance at his party last night]. And boy, it was a real circus, if ever there was one.

We played this classic drinking game called "Horse Race". I'd never heard of it before, and thought it was a little stupid. That was until our cheap beer had kicked in and I started winning. Then it got gooood.

"Horse Race" can be played by every single person at your party - no limits. And the rules - for what they're worth - go something like this:

You take your four aces and put them face-up at the bottom of the table. Then you take 6 cards (any ones) and evenly space them out, face down in a line down the left hand side of the table. Then you go around the table and pick an Ace suit (your horse), and put a bet on how many sips of your drink you'll risk for it to win.

Given that they are a girl's best friend, I picked "Diamonds" as my horse all night. Anyway, once each person has placed their bet, another person starts flipping over the remaining cards. With me so far? Whatever suit gets flipped over, another person moves the corresponding Ace card forward one space up the line of face-down cards. The game continues until an Ace card reaches the last face-down card space and that horse is declared the winner. And anyone who didn't back that 'horse' has to drink the number of sips that they bet.

Told you it was a silly drinking game, but it was loud and fun, and it did the trick. I started strongly, sagged in the middle, but finished well. And not once did I think about switching suits, and my loyalty was largely rewarded. The penalty of chugging beer with Wisconsin boys was a little tough to take on some bad races though, I have to say. Plus there was a bit of celebratory drinking when someone else's horse won - the victory was often shared. Nice really. But on reflection, I will think twice before drinking Wisconsin beer again.

But I have to tell you, Lexie's home town is as small as I knew it would be, but is beautiful. And it is right on the other side of Lake Michigan from where I live in Chicago. During the summer, the three resorts in town fill up (yes, the town is population 400 most of the year, but explodes in summer) reminiscent of "Dirty Dancing". Or perhaps that was just my imagination. This weekend there was still snow on the ground the air was very crisp. It's hard to picture the town buzzing with people eating ice cream and taking bunny-hop classes at the resorts. But I was a good house guest this weekend and I minded my manners, so I've been invited back any time.

And I will certainly return to Elkhart Lake. After all, I've got a horse race title to defend.