6116. Go to Forgotten Fire Winery in Peshtigo

 I've been wanting to go to Forgotten Fire Winery for a while now. I never found myself up in Marinette county with time to spare to stop by it. The one time I was close, I was by myself and I know me and alcohol so that wasn't going to a be a wise decision. I proposedly added it to vacation so I could finally get there. 

Forgotten Fire Winery is located in Peshtigo, about a mile off I-41. The address technically is Marinette. It is open 10-5 Daily. 

Forgotten Fire Winery is named after the Peshtigo Fire which happened the same night as the Chicago Fire but killed a lot more people. Since it was the same night, it made little news. 

There have a variety of wines, meads, and ciders all made on site. They even have a homemade root beer. For $8, you get 4 samples.

I went with

Blackberry Burglar -- I am still in search of a good blackberry since I don't get to AZ enough to stock up on my favorite wine and who knows if they even carry it since it has now been sold and rebranded. This one was good... still not as good as Basil's but not too wine-y. It was good enough to bring home and try again. 

Mad Badger -- This is their cherry wine and it tasted like cough medicine. It was not my favorite. 

Hot Mess -- I tried this one just because I liked the name. It was too dry for me but still better than Mad Badger.

Walleye Oughta -- This was a lemon wine. I only tried it because it was sounded intriguing. I should have tried the Pink Hot Mess instead. It wasn't bad but it definitely could have been better. Lemon and grapes definitely didn't mix well for me. It was just a weird flavor combination.

Over all it was a good tasting. I would like to go back and try the root beer or at least stop and pick some up.

If you are headed to Michigan, I would recommend stopping for a some wine at Forgotten Fire and then head into town to check out the Fire Museum. 

26 in 2026: Visit a New Ice Cream Place -- Creekside Creamery

 A Facebook poll rated Creekside Creamery the best ice cream in Valley. It beat out Leon's and Frogg's.  I figured that was a good enough reason to try it. When the smoke was going to be a potential issue for the T-Rats game, I suggested getting drinks at the game and then celebrating National Ice Cream Day with some ice cream. She readily agreed and suggested Creekside Creamery. 

Creekside Creamery is just off downtown Hortonville on Nash Street. It is open 7:30-8 Tue-Sat and 11-8 on Sundays. They are currently closed on Mondays. There is small parking lot in the back. 

Creekside Creamery features natural ice cream and coffee meaning no artificial colors or flavors. They have unique flavors of ice cream as well as dairy free ice cream. You can sample all 24 flavors if you want before making a decision. The rotation keeps changing so you never know what they have.

Some of the unique flavors they had was Lemon White Chocolate Scone, Quinoa Sweet Cream, Lemon Poppyseed, Strawberry Rhubarb, Mojito and Rum. They had basic flavor as well such as Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup, Birthday Cake, Orange Dreamsicle, Sweet Cream, and Chocolate. 

Heather and I had lemon white chocolate scone. The hubby went with Birthday Cake. Her hubby had Lemon Poppyseed. I almost went with chocolate peanut butter cup but realized I wanted to try new ice cream flavors this year. I also almost got the quinoa but opted with the lemon white chocolate scone. 

My sample was fantastic. I was excited to get a scoop of it. I found the actual scoop disappointing. It lack lemon flavor through out. There was one or two burst of lemon flavor other than that, I felt it didn't have much flavor. The hubby said his birthday cake tasted like sprinkles and no real cake flavor. I think since it's natural flavor, it's not going to stand out as much as artificial flavors.

Overall I was kind of disappointed. I would go back but I'm not racing out to Hortonville when I get an ice cream craving. 

If you want to avoid artificial flavors/colors or need dairy free ice cream, this is the place for you. I definitely would recommend trying it. It is a popular place and I hope they make it. I would also like to try their coffee drinks. 

26 in 2026: Visit a New Ice Cream Place -- Frankie's Ice Cream

I really wanted to get ice cream so I scheduled an ice cream date with Kristine. There were a couple of places in Port that I wanted to try. We picked Frankie's.

Frankie's Ice Cream is a seasonal ice cream stand in Port Washington that is ran out of an Airstream trailer. It is located on the corner of Pier and Franklin Streets downtown. They are open daily 11-9:30.

Frankie's serves Cedar Crest ice cream, Mini Donuts, and Jolly Good Soda. You can get a float with ice cream and Jolly Good. You can even get donut sundaes. Cedar Crest and Jolly Good are so a Southeast Wisconsin thing. 

I kept it simple just a scoop of Mint Mackinac Island Fudge in a waffle cone. It was $5.25 or so for my cone which I thought was reasonable. 

A dozen mini donuts were $7. I just don't get the fascination with mini donuts. Maybe it's that they are too sweet for me once you add all the toppings.

There is plenty of seating and if not the lake is only a few blocks away.

If you are ever in Port, grab an ice cream for Frankie's.

There's still a few ice cream places in Port that I need to try. I'm sure one day I'll get to them all. 

6201. See the World's Largest Potato Masher in Plover

 I told the hubby there were a couple of things I wanted to see on our way to/from Eau Claire. One of them was a giant potato masher in Plover which I've been trying to get to for a few years.

The World's Largest Potato Masher is outside of Plover, just off of Hwy 54. It stands outside of the Food + Farm Exploration Center, which is a children's museum dedicated to food and agriculture. How fitting for WI. There is plenty of parking.

We actually passed it on our to Eau Claire. If we stayed on 54 a smidgen longer, we would have found the road to get us to the Food + Farm Exploration Center which if I put it in the GPS, I would have seen how close we really were. 

We stopped on the way back. The potato masher stands 38 Feet 11 inches. There is a pathway to it. 

There is not sign telling about the potato masher or the significance of it.

I snapped a few pictures while the hubby stayed in the car.

If you plan on going to the Food + Farm Exploration Center or are in the area it's worth the detour. It's not far off of I-39 so it does make for a quick stretch break. I don't know if I would actually drive out of my way to see it though. 

5935. Go to The Dells Mill and Museum in Augusta

Somewhere in my reading, I stumbled upon the Dells Mill in Augusta. Naturally I added it to the bucket list. Since Augusta is on our way to Eau Claire, we drove by it last fall but I wanted a chance to actually go in it. 

The Dells Mill and Museum is located about 20 miles from Eau Claire and 12 miles from I-94 in Osseo. It is only open Fridays and Saturdays 9-5. There is plenty of parking. There is a donation box for taking pictures.

You are allowed to walk around the outside of the mill when it's not open. We did that last fall but I wanted to go inside. 

We decided to stop on our way to Eau Claire and check it out when it's open. It is part museum, part store that sold Amish bakery. 

You can wander around the ground floor but if you want a tour it's $10/person. It covers the 5 floors of the mill with lots of stars. The hubby is not fond of staircases and high places especially ones that are fairly open. I'll keep that on the bucket list for another day.

The store was very small. I was hoping to snag a post card but I didn't see one. The cherry angel food cake looked really good but we had cheesecake in the car. 

After checking out the mill, we walked down to the bridge and checked out the falls. The mill wheel was moving the time and it was very picturesque. 

We even had a nice chat with an Amish man.

Overall it was a nice stop. If you ever find yourself in that are on a Friday or Saturday afternoon, take a moment to go back in time and check out the Dells Mill. 

6211. See the PEEP Show at the Racine Art Museum

 The Racine Art Museum puts on an art show every year featuring PEEPs candy. Artists from all over enter their creations including the public. It runs about 3 weeks around Easter each year. I have said I wanted to go and this year I told Stacy we were going. 

The Racine Art Museum is open 10-4 Wednesday-Sunday which is part of the reason it made it so hard to get to. I had to find a Saturday that worked for me and Stacy in the midst of baseball season. There is street parking or a parking garage nearby. Since the hubby came along, we just Stacy and the kids at the museum. We parked in the ramp. It is $10/adult for admission into the entire museum not just the PEEP show.

This year the PEEP show made the main gallery downstairs. I was impressed by the number of pieces of art. 

Bad Bunny was a common theme. We saw several Bad Bunny half time show works of art.

Some were play on words.

Some were from pop culture.

Each piece was unique and some were better than others.

After we checked out the PEEP show, we did check out the rest of the museum. Upstairs was an exhibit on paper cutting. 

Some were nothing more than snowflakes.

Others were very intricate.

Back downstairs in the lobby, the hubby was found the metal work pieces impressive. 

If you have never checked out the PEEP exhibit before, definitely put it on your list for next year. It is worth the visit. Even the hubby, who isn't an art museum kind of guy, found it tolerable. 

7705. Try chocolate cheese

 Janis splurged on us for the cookie exchange and gave each us a chunk of chocolate cheese. We sampled some at the cookie exchange but I saved mine to share on Christmas. 

Chocolate cheese is not cheese dipped in chocolate. It is a a creamy blend of cocoa and usually cheddar mixed with nuts. It is soft and can be spreadable. A little can go a long ways. 

When I had it at the cookie exchange, it was fresh. I thought it tasted pretty good. I was excited to share it with my family.

On Christmas, it was not as good as I remembered. It was gritty and too chocolate. Maybe it was the wine I had at the cookie exchange enhanced the taste of the chocolate cheese. That would make sense. It didn't really go good on my cracker.'

I am torn on the chocolate cheese. I think if it's fresh and not 2 weeks old, it is probably better. I think it does pair good with a tart wine.

So the jury is still out on chocolate cheese. I am have to try some fresh again before I write it off completely. I would still recommend trying some when you get the chance. It is definitely unique. 

Dining Adventures 2025 -- Cedar Lodge Supper Club

 We are always on the look out for a new supper club. We've driven past Cedar Lodge Supper Club in Malone several times and have always said we should go there. We tried numerous times this year to get there and finally I just put it on the calendar that we were going to go.

Cedar Lodge Supper Club is located in Calumetville just north of the Fond du Lac/Calumet County line on Highway 151. It is open for dinner Wed-Sat starting at 4:30 to either 8:30 or 9 depending on the day of the week. It is also open Sundays for brunch. Unlike many supper clubs in the area, they do take reservations. There also have a large parking lot. 

We got there around 4:45 and actually was able to snag seats at the bar. In true Wisconsin Supper Club fashion, we checked in at the bar and then ordered a cocktail while we perused the menu in typical Wisconsin Supper Club fashion. I had an old fashioned. After a while a waitress came to take our order. Eventually we were shown to our table in the corner of the dining room. This is completely normal Supper Club service. 

We were not expecting a 5 course meal. When the waitress took our order, she gave us the option of fritter or fruit cup. I was thinking a corn fritter and ordered that. I am so glad I did not go with the fruit cup. It was not a corn fritter but something of a donut. It was doughy and covered in powdered sugar. It was amazing. 

Then came our choice of soup. They had a choice of 4 soups. I went with the beef barley and the hubby surprised me with ordering French Onion. They were both very good. The beef barley had a huge chunks of beef in it. The little cup was the perfect size. 

The salad came next. It was an ordinary house salad. I did find it odd that it came with a slice of green pepper on it. That is not a normal salad topping. 

Then our entrees came out. I had a prime rib (Saturday Night Supper Club Special) and a twice baked potato. I had a hard time deciding between twice baked and hashbrowns. The twice baked was the right choice. It was cheesy and delicious. The hubby said has steak and haddock were very good. His tenderloin was topped with onion rings which I snagged one.

We were too full for after dinner drinks which would normally complete a true Wisconsin Supper Club experience. They also had dessert which is unusual for a supper club. 

Cedar Lodge is not all that large of a place. My living room is probably bigger than the bar area and it was 2-3 deep at all times. The dining room didn't seem all that big but couldn't see how far back it was around the corner

I would highly recommend Cedar Lodge Supper Club if you are into Supper Club, Fish Fries, or jsut a good steak dinner. The best part of a Supper Club you don't need to dress up and the food is amazing. I would either get reservations in the future or make sure we are there by 5 on a Saturday so you are not waiting for ever. Definitely a good pick. 

25 in 2025 -- Visit a new Indie Bookstore -- The Village Booksmith

 Since I had plenty of time to kill while exploring the Dells, I decided to see if I could find an Independent (Indie) Bookstore to check out since I did not get to a new one yet this year. It turns out the only Indie bookstore in the Dells area was in Baraboo and it was a used bookstore. Since I was going to the zoo in Baraboo, I figured I might as well check out the bookstore.

The Village Booksmith is located downtown Baraboo. It is open daily: 10-6 Mon-Fri, 10-4 on Saturdays and 11-3 on Sundays. Summer hours might differ. There is plenty of street parking in winter around the square. Summer might be more difficult to find a parking spot. 

The Village Booksmith is not a large bookstore but it is crammed full of used and some new books. There is a dedicated children's section.

You can find all the different genres throughout the store. I particularly liked the "Brew Crew" section within the sports section.

As with any used bookstore, you never know what you are going to find. I wandered around trying to find something I have not read. I was going to pick up a Debbie Macomber book but then I saw some local mysteries by a local author. They were autographed and it fit my rules of I can only buy autograph copies to keep. It looks intriguing. 

If I had more time to kill, I could always have taken my new book and curled up on one of the many seating areas around the store to read. They looked very comfy.

The Village Booksmth is a charming store. If you are in need of a book while on vacation in the Dells, take the short drive into Baraboo and pick one up.