On, Wisconsin

My image of Wisconsin was shattered this weekend when I saw that cheese did not run in rivers throughout the state and brats did not grow on trees. The Wisconsin wine did live up to its reputation. What reputation you say? Exactly. A restaurant bending over backwards to serve us and the best frozen custard on Earth will leave a fond spot for WI in my heart.

We found ourselves in Kewaunee, WI this past weekend to attend a family wedding. The parents of the bride have a farm in this lovely community where they raise cows, chickens, and future bratwursts, I mean pigs. They do this as a side line as they both work in health care. They have an amazing house with one feature that had me green with envy, two kitchens! One upstairs for the normal everyday cooking, one downstairs for making beer and turning those pigs into tasty sausages. They put both of these kitchens into great use because the food and the beer they served was phenomenal.

Outside of the wedding we did do some exploring. There were billboards everywhere advertising wineries in the area. We stopped in two of them to check them out. The first one was right in the middle of the town of Algoma. The wine was OK, but the building it was in was fun to visit. The second one we stopped in was a total tourist trap, the beverages we tasted had very little in common with wine. They did have homemade fudge there which really helped clean the palate and rescue the stop from being a total waste.

We made our way back to Kewaunee and stopped for a frozen custard. This was the real deal, it was so smooth, rich and creamy it defied description. Of course, this was a non-descript road side joint serving up dairy nirvana. We didn't head out for a bite to eat until late that evening. This being a smallish town, they did not stay open late. We popped into the Port O'Call restaurant after they stopped serving most of their menu. They pulled out all they stops to make something for E and I to eat. This would have been enough except that the food was really good! I wish we got there a little earlier to try out more of their offerings.

While we were a little disappointed that this trip did not drip with gooey, tasty cheese, we were not disappointed with the little gems we found and the great people running those places. Just don't drink the local wine.