Southern Wisconsin
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
We were delighted to find that our motel’s continental breakfast included make-your-own waffles. That was the perfect re-introduction to food after our bout with food poisoning. We took it slow for the first part of the day, hanging out in our room, doing some blogging, and taking care of other details that had gone by the wayside while in Chicago.
In the afternoon, we set out to get acquainted with a bit of the surrounding area. We headed west with our first stop being
Mount Horeb, a lovely little community that has an interesting theme: trolls. Apparently, there was a tree blight some years ago and they lost a lot of their trees. What to do with all the wood and all the tree stumps? Carve trolls and perch them on the tree stumps, of course! Now, Mount Horeb is known as the Troll Capital of the World. Mind you, the town is not overrun with trolls but you will come across the urchins regularly.
Down the road from Mount Horeb we stopped by
Little Norway, a pioneer homestead which perpetuates the culture of our Norwegian immigrants. A beautiful wooded drive led to the prettiest assemblage of Norwegian buildings. The crowning jewel was the Norway Building. Built in Norway for Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, it is a fine example of ancient Norse church architecture. It was too late in the day for a tour but we were grateful for the chance to see this treasure.
We then headed off on some rural county roads through lush farmland. Endless fields of straw-colored corn surrounded us on both sides, often fringed with fields of soy that had turned a brilliant yellow in anticipation of harvest. The contrast of these colors against the green rolling hills was a sight to behold.
Soon we found ourselves in America’s Little Switzerland,
New Glarus. This delightful town was bursting in Alpine character, from the chalet-style buildings to the many Swiss heritage shops. Our drive around town also revealed another delight…cows! Not of the dairy variety, but whimsically-painted fiberglass cows in front of various businesses.
All this Swiss-ness made us hungry, so we headed to the
New Glarus Hotel, favorably reviewed for its Swiss-German cuisine. It was darling!
The atmosphere was true to the character of the town, and the food…Oh my. Five different local cheeses on the salad bar, the best Split Pea and Ham Soup and Spaetzli we’ve ever had, and several things we’ve never had such as Roesti, Piccata Schnitzel and Filet Goulash Stroganoff. It was impossible to pick a favorite—or to finish an entire entrée! We took half of our dinner back to the motel, along with homemade German Chocolate Cake and Apple Kuchen. Thank goodness for in-room refrigerators!
--Ted and Laura
Love the beautifully carved trolls... they look like the tall uncles to the gnomes. How cool! Bruce says, those particular trolls remind him of himself! The food looks delicious. I love the chalet style buildings. See you soon!
ReplyDeleteWhat! No cheese days in Monroe??? I know you had a great time!! From the lady selling the cheese beads!
ReplyDeleteWe did indeed! Thanks for posting, bead lady! We'll have MUCH to say about Cheese Days in Monroe, including some great pics, as soon as we get caught up. We've been traveling with friends of ours for the past 9 days, so there has been little time to post updates. But never fear--there are great tales soon to be told!
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