Hintz Martin - Off the beaten path. Wisconsin: a guide to unique places

OFF THE BEATEN PATH WISCONSIN

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All the information in this guidebook is subject to change. We recommend that you call ahead to obtain current information before traveling.

Copyright 2012 by Martin Hintz

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Globe Pequot Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.

Off the Beaten Path is a registered trademark of Morris Book Publishing, LLC.

Editor: Kevin Sirois

Project Editor: Heather Santiago

Layout: Joanna Beyer

Text design: Linda R. Loiewski

Maps: Equator Graphics Morris Book Publishing, LLC

ISSN 1540-2134

ISBN 978-0-7627-7959-8

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To the family, travelers all

Martin Hintz, a past president of the Society of American Travel Writers and former chairman of its Freelance Council, has been a travel writer for more than three decades. Hintz has some 100 books to his credit, some of which are other travel-related volumes published by Globe Pequot Press. He has written hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles and also publishes The Irish American Post, an international online news magazine (www.irishamericanpost.com), and is director of the Mountjoy Writers Group, an international news syndicate. In addition to his wife, Pam Percy, sons Daniel and Stephen and daughter Kate have collaborated with him on writing projects.

Pam Percy has written The Complete Chicken, a coffee table art book about chickens, and The Field Guide to Chickens. In addition to working on Wisconsin Off the Beaten Path, Percy collaborated with Hintz on Wisconsin Cheese: A Cookbook and Guide to the Cheeses of Wisconsin (Globe Pequot, 2008), which contains more than one hundred recipes utilizing award-winning Wisconsin cheese, along with information about serving cheese and the Dairy States cheese plants, festivals, and related attractions.

Percy and Hintz raise chickens and vegetables on their farmette north of Milwaukee, selling to area restaurants, at markets, and to a lucky group of select customers.

Special gratitude to all our friends throughout Wisconsin who helped with this book, especially Andy Larsen and Gary Knowles, plus Lisa Marshall and the staff of the Wisconsin Division of Tourism. Visitor bureaus, historical societies, and local information offices around the state were particularly helpful as well. The people of Wisconsin themselves also deserve rousing applause, from the guy who told us where to find the best pie in his hometown to the volunteer at the local historical site.

Wisconsin is a state of imagery: cows, woods, beer, fish.

Sure enough.

But the state has a lot more to offer. For instance, think of Wisconsin in superlatives: It has the worlds largest four-sided clock, the biggest penny, and most massive loon. It offers a giant, 5-story leaping muskie in whose massive mouth avid fisherfolk can even be married. The state cradles the nations most comprehensive collection of works by beloved artist Norman Rockwell and the worlds largest carousel. The countrys only whooping crane preserve is in Wisconsin, and so is a record-size black bear. The cranes are alive and flopping. The bear is stuffed.

Wisconsin is a place for doing and seeing. It hosts regattas, ice fishing competitions, one-act play festivals, and Civil War reenactments.

There are lead mines, cornfields, and superconductors. There are ship manufacturers, goats on top of restaurants, and milk-carton raft races. One city boasts of its own submarine; another hosts the worlds busiest airstrip during a summertime fly-in of experimental and private aircraft.

Wisconsin is a state tailor-made for off-the-beaten-path adventures. You can discover some of the secrets in a corridor of Madisons stately Capitol Building, on the rocky tip of foggy Door County, in a pine-scented North Woods glade, on a narrow Milwaukee side street.

Wisconsin Off the Beaten Path ranges from urban to rural and back again. Pam and I hope that this book will lighten your travel planning, heighten your sensibilities, and increase your fun.

The enthusiastic explorer can use this poke-along guide to uncover secluded hideaways as well as to discover hints about getting around the more well-known tourist attractions.

Care has been taken to ensure accuracy as much as possible. Over time, however, ticket prices, phone numbers, and hours of operation may change; establishments may close for one reason or another; and personnel may move on. Subsequently, there may be a few discrepancies in this edition that will have to wait for the next update. So please be patient and let the publisher know of any necessary adjustments, because you, as reader, can also be a great scout. Who knows what neat new Wisconsin discoveries you will find to share with other readers!

On your journeys, always, always remember to verify lodging arrangements before arrival. It pays to call ahead. Even that most off-the-beaten-path bed-and-breakfast could be booked the night you wish to register.

Resident admission stickers for Wisconsin state parks cost $25 annually, $7 daily, and $5 for 1 hour. For resident senior citizens (65 and older), stickers are $10 annually and $3 daily. For nonresidents the cost is $35 annually, $10 daily, and $5 for 1 hour. Stickers are required on all motor vehicles entering and stopping in state parks. They can be purchased at the parks, at local Department of Natural Resources (DNR) offices, or by writing the DNR, Bureau of Parks and Recreation, Box 7921, Madison 53707-7921 (608-266-2181 or 888-947-2757; www.dnr.state.wi.us). Half-price annual tickets are available for additional vehicles in a resident family.

One thing youll notice as you journey through the state is that Wisconsinites have a way with slogans and nicknames. Almost every city, town, and hamlet has a booster phrase posted along the roads leading to Main Street. Abbotsford brags about being Wisconsins First City. Albany is the Sweetest Village on the Sugar River. You can pedal like crazy in Brodhead, the Bicycle Gateway to Wisconsin or in Sparta, which is the Bicycling Capital of America. Be sure to shake hands in Cumberland, Famous for Friendliness, and in Middleton because its the Good Neighbor City. Dont stop now, because Marion is Where Strangers Are Friends Wed Like to Meet, and Youre Always Welcome in Holmen. Youll never get away from Monroe because We Bring You Back. Yet dont forget that Frederic is A Beautiful Place to Visit, A Great Place to Live.