You might want to put Harp Irish Pub (aka "The Harp") on your mental list of outdoor drinking destinations this summer.

The iconic Irish bar recently got a new patio and patio furniture. The wood will get stained in the near future, but the deck is currently open to the public. And it looks and smells really good. (Ah, fresh wood!)

About five years ago, RC Schmidt, Matt Schmidt, Andrew Schmidt and Michael Foy took over The Harp. They also operate Trinity, RC's and The Black Rose.

At the time of the takeover, both bars and the ceilings were rebuilt. The kitchen was also relocated.

"The next phase of the remodel was the deck which needed to be updated as well," says Tina Lawler, who handles communications for The Harp. "We decided rather than just patch it, rebuilding was the best way to go. "

Brew City Builders did the work. The format of the deck is the same with two tiers offering the same great view of the river and landmark Milwaukee buildings like Usinger’s.

Three new docks were also built.

The Harp has a new menu, focusing on burgers, hotdogs, a Friday fish fry and a build-your-own-basket of The Harp’s signature chips, fries or onion rings.

A "Sunday Rehab" takes place every Sunday on the deck with live music by Dan Harvey at 4 p.m. Specials will include $3 Skyy bombs, $5 sangrias and mimosas, $6 buckets of Miller Lite Shorties and $7 buckets of Coronitas. 

There’s also a happy hour that runs Monday through Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. featuring a variety of other specials.

"The Harp is definitely a long-standing landmark and Milwaukee favorite," says Lawler.

I spent some time there recently and had absolutely no complaints. Other than the fact my pint of Guinness didn't magically refill itself.

Atlas BBQ opened at the end of 2012 and features the tagline "Beer. Bourbon. Barbecue." With good reason.

Located inside the Paramount Plaza in Grafton, Atlas offers food and sauces made from scratch as well as a large selection of beer, wine and bourbon. Burgers and desserts are also available.

Owner Michael Tsuchihashi picked the name "Atlas" because he did not want to limit the menu items to one region or style. Hence, the recipes are from Texas, Kansas, Memphis, the Carolinas, Asia, South America and the Middle East.

"It seems every country and culture has some form of barbeque and we want to explore them all," says Tsuchihashi, who ran the restaurants at Potawatomi Bingo Casino before leaving to open Atlas. 

The grilled pork and blue cheese sandwich with caramelized onions sounds really good to me, as do the barbecue nachos, but we’ll see what food writer Lori Fredrich recommends when she posts a food review of Atlas in the near future. Stay tuned.

I grew up with dogs. First we had Woody, a Lhasa Apso mix we named after Woody Allen. We should have been suspicious of a 2-year-old pure-bred dog at the humane society, but the chance to have a dog that required me to put ponytails and bows in his hair to keep it out of his eyes was too appealing for the 9-year-old me and so we took the underbite-y Tibetan-rooted pooch home.

Sadly, Woody contracted or already had a terrible disease called distemper and he went into fits of rage, once trapping a friend and me in my dad’s La-Z Boy chair while we were alone in the house and my parents were grocery shopping. It was terrifying: the dog was charging at us and running in circles and making devil dog noises.

Where’s Lassie when you need him?

So Woody was euthanized and I was heartbroken and so we got Emma, a little rat Terrier mix of some kind that mostly slept under a mini afghan my grandmother knitted for her.

Emma had, quite possibly, the least personality of any animal, vegetable or mineral ever, but she became as much a part of my parents’ home as the gold-flowered wallpaper in the kitchen.

RIP, sweet Emma.

Years later, I had a parade of dogs and cats and rodents, including a Samoyed named Red Sonja who moved with an ex-boyfriend back to Idaho and a couple of cats that I left with a roommate when I rented a pet-free abode. (I still feel crappy about this.)

Another roommate and I had a parakeet bird with bum wings – we named him "Ned The Walker" – and my son had three hamsters: Lavender 1, Lavender 2 and Lavender 3. For some reason, we had bad luck keeping those wheel-runners alive and they usually passed within a year or so. My son insisted that each hamster death required a hamster funeral complete with soulful weeping, candle lighting and paper plates marked with their names over the dirt next to the garage when they were buried.

Lavender 2: March 2006 - August 2006

Then there was a chocolate lab named Clay who I loved for 13 years. This is the d…

This year, Bugfest – sponsored by Mofoco automotive manufacturing – celebrates 20 years as the Midwest’s most popular event for Volkswagen enthusiasts.

Bugfest, scheduled for Saturday, July 13, is a VW swap meet, drag race and car show at Great Lakes Dragaway.

New Mofoco owner Roy Henning, who purchased the business from his father last year, announced today that he is restoring a 1970 Beetle and will give it away – along with partner sponsor WKLH – at the Paul McCartney concert at Miller Park on Tuesday, July 16.

"It’s a really nice, drivable vintage Beetle," says Henning.

People can register to win the car at Bugfest or soon through mofoco.com and WKLH.com.

Bugfest attracts up to 5,000 Volkwagen owners and fans who pick the best Beetles in two categories, vintage and new model. The winners will each receive a pair of tickets to the McCartney show.

Bugfest car owners and drivers get in free. Tickets for those 15 years and older are $15. Kids ages 10-15 are $10 and under 10 are free.

Henning’s father Randy started Mofoco in 1971 and currently owns Great Lakes Dragaway. Mofoco is the only company in the world that manufactures air-cooled Volkswagen cylinder heads entirely in the United States.

"Even though my dad’s retired, I’m sure he’ll stop by to ‘bug’ me," says Henning. "I’m taking this company into the next century."