So, I get the call from the Uncle near Labor Day weekend. "You wanna hit Wisconsin?" he says. So we go to Wisconsin. For this trip we started on I39 up into Wisconsin. At Beloit we jumped on I43. We didn't stay on that stretch long though. As you may or may not know, Milwaukee is the home of Harley Davidson. And this happened to be the 105th birthday weekend. So, bunch of hogs on the road. And that also meant that Milwaukee was going to be a cluster-chunk. So, off the interstate heading north on the highway. We connected on 60 heading east til we hit Grafton. We stayed there thru Port Washington, which is a pretty city by the way, and then jumped on I43 again for a little while. Once we got north of Sheboygan, the Navigators Uncle goes, "There's a highway here somewhere that will take us right by Lake Michigan." Well, it wasn't on either map I had. Swearing it exists, we get off 43. We're going up the offramp, he sees the County Road letter, and says "Nope, this isn't it." So we loop back onto 43. We come to the next exit, and get on that offramp. Shows County Road LS right turn. "Betcha this is it." he says. "Wanna bet 'LS' stands for Lake Shore?" Sure enough. What a pretty stretch of road. At some point I will put a couple more photos up from that stretch of road. I mean, you are pretty literally like a 2 minute walk from the lake. If you stop the car, get out, and walk toward the lake, boom 2 minutes. I can't stress how pretty this stretch is. Not only because of the lake, but the other scenery, houses, foliage, etc. We stayed on wonderful County Road LS til we hit Manitowoc, where we spent the night. LS into Manitowoc gives you a good tour of the city. Pretty city. So when in Manitowoc, makes sure you get on 42 north and go to 2 Rivers. Again, you're right on the Lake and 2 Rivers is another pretty city. Definitely worth at least a drive thru. Now, both times I've been to Manitowoc and stayed at the Holiday Inn there, there have been functions going on. On this particular night, there was a wedding reception at the hotel. LOL There was a joking comment about how we should crash the party. Instead, we hung out in the bar, and did end up talking with a few members of the party. It was a good time.
Next day we headed out north on 43. We got off on 41/141 and continued north to Wausaukee. We stopped and grabbed a bite to eat, which gave me time to look at the map. I have a friend who is a teacher at one of the local high schools from Wisconsin, a town called Wabeno. So, I was trying to find out where we got off in Wausaukee to get there. Unfortunately, I was having map-reading issues. It doesn't happen often, but yeah, sometimes even the Shotgun Navigator has trouble reading maps. So, we somehow didn't find it and stayed north on 41/141 til Pembine, which is the intersection of 8 and 41/141. So we headed west on 8 til we hit 51. The Nicolet Nat'l Forest is fairly pretty. At least it was the prettiest forest I had been through til we went to Arkansas. Rhinelander is a pretty city as well. Heh, in general, Wisconsin north of Packerland (Green Bay) is pretty. So we get on 51N and followed it to Minocqua. How to describe that which is Minocqua? It's almost an island. There is water an either side, and would be a true island but for a small connection of land on the north and south side. It is a bit "tourist trappy" but doesn't really come off that way. If you've been to Door County in Wisconsin, it's a bit less tourist trap feeling than Door County. The Best Western there is like a block or two off downtown and right across the street from the water. It is a very photogenic area. Make sure to go to the Minocqua Brewing Company for dinner. It's right across the street, same side as the lake. And if you get lucky, you can get window seating facing the water. They have 7 beers they make on-site. So, if you're feeling daring or are a beer drinker, make sure you try at least one of their beers. They do offer a paddle, which gives you a couple ounce glass of each beer so you can try them all. You can also buy them by the half-gallon and take it with you. The first time it's $18, but if you keep the jug, it's $10 for a refill. And trust me, you'll end up back in Minocqua. Also, make sure you go downtown and do a little shopping. I didn't think the prices were outrageous for a place you know is a vacation spot. In two trips up to Wisconsin, we've done Minocqua both times, so a grand total of two nights there, and I would love to go up there for like a 3-5 night stay and really check it out.
So, the next morning we headed back south, starting on 51. We stayed on it through Stevens Point, a pretty city that has a branch of the University of Wisconsin. We got off 51 south of Stevens Point and meandered SW through Dodgeville (claim to fame is the House on the Rock; went there on family vacation as a kid, interesting place) into Platteville. For all the Bears fans who may be reading this, UW-Platteville is where the Bears did training camp for several years. That was my first trip to Platteville in at least a decade. It's a beautiful city, in a beautiful part of WI. It has a nice McDonalds as well. LOL That was the main reason we stopped. It was like 12:30 and we were both hungry. Our destination was an hour down the road. Dubuque IA is a interesting city on the river. And basically if you throw a rock NE it is going to land in Wisconsin, and SE it is going to land in Illinois. This was the first time I brought a camera with me; most my shots were on the road, but I usually took photos in wherever we stopped for the night. I didn't take too many in Dubuque, but I did get some from the parking lot. And the drive through the following morning was nice too. It's a pretty city.
Now, we did head home the following morning, but I want to say that I've been on 61 from Dubuque IA to basically St Louis MO. The stretch from I80 to St Louis is pretty, but from Dubuque to 80, apart from the cities you go through, is a pretty boring stretch of road. Not much to look at.
The next entry starts the 2009 series of roadtrips. There were 4, but one of those ended up only being for one night. We ended up in Wisconsin again for one full trip, and would have been for two full trips, but the second was the one night stay. And there was a trip down south that ended up in Cincinnati (rather interesting, we were basically in OK, and decided to go to OH). And the fourth went east. So keep your eyes open for the blog on each.
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