Today started off in the town of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. After breakfast, we headed off to Leinenkugel Brewery, makers of Leinenkugel Beer, and one of the few American owned beers.

Leinenkugel has been making beer since 1867 when Jacob Leinenkugel came to Wisconsin from Germany. His father had been a beer maker so he and a partner, John Miller, founded Leinenkugel brewery. Miller sold his shares to Jacob, and despite a sale to Coors in 1989, a Leinenkugel still sits as President of the Company.

The tour was excellent even if you aren’t a beer drinker. They have tried to keep and restore all of the original buildings

Beer is made from grains that are soaked in very hot water becoming an oatmeal type texture – floor 4… originally gravity moved the product along, but with technology and the renovation the process jumps a bit now with tubes and pipes from floor 4 to floor 2 to floor 3 to floor 1 to bottling/canning

We thought the safety glasses were pretty cool

150 years of beer… including a few years of “near beer” during Prohibition

Originally Leinenkugel was only available in Wisconsin and surrounding areas, but now it is sold in all 50 states, although not every kind is available everywhere. Not too bad for a little brewery.

We really enjoyed and used our beer tasting tickets (for Mike and I only) to try some beer not available in North Carolina. (If you get the chance to try the Juicy Peach or Beer Weiss, absolutely do!)

So glad we added this to our itinerary. It was definitely worth the stop and fun to see it go from grains and hops to beer🍺

After the tour and tasting, we headed into Chippewa Falls for lunch. It is a really neat town with gorgeous flowers decorating each corner in these old bikes. Local business sponsor each, and they look really pretty as you look downtown.

We grabbed lunch at Lucy’s (recommended by Teagan our tour guide at the brewery – side note, tour guides and drivers know the BEST places to eat), and then walked through Chippewa Falls to explore. We spent some money in a great candy shop, and found the perfect sign for Brian Maness!

Off we went with full bellies and sugary hands, and headed off to the land of 10,000 lakes Minnesota!

Along the way, we passed Lake Superior

And about a hundred other little lakes.

We are headed to Lows Lake in Emily, Minnesota. I have learned one thing on this trip, we should be very grateful for the ability to just scoot to a nearby grocery store… those suckers are few and far between out here! Final found one in McGregor, Minnesota and stocked up on groceries for next few days where we have a kitchen

Then off we went to find out cabin…

The cabin is okay – honestly, it’s a fancy fishing cabin that needs a good cleaning. But a few Clorox wipes later, it’s fine for us

Put the view and the cool air coming off the water, made it all worthwhile

Tomorrow, the itinerary is full… of nothing! We are sleeping in and relaxing with a little fishing, kayaking and swimming.

We hit the ground running this morning and didn’t stop until we closed our eyes tonight! After breakfast, the boys enjoyed the indoor and outdoor pool while we got packed up. The water slides are pretty simple at our Holiday Inn Express but the boys have thoroughly enjoyed them!

We can’t seem to find anyone who knows why Wisconsin Dells is the water park capital of the world… I mean the middle of Wisconsin is a pretty random place for the water slide capital of the world… the best explanation I’ve found is that The Polynesian Resort covered their water slide in 1989, and folks went crazy for it because duh, it’s cold in Wisconsin a good portion of the year… and so, the Dells were born.

The Dells are also known for their Duck Boats (boats that can go on land or water) and while that seems interesting, their slow pace is unlikely get or keep the attention of teenagers (or me). So instead we decided to take a JetBoat through The Dells…

And get soaking wet

And as if that wasn’t enough, we did a little zip lining with great guides, Emily and Dawkins, who taught us how to do a Spider-Man while sipping but still made sure we didn’t hit a tree or fall.

Emily and Dawkins both told us about a great place for lunch, The Grateful Shed. This place was too cool – a warehouse with different food trucks inside.

Clearly, the burgers were delicious!

The boys also took a turn at the arm wrestling table.

We scooted next door and did some go cart racing, and I impressed the boys with my driving, especially as I drove right past them – lol!

It was pretty warm out today (although the humidity is only about 15% so it’s a comfortable heat), so we decided to go back and use our 2nd day of free 3-hour passes at Knuckheads. All the same things and all the same fun!

Let’s just take a moment and notice who the #5 top player of the day is… yes, it’s MOM!

We topped off our visit with an icee and hit the road for Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin… but not without a few oddball stops along the way. How about a sign made from an upended tractor trailer:

Or a leaping deer and orange moose

Or maybe sticking with the cheesehead theme, a bull wearing a cheesehead

We finally made it to our hotel, and after grapping some not-so great Chinese food to go, we were in for dinner

Now to rest up for tomorrow… a Brewery tour and then we head over to Minnesota!

Today we were all Packers’ fans… at least for an hour or two. We toured the famous Lambeau Field, and WOW! These folks take football serious up here! Don’t believe us? Just look at these houses across from Lambeau Field – their yards are mini-football fields and decorated for football season all year!

Lambeau field is a sight to see. A bit of backstory: Originally, Lambeau Field was earning the lowest of all NFL facilities – the facility was only used on home game days each year. They hired a new CEO, he updates the facilities, opens up to the public for use and tours… and now the facilities are used almost daily for tours, weddings, proms and corporate events.

Our guide Brad was a super fan.. even down to his Packers tennis shoes

Notice the floor… if you could go through the walls, the floor of the Atrium, is lined up with the yardage on the field itself… seriously, these folks are obsessed!

The skyboxes in Lambeau are awesome and if you lease on of these luxury boxes, they are yours all year long and you are welcome to use anytime. And not a bad view either.

Its a Green Bay miracle, they are keeping their hands to themselves

Again, we aren’t Green Bay fans, but this tour was pretty cool.

Another site from Roadside America – 50 foot Lomardi trophy – check!

Picture in a cheesehead. Check!

Vince Lombardi Statue. check!

Curly Lambeau Statue. Check!

Brad, the tour guide, suggested we head over to Title Town to do some exploring for free, and man, was that a great suggestion. Acres of 40 yard sprint lanes, a football field, ninja warrior course and a huge hill to run down in the spring and tube down in the winter… and all free!

No need to find a restaurant for lunch – Mom’s Cafe has a Green Bay location.

Once we conqured Title Town, we did a little exploring… found the World’s Largest Hex Nut

And this signed that begged for teenage boys to make a stop and take a photo…

And what did we find right across the street? A Sinclair dinosaur wearing his own CheeseHead

After our Mom’s Cafe lunch, we needed something sweet, and luckily we weren’t far from the #1 milkshake in Green Bay. So off we went in search of Al’s Hamburgers. Easy to miss among the big building and sky scrapers but we found it.

Since 1934, Al’s has been making the best burgers and especially milkshakes. The Browns know 2 things… pork and ice cream. So we took a claim of “best milkshake” as a personal challenge. The inside of the restaurant was as it looks outside, simple and a bit old timey. But the shakes… Oh my word! They absolutely are the best milkshakes we’ve ever had!

We left Green Bay and began our journey to the Wisconsin Dells, but not without a few stops along the way… 1st house powered solely by hydroelectric power. Check

Then we read about “Weird Statues and Oddball Yard Art” that was only 14 miles off course… um, yes please. We are SO glad we made that deviation. It was awesome!! A yard full of random animal stuff. Giant cow head, huge whole cow, hippo flipping a jeep, lion on a rock… turned around in a strangers driveway just so we could see it all again! All this in one man’s yard!

We tried to find a muffler man that we had read about, but he was pretty disappointing. But the drive was gorgeous! So glad we stayed off the interstate and took the back roads.

We drove through some of the most picturesque towns

We even saw some Amish families and farms

We continued on and saw a sign for Ripon, Wisconsin, birthplace of the Republican Party. I wasn’t sure how a political party could have a birthplace, so we decided to check it out… sure enough, after reading the plaque, it is in fact the birthplace.

We finally made it to Wisconsin Dells with plans to rest a minute, grab some dinner and then swim at the pool. But the Holiday Inn Express had other plans… how about a 3-hour place to ride amusement park rides, drive go carts, bounce on a trampoline pad, ropes course, and some virtual reality games? Um, couldn’t think of anything teenage boys love more… so off to Knuckleheads we went!

We decided to just save time and eat here, so we ordered a pizza and pitcher of Sprite. While boys played, I waited and waited and waited. When I went to check the status, found out there was a mix up in kitchen so they were just starting our pizza and it would be another 10 minutes. We weren’t too upset since boys were occupied. Well apparently the staff at Knuckheads isn’t used to a polite response because they gave us free orders of cheese curds and chicken tenders! This was our first experience with cheese curds and I’m sure Knuckleheads Indoor Amusement Park isn’t gourmet curds, but Dang! Their cheese curds were delicious!

One more ride, and we headed back to hotel… Thanks for a great night with my own knuckleheads

Time for bed? Of course not! The pool is still open so we needed to maximize the day (and the night)

Tomorrow we ride a key boat and zip line… and whatever else we can discover in The Dells!

SIX states…

TWO weeks…

TWO parents…

TWO teenagers…

And loaded down Volkswagon Altlas.

It’s going to be fantastic or you’re going to see us on the news.

Oh Lawd, here we go!!!

We packed our bags, loaded the car and sent at least 5 videos to Sarah about the garden, the chickens, the cats, and the pool. But last year, Sarah and KT cleaned rotten meat from a broken freezer, so gardens and chickens are no match for them.

We headed out of Greensboro, bound for Chicago, and I know the boys were so thankful that I had my camera ready to go.

Checked in, bags checked, and Starbucks in hand, we are ready to board.

Thanks Enterprise! We are ready to hit the road…

State number 27, Illinois – Check!

We gained an hour of time when we arrived in Chicago, and these boys were starving by 1pm Central Time. We found the town of Libertyville, Illinois online, and oh my word, it was like stepping into a Hallmark movie. The town was so perfect – it looked fake.

We had lunch at the Picnic Basket. It was a little pricey for lunch but WOW- Some of the best sandwiches we’ve ever eaten!

And yes, the best sign too.

We’ve been using a great website for random sites along our journey (“or perhaps you don’t want to see the world’s largest ball of twine which is only 4 short hours away“) http://www.RoadsideAttractions.com Pick your state and/or city and tahdah!

State number 28 – Wisconsin… check!

As we meandered along, we decided to head into Milwaukee. The boys were excited to see the Forum, home to the Milwaukee Bucks

The riverwalk through town and the old architecture were lovely, and the drawbridge that went straight up was pretty cool. However, thanks to Roadside Attractions, we knew we wanted to find the ladybugs on the building and Gertie the Duck. Gertie was a mallard duck who laid nine eggs on top of the pile-on on the Wisconsin Avenue Bridge in April of 1945. She refused to move despite storms, fires and crowds of people who came to the see her. Ultimately, Gertie and 5 babies waddled on from the Wisconsin Avenue Bridge, and the Bronze statute of Gertie still marks her spot. There’s also a statue for a lady named Debra who did lot for Milwaukee, but Gertie is way more famous.

Someone however couldn’t understand why we didn’t want to just spend time looking at shoes in Footlocker

Next stop Sheboygan, Wisconsin… I kept thinking I had heard the name Sheboygan before, and I thought and thought… I knew it was from a movie and then it it me! The Polka King from Home Alone – they were huge in Sheboygan Ha ha ha

Sheboygan is now home to a Walmart Supercenter – Mom’s Cafe has got to stock up for the trip, AND it is home to America’s Tallest Flagpole… and when will we ever be here again… new cooler – check. North America’s largest flagpole – a big ol’ check!

And it even had plaques!

Continuing on toward Green Bay, we stopped by the town of Manitowoc, Wisconsin to see the site where on September 6, 1962 a 20 pound hunk of metal fell to the earth and landed in this spot. The metal was ultimately identified as the only remaining piece of Sputnik IV, and now we’ve seen right where it landing. Living history – checking

Before we left, Leo wanted a picture with the Manitowoc Art Museum because he said it looks like the house from Stranger Things. And when a 13 year old wants a picture with his mom, you always say YES… even if you haven’t seen the show and even if you have no idea what house he is talking about.

We left Manitowoc, and headed on to Green Bay. Wisconsin is really beautiful…

We checked into our hotel for the night – hello Holiday Inn Express – took a mini power nap and then headed out for dinner. We decided to try a local place, The Rite Place. It has been open since since 1977, and after eating here, we know why. The food was delicious! We all shared a cup of their famous Chicken Booyah (think vegetable beef except substitute chicken for beef).

I’m no longer calling my soup soup. From now on, it’s all Booyah. Tomato Booyah, chicken noodle Booyah, vegetable beef Booyah. The Booyah makes it better 😉

Mike and I both had their broasted chicken. Wow! Lightly Fried chicken with perfect crust and still juicy… it was so delicious, there are no pictures because we gobbled it up as soon as it hit the table. So so good!

The boys spent an hour in the gym working off their bacon cheeseburger and ultimate nachos before bed. I chaperoned… wonder if that burned off any calories?

Tomorrow, we tour the famous Lambeau Field and a little more of Green Bay. Hopefully, I can talk my guys into a visit to see a 50-ft tall Super Bowl trophy, or the world’s largest Hex Nut or the Shoe Tree on the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay campus.

Either way, Day 1 has been pretty great