5992. See the Tiffany Bridge in Shopiere

 I will admit I have a lot of random places on my bucket list. Sure I want to see the big, splashy places but sometimes the random spots will amaze you or they are a piece of forgotten history. When I started planning girls weekend, I looked at everything in Rock County on my bucket list and added anything that was close to Beloit and Janesville on the list. One of them was the Tiffany Bridge.

The Tiffany Bridge was built in 1869 and may be the oldest stone bridge in Wisconsin. It is stone arch bridge that the railroad uses. It is located near Shopiere. It spans the the Turtle Creek.

Turtle Creek Parkway County Park is the perfect spot to view the bridge. The park is grassy spanse that is great for picnics as well. 

Even though we had much on the agenda, we took a quick detour and checked out the Tiffany Bridge. It is definitely worth checking out. I would have liked more to time to get closer and get more pictures but what we saw was definitely pretty neat.

If you find yourself in the Beloit area with time to kill, pick up some sandwiches and wine and have a picnic in front of the Tiffany Bridge. Maybe pose for some crazy pictures too.

5992. Go to Totem Mound Park in Beloit

 Through my many Google Map searches and other various searches, I stumbled upon Totem Mound Park in Beloit. It is another Effigy Mound. I figured this would be another quick stop before headed out of Beloit.

Totem Mound Park is in the middle of a residential neighborhood. It is sandwiched between two houses like they saw the mound and built around it. 

To be able to see the mound clearly, they mowed the grass around the mound shorter. It is not a big mound. I don't recall seeing a sign telling about the mound. 

There is not much to see but if you are into Effigy Mounds, it is a nice quick stop if you ever find yourself in Beloit. 

Oh look.. A Four Faced Clock

 As we were driving to the Turtle Bridge, we pass this four faced clock literally in someone's yard. Stacy decided we need to go back and check it out.

The Clock is located at the corner of County Rd J and County Rd S in the town of Shopiere. If you put Shopiere Tap in your GPS, it is across the street. 

The clock is actually a veteran's memorial. It honors veterans of the Spanish American War, World War I, and the Civil War along with Lester F. Butler who was a solder in the World War I.

The home on the property is (or was) the home of Governor Harvey. Governor Harvey lived there from 1851 to 1859. He died when he fell off boarding a steamboat after the Battle of Shiloh during the Civil War. It was very interesting. 

I'm not sure the current residents appreciate people randomly stopping and taking pictures of the clock and their home but they didn't come out and chase me away.

It is definitely an interesting impromptu stop on girls' weekend but definitely worth the detour back to check it out. 

5991. Go to Water Tower Park in Beloit

 Scanning Google Maps to find things for girls weekend, I stumbled about Water Town Park in Beloit. It is named for the old stone water town. After seeing the stone water tower in Whitewater, I was intrigued to see this one. 

Calling it a park may be a long shot. There is no easy way to get to the water tower. The water town sits on top of a hill. There is an apartment complex behind it with no public parking. The only street parking is below the water tower or across a busy intersection.

We ended parking in a small strip mall. The Dairy Queen might have been an option if it was open. We then hiked up the side of the hill. It was all very weird.

When we got to the top of the hill, there was a walkway around the Water Tower. It was slightly more accessible than the one in Whitewater. 

We could actually look into the water tower. It is falling apart but it was still cool to look at.

If you can find a place to park, it is definitely worth checking out. It may not be much but the history is always fun to look at.

A Tasting Menu at The Norwegian

 We were meeting Stacy's friend for dinner. When she suggested The Norwegian, Stacy immediately sent me the menu and asked if I was okay with the menu. I wasn't fond of the menu but I could make something work. 

The Norwegian is a Nordic inspired restaurant in Rockford. It is a small restaurant that is open for Brunch Wednesday-Sunday and dinner Thursday-Friday. The dinner menu changes weekly. Dress is definitely casual.

We got there and ordered drinks. I am not sure if you could order drinks not on the menu but I decided not to risk and found something that sounded interesting. I went with a San Juan Paradise. It had rum, coconut milk, mint, lime, demerara, soda, and nutmeg. Even though I never heard of demerara before and nutmeg with alcohol just sounded weird (outside of eggnog), the rum and coconut milk sold me. I said it tasted like toothpaste.. but in a good way. I would definitely drink it again. It was very refreshing and not too strong.

For an appetizer we ended up with the chips and dip. There were three kinds of dip: Curran's apple muhammara, carrot hummus, and a kale pesto. None of them sounded appetizing to me but I am game for most anything. All of them were very good but I think the carrot hummus was my favorite. The apple one was not bad.

Dinner choices were interesting. I was going to get to get the potato tacos and just pick off what I didn't like until Stacy asked if her daughter wanted fish or pork chop. I was getting the pock chop. I rarely get to eat pork chops and that sounded the most normal.. even with the butternut squash puree.

It was amazing... even the butternut squash and carrot salad. The pork chop as huge and came off the bone. One small piece was still too pink in my book so I didn't eat that part but the rest was perfectly good. I actually used the squash puree was a dipping sauce for my pork chop which was perfect. 

Would I go to The Norwegian again? Maybe with the right group of people. It is too foo-foo for the hubby and the menu is too exotic. It is more than I am willing to pay for a meal but it is worth the piece. You definitely get a good size portion. I like it is not my usual kind of place. That's one of the fun things about girls weekend, meal options are usually places I won't normally go to. 

It is worth checking out if you are in Rockford. Even if you go for cocktails you won't be disappointed. 

Checking out Beattie Park Mound Group Historic Site

When planning girls weekends, I tend to check out websites like Atlas Obsecura and Roadside America to find random places to visit. I will eventually just play around on Google Maps to see if anything interesting pops up. While on Atlas Obsecura, I discovered a park in Rockford that had Indian Mounds. I added it to the list figuring it would be a quick stop.

Beattie Park Mound Group Historic Site is located in Beattie Park in downtown Rockford. It is sandwiched between a couple of buildings. Street parking is the only option. Late afternoon on Saturday is probably not a good time to check it. Parking and traffic was a pain. Stacy actually stayed in the car while I checked them.

There are 3 conical mounds, one turtle Effigy Mound, and a linear mound. One of the conical mounds is located outside of the park. I just checked out the ones in the park.

The mounds are actually very well defined. I was able to spot 2 of them right away. We didn't have much time before having to head to dinner so I didn't want to explore too much. 

I find Effigy Mounds interesting. I like the random ones the best, especially ones that don't get a lot of attention. I have been searching these out the last couple of years. Besides Effigy Mounds National Monument, I have found some in Sheboygan and Baraboo. Heckrodt in Menasha also used to have a couple. I don't think they are signed very well. I know there are more in Wisconsin that I have to check out. I remember going to one down by Milwaukee on a field trip. 

These are definitely worth checking out. They are signed and give you a good history of the mounds. It is a great stretch break or spend some time exploring downtown Rockford. Either way you will get a good history lesson. 

2289. See the Rockmen Guardians in Rockford

 One day I get a random message from Stacy saying "add a stop to our list" with a link to a Facebook Post. She wanted to see the Rockmen Guardians in Rockford. We both like random roadside attractions so this was an easy add that would not take very long.

The Rockman Guardians have kept guard over Rockford since the 1980s. They are located in  Sinnissippi Park. Getting there was a bit of a challenge as the GPS wanted to take us to the golf course across the street. We finally made it. 

Artist Terese Agnew created these stone giants out of boulders and cement. Each guardian is in a super hero pose. There are 4 12-foot guardians along the Rock River that watch over the city and the bike path.

They are quite the sight to see. 

It is nothing more than a stretch break stop unless you want to walk or bike the Rock River Recreational Bike Path or chase geese. They are definitely worth the stop though. It's not every day you get to see 12 foot stone guardians watching over a city.