The Explore All 50 States Project
Let's Go!
Wisconsin was a perfect place to explore our theme, "The Immigrant Experience" where we learned how waves of immigrants from Scandinavia, Germany, Poland and other European countries left a lasting impact in various ways. From dairy farmers to lumberjacks, from fisherman to food purveyors their influence is everywhere. Norwegian lefsa, to beer brats to wienershnitzel and Friday night fish frys to be enjoyed listening … [Read more...]
Wisconsin is known across the country for it's delicious cheese, and so we decided to break up the drive from Madison to Green Bay by sampling cheese at various stops along the way. Our favorite stop by far was Schultz's Cheese Haus in Beaver Dam. The folks inside could not have been friendlier allowing the kids and I to sample all kinds of interesting and delicious things while explaining to us about the origin … [Read more...]
The Paul Bunyan Logging Camp Museum is a wonderful place to learn about an important part of Wisconsin history and an industry that was and continues to be an important part of the American economy- logging and lumber production. Paul Bunyan was a mythical figure; however, there were plenty of real lumberjacks that inspired his legend. Inside the logging camp, we learned about what life was like for many immigrant … [Read more...]
We were so excited to head to Green Bay and visit the storied Lambeau Field home of the Green Bay Packers. This town is all about football and we felt it as we drove through making our way to the stadium wearing our cheese heads of course. Walking up to the entrance we were greeted by a statue of one of the greatest and most beloved men to ever coach the game, Vince Lombardi. It wasn't football season so the … [Read more...]
Looking through our guidebooks for somewhere interesting and fun to have dinner, we happened upon the Prime Quarter Steak House. Now a steak house is not somewhere I normally would go since we weren't eating meat, but they had a nice fish selection so we decided to give it a go and here's why ... what's really unique about this place is that you cook the food yourself (so pretty much, you burn it, you're of luck). I … [Read more...]
I figured since our theme was all about The Immigrant Experience, and since we were in Madison, home to a population with strong German roots, that it would be fun to find a German restaurant with live polka music (and who doesn't love polka music?). According to all our guidebooks, the Essen Haus was the place to go for a dining and dancing experience not to be missed and so we headed right over. Walking in … [Read more...]
While we were in Madison, we checked out the Wisconsin State Capitol Building. From the exterior, because of it's color and shape, this State Capitol Building reminded me a lot of the Capitol Building in Washington DC. The inside is quite decorative with a lot of use of marble but what really stood out are the beautiful mosaics throughout especially in the rotunda. Other than that it wasn't one of our personal … [Read more...]
When we visited the National Mustard Museum it was located in a small town right outside Madison named Mt. Horeb but be forewarned, they renamed the town Middleton. This was such a cute, quirky and interesting stop and I highly recommend you don't miss it. We learned everything we could ever want to know about our favorite yellow condiment. The museum is literally one man’s obsession turned into a shrine and … [Read more...]
As we approached Milwaukee, the kids were starving and we happened upon an amazing Mongolian BBQ place called BD’s Mongolian Grill. It’s a buffet of raw veggies, meats, noodles, and rice with various sauces. You assemble your bowl and then hand it to the cook who stir fries it up on a big flat wok. This place was not only beyond delicious, but it was also fun to do. The kids loved the idea of putting everything … [Read more...]
We were super lucky to be some of the first visitors to The Harley Davidson Museum as it had just been completed and opened about a week before we arrived. Of course I'd heard of Harley Davidson Motorcycles, they are the epitome of cool right? I just had no clue that the company was founded in Milwaukee. As we entered the museum the kids were given a scavenger hunt with items they needed to locate and answer … [Read more...]
