Wisconsin Attractions, Businesses, Places, and Events
Lets face it. Milwaukee is probably most famous for beer. At one time, nearly all the major beer producers were in Milwaukee. That included the largest, Pabst.
I watched a window just above this streetlamp shatter on the street
For years, the brewery buildings lay abandoned, vacant, and deteriorating. I have spent a lot of time parked in front of some of these buildings and they are impressive. In fact, I watched during a wind storm as a window was blown out of one of the buildings and the glass shattered on the road just across from where I was parked. I kind of thought that if I ever wanted to get photos of these old buildings I better start soon or they would not be around too long. However, something interesting happened to that particular building within a month. [Read more...]
The temperature was right at the freezing point. There were snow flurries in the air. For a while, I had mistaken the flurries for ashes from some of the campfires some had set up to keep warm on the beach. While the temperature was not bad by Wisconsin standards, it was the wind that was making it brutal. All morning 40+ mile an hour winds were ripping away any heat I seemed to be generating on my own. There was no protection from that freezing wind on the beach. As I walked towards the beach, a man was leaving his car carying a large garage heater. Now that was a bit more like it!
“After 18 years of doing this, you start to learn a few things.” He told me.
Which photo is before and after the Polar Bear Plunge. Read the post to find out.
I am not one to get up early on New Year’s Day. I was thinking this is crazy. The only assurance of my own sanity was [Read more...]
One of the stores that I always liked to visit in New Glarus was Robert’s European Imports. I was shocked to find the store closed but relieved to find the same store down the street using the new name: Esther’s European Imports. My first though is that it wouldn’t be quite the same, but it turned out to be just like the old gift shop. It has the same imported gifts and the same feeling.
Esther's European Imports has a fun mix of Swiss products
I’ve gone around looking for the best Christmas lights in the Milwaukee area and taken some photos to help guide you. This list also takes into account that “Christmas feeling” each has. To me, one of the leading spots didn’t actually have the most impressive lights. It did have a wonderful feeling and if I were taking my kids out on a Christmas celebration, I think it has a whole lot more going for it than some that had more impressive lights. I think that’s important. Looking at lights is fun but if some places can create a lasting memory that has more than just lights, I think that might be just as important.
That intoxicating, sweet aroma that you smell if you sniff a fresh chocolate bar up close. That is what thinking about the Maple Leaf Cheese and Chocolate Haus brings to my mind. That wonderful smell of chocolate sugar is the first thing that I became aware of when I stepped inside. That smell alone is worth [Read more...]
The New Glarus Bakery has a history dating back to 1910. While ownership changed in 2004, they are still using their Old World recipes to create traditional Swiss pastries, cookies, deserts, and breads.
Made from a bread formed by hand, it includes ingredients like almonds, Meyer’s rum, marzipan and two kinds of raisins. They make a point that there is no candied fruit in the ingredients. With stollen a popular Christmas tradition in Wisconsin, I can’t think of a more traditional bakery to get it from.
Of course, there is lots more than just [Read more...]
It was well after dark and I think it was spring or early summer. Due to a family business, instead of a week-long vacation, all we could usually do was a short weekend drive. After we had been driving down dark roads for a couple hours, the lights of New Glarus were something that totally contrasted. My first impression on arriving in New Glarus was we had been transported to Switzerland in space and to Christmas [Read more...]
About 35 miles north of Milwaukee on Highway 167, Holy Hill is well worth the trip. You do not need to be Catholic to appreciate making the trip. Located in Wisconsin’s Kettle Moraine area, Holy Hill is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also a Wisconsin State Landmark. For some, it is the southeastern Wisconsin scenery that brings them. Yet, Holy Hill is a place of worship for Catholics as well as a monastery.
Would I recommend the Parkwood Lodget to someone else? Would we stay there again if we were looking for a hotel or motel in Door County? I think one way to put it is that the Parkwood Lodge is not a “5 star” hotel or resort – the coffee is much better than that. Let me explain what we found out about the Parkwood Lodge -and about the coffee.
