road trip!

Last week the boys headed up to Michigan for four days of "Camp Grossman" with Grandma & Grandpa and Ted had to work through Friday. So I decided to take advantage of the situation and head up to Wisconsin for a super quick but thoroughly restorative trip. My destination was Mineral Point in the southern end of Wisconsin's "Driftless Region."

Settled by Cornish miners in the 1800's, Mineral Point is small, hilly and full of authentic and historic charm. These days it's a bit of a magnet for artists and one of my favorite parts of the trip was visiting the Shake Rag Alley School of Arts and Crafts. I was having so much fun brainstorming with the uber- friendly Program Director (one minute I'm sheepishly looking at the gardens and the next thing I know we're in her office talking about making twig journals and fairy houses) that I didn't take any pictures. It's on lovely grounds with historic buildings and even has its own lodge. But a class at the school (for myself or the boys) would be reason enough to return. They're having a "Woodlanders Gathering" next week, which is a blitz of craft classes that has been described as "Summer camp for adults!" If only it were a little closer . . .

Here's a few other highlights from my 48 hour getaway:

I thoroughly enjoyed the solo "motel therapy" time at the spotless and affordable ($40 for one night!) Dairyland Motel. The owner Tom is a quiet character and at check-in he suggested I would have a "fine dining experience" at Tony's Tap at the end of town.

Did I ever! Tony's is a casual family-owned tavern with super friendly staff. I was surrounded by multi-generational families, girlfriends out for drinks and construction workers and felt totally welcome and comfortable. A gorgeous bacon cheddar burger set me back $4.25.  The vodka soda was $2. My kind of fine dining indeed. (And seeing how I am rather underemplyed these days, this trip was going nice and easy on my pocketbook.)

The next morning I had extra luck. Hook's Dairy is only open to the public on Fridays from 6:30 am to noon. So I woke up, hiked down the hill and opened the door to see cheese curds flying. I can safely say this was one of those "Only in Wisconsin" moments.

After scoring some award-winning cave-aged blue cheese, I headed to the town of Dodgeville where this sign made me very happy. I grabbed two uncooked pasties and put them right into the cooler. A little tip here: don't ever, ever go into the state of Wisconsin without a cooler. No matter where you are there's always something you're going to want to take back.

Heading out of Dodgeville I spontaneously decided to check out Little Norway near Blue Mounds. I was worried it would be kitschy/crappy but not at all. It's a historic family farm and my tour guide was excellent. As we entered all the amazing buildings that have such incredible stories, I was channeling my Grandma Ruthie and Laura Ingalls Wilder at the same time.

After Little Norway I went into the town of Mount Horeb, whch was settled by . . . you guessed it, Norwegians. I ducked into Duluth's to check out their small in-store Tool Museum. I so wished my Pop was with me, he'd totally dig and appreciate all the old tools and the way they're honored and displayed.

And then I went down the street and literally stumbled upon the tiny Mt. Horub History Museum. Just because a museum is small doesn't mean it can't be powerful and moving. They have a quilt exhibit in the back that was so moving I almost cried. Some of the quilts were from original settlers and most had the name and a photo of the quilt maker and a little bit about her life in the region. This Crazy Quilt was jaw dropping.

Then I climbed back in the car and began the trip home. I had a lovely lunch of fried cod and German Potato Salad at the Glarner Stube in the Swiss town of New Glarus (hey, it was Friday in Wisconsin, how could I not?) and then grabbed some swiss veal sausages at Ruef's Meat Market next door.

And that was that. The end of my trip. Time to go home. I had such an amazing adventure in a short amount of time and I can't wait to bring the boys back. And next trip I want to go a little further up to Viroqua and check out the Driftless Folk School. But I might have to stop into Tony's for a burger in Mineral Point first.

 

 

Comments

[Jennifer Tawse]

Man,I've heard there is some Swedish/Norwegian in that area but every business sounds like it was influenced. Love your traveling post....I can almost hear your boniejean voice and it sounded like a much needed and cheerful solo trip.