Let's Go Wine Tasting -- Wild Hills Winery

 Besides Taliesin, my cousins wanted to go wine tasting. I am always up for wine tasting. I gave them a list of wineries near Taliesin and let them decide which one we would visit. They tossed around the idea of heading down towards New Glarus but decided it wasn't really worth it. They opted to visit Wild Hills Winery.

Wild Hills Winery is in Muscoda, which is literally in the middle of nowhere. Even it has a Muscoda address, it is in the boonsticks. Wild Hills is a fitting name as you need to take hilly, curvy roads to get there. I think we were in Richland County not Iowa or Grant Counties. It is all very rural and hard to determine which county you are actually in. The winery is open Thursday-Sunday starting at noon. 

Since they tout on being an Agri-Tourism business, the winery is in an old barn. They have 17 different wines to taste. You can taste 6 wines for $7 or get a flight for $14. We opted for the tasting. We were the only people in the small winery. 

I choose

Driftless Sunset -- A Semi-Sweet Orange wine. It definitely had orange under tones. I wasn't overly impressed.

La Crosse -- A semi-Sweet White with notes of pear. This one wasn't bad. It was probably one of my favorites of the day.

Wild Meadow White -- A sweet tropical white. It was definitely too tropical for me

Apple Cranberry -- This one wasn't too bad either. Cranberry was the bigger flavor.

Apple Blackcurrant -- This wasn't bad. If I had to pick, I would go with the apple cranberry.

Wild Irish Girl -- I think this is the one we all tried which we saved to the end. It was bad but it was definitely too sweet for my cousins.

None of the wines wowed us enough to bring home. Our wine cabinets are overflowing with wine so we need to be selective on what we buy until we start knocking off some of what we each have. 

Even though it is it the boonsticks and the roads are an adventure, this is probably one of the few wineries in the area. If you find yourself at Taliesin or the House on the Rock, take a detour and check out Wild Hills Winery if you have the time. It is worth a stop for some good wine and chocolates. 

5809. Go to Taliesin in Spring Green

 Usually my cousins make an annual trip to Door County. This year they decided to skip Door County and visit the Driftless Region on their yearly trip to Wisconsin. When I saw their itinerary, I asked if I could join them the day they were going to go to Taliesin. They agreed and we made plans to meet up.

Taliesin is Frank Llyod Wright's Home and Studio in Spring Green, WI. It is open for tours April-November. There are four different tours you can take each of varying lengths and costs. We opted for the Highlights Tour which was 2.25 hours and cost $70. They do not allow kids under 8 are allowed on any of the tours. 

The tour starts at the Visitor Center where they go over ground rules before busing you over to the property. 

Our tour started with a visit to Hillside, which was Frank Lloyd Wright's school. We saw the assembly hall, drafting studio, and the expansive theater. Our tour guide was wonderful and explain the design behind everything plus all the unique features of each of the rooms. 

Of the three rooms we saw, the theater was my favorite especially since it was uniquely designed. Even the seating was very unique. The curtain was designed by the students as a gift and illustrated the property.

After finding Frank's boot print in the stone and learning about the windmill and Japanese bathing tub, we headed up to the Taliesin home.

Taliesin was built, rebuilt, and added on to from 1897 to at least 1957. We saw several rooms of the house. A guide led us to each room but our tour guide was the same one from Hillside. He was just as informative here as he was at the school. He continued to tell stories about Frank Llyod Wright and his family. You really learned a lot of him as person and an architect.

Frank liked low ceilings as you came into a room. I mean really low.

We saw his personal drafting room and hidden safe.

The living room and Loggia. We joked about how uncomfortable and difficult to get out of the chairs were in his house. These chaise lounges were probably one of the more comfortable looking pieces

Mrs. Wright's Bedroom -- the last Mrs. Wright I should say. As well as Frank's bedroom.

At first I gulped at the $70 price tag at the tour they picked out. After taking the tour, I felt that it was definitely worth the price. We decided the Highlights Tour was the right choice for us. We saw just about everything, didn't have to do too much walking, and nothing really was skipped over like some of the less expensive, shorter tours.  

After our tour, we grabbed lunch at the restaurant on site. This was the best option since there really is not many places to eat at in Spring Green. I had a grilled cheese and my cousins had club sandwiches. Everything was very good and reasonably priced. The cookies were amazing.

There was a list I saw on Facebook earlier this summer about the Highest Rated Things to do in Wisconsin according to Tripadvisor. Of the 30, I now have done 23 or 24 since Taliesin was on that list. If you have never been, I highly recommend checking it out. You will learn some interesting facts about Frank Lloyd Wright and his legacy. Next on my list is to complete the Frank Lloyd Wright Trail in Wisconsin and see Taliesin West in Arizona. 

5346. Go to Potawatomi State Park in Sturgeon Bay

 One of the other things I wanted to do while in Door County was visit the Eastern Terminus of the Ice Age Trail which was in Potawatomi State Park. I figured we had the daily park pass, we might as knock this off my Door County Bucket List. 

Potawatomi State Park is the first of the four state parks as you are driving up the door. It is by Cherryland Airport at the southern end of Sturgeon Bay. I have never been to Potawatomi State Park but it was pretty easy to find even without GPS. This was the first park of the day that actually had some at the entrance station so we just showed our park pass. 

The store at the entrance station is small. If you are looking for Ice Age items or Potawatomi State Park items, you are better off going to the camp store in the middle of the park. It has a much better selection. Even the ranger told us to go there. 

The Eastern Terminus of the Ice Age Trail is located at the northern end of the park. It is a beautiful drive along the lake to get there. There are plenty of pull outs to hike any trail you want. Due to the fact we were extremely short on time, I only hopped out to grab a few pictures.

There is a small parking lot at the Eastern Terminus. Thru-hikers will either start or end their journey here. The Ice Age trail is over 1,000 miles and follows the edge of the last continental glacier in Wisconsin. It is also the only National Park Service Trail to be in only one state. I have hiked bits and pieces of it. While I would love to hike all 1,000+ miles that will probably not happen. 

We snapped a few pictures..

Walked a few feet of the trail...

Admired the view...

And called it a day. We didn't have time for much else.

One day I will come back and explore more of the park. There is plenty more to see.

Potawatomi State Park is definitely worth checking out. There's plenty of camping and water activities along with hiking. It is perfect for a day trip and you can even say you hiked part of the Ice Age Trail.