Over our holiday vacation Charlie and I made a trip over the Illinois border to Wisconsin and visited the charming towns of Monroe and New Glarus. They are a quick drive and reasonably priced get-away if you live in Chicago.
So, NOTHING says Wisconsin like CHEESE, right? We started our adventure by stopping in Monroe which hosts the the nationally renowned Green County Cheese Days. This festival is held every two years and draws more than 150 thousand people. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm Cheese!
Stopping in Monroe came at the recommendation of my dear cousin. He convinced us that we must stop and eat a Limberger Cheese and Onion sandwich.
Clearly we had to stop. We feed our bellies and our noses. For those of you who have never had Limburger, it is a wonderful cheese with a pungent odor commonly compared to dirty socks or body odor.
Delicious!!! No seriously, it is delicious if you like smelly pungent cheese.
We also stopped at the oldest continuously working brewery in the Midwest, Minhas (and the second oldest brewery in the nation). My dad actually worked for this brewery then called Huber Brewing Company. We asked if they had a company employee book but they didn’t. It was just a quick stop and we decided to get moving and skip the brewery tour.
We then made our way to New Glarus.
Our fist stop in New Glarus was the New Glarus Brewery.
We sampled some tasty beer as we toured the plant.
Main Meals: I got the Wiener Schnitze and Charlie ordered the Swiss Meatballs. Both came with butter drenched green beans. Not able to pass up some extra saturated fat I chose the Roesti (Swiss Fried Potatoes..think hash brown with fondue cheese) for my potato. Charlie went healthier with the bacon laden German Potato Salad. I also had to order the red cabbage (you know, for fiber) and washed down my meal with a glass of red wine (because it tastes really good with potatoes, cheese and fried meat is good for the heart!).
Oh yeah, we also had a completely unnecessary salad (charlie had vegetable soup…that had CHEESE in it). Arteries clogged and our cardiologist on speed dial we decided to check out some live music.
We headed to the New Glarus Hotel. My mom was watching Addison for us so we decided to honor her by drinking Scotch Old Fashions. When in Rome Wisconsin honor the family.
While drinking with the locals, we jammed to the rocking Polka band Barefoot Becky. Charlie took for me a spin on the dance floor (to burn off a few of the MILLION CALORIES WE ATE and DRANK). I’m happy to report that there were no casualties and we were able to keep up with the AARP crowd, barely.
Full of libations and the vibrations of Barefoot Becky we headed to Sportsman’s Barr and Grill for a night cap. Becuase what I needed after beer, wine and scotch old fashions was MORE BEER! Hey they had peanuts, a healthy fat snack! They also had a jukebox. I played a gem by Nelly Furtado and Timerbalnd which was a HUGE hit with the locals. Don’t worry, I balanced it out my selections with some 1979 Fleetwood Mac Tusk.
After eating a bowl of peanuts (what …I SKIPPED DESSERT!) and drinking our beers we decided to call it a night. So we headed back to the hotel to get some shut eye.
Our trip was fast, but so much fun. Never in my life did I think I would be drinking old fashions to the beats of Barefoot Becky in New Glarus, Wisconsin in the dead of winter with the great company of Charlie. It is trips like these that make memories that last a lifetime. It made me realize how blessed I am.
This post made me smile. Sounds like you guys had a wonderful time.
Fun! Paul asks me to get some beer for him every time I’m in Wisconsin visiting my parents.
Thanks AL and Mel. Yes it was defiantly a fun time.