25 in 2025 -- Visit at Least One New Winery or Brewery -- Cool City Brewing

 When I got in the car to start our Two Rivers Adventure, I told Stacy I don't care where we have lunch and she said she knew of a spot. It turns out it was on my list of possible lunch spots.

We ended up going to Cool City Brewing which knocks off a brewery in Manitowoc County. Cool City Brewing. It is a coffee shop and a brewery. It is open 6-9 Mon-Fri and 7-9 on the weekends. Parking can be a challenge but we found a spot a short walk away.

We opted for beer not coffee. Since I prefer Sours and Shandies, there were a couple options for me to choose from. After asking our underage waiter, which was better and getting sample of both, I went with Wild Thing over Beach Baer. It was a nice fruity sour that I had no problem finishing. It may have taken me many years to figure out what I liked in a beer but I am glad I did. I am also glad Stacy introduced me to sours all those years in ago in Madison.

The menu is not large but does offer some unique options. We ended up splitting some food flights. We were seriously tempted to just have a dessert flights but figure since ice cream was our next stop, we better have some real food.

We opted for Tacos and Tortilla Chip Flights, Flat Bread Flight, and Wisconsin Cheese Curd Flight.

The Tacos and Tortilla Chip flight included a grilled chicken taco, a fish taco, and a Steak Fajita Taco. The grilled chicken and fajita tacos were amazing. I did not try the fish taco. Our waiter asked if we wanted beer cheese with our chips. Hello we are from Wisconsin of course we do.

The Wisconsin Cheese Curd Flight featured Half Naked Curds with a Blueberry Bourbon Balsamic dipping sauce, Cajun Curds with Thai Chili dipping sauce, and Garlic Curds with Black Garlic Aioli Dipping Sauce. First I'm not sure why they were half naked because they had plenty of breading for me. Second all the curds and dipping sauces were amazing. The garlic was probably my favorite. The blueberry dipping sauce surprised me by being shockingly good.

The Flatbread flight included a cucumber grilled chicken flat bread, a BBQ chicken flatbread, and a veggie flat bread. The chicken flatbreads were delicious.. messy but delicious. I did not try the veggie one it had brussels sprouts on it. Blech. 

Lunch may have been pricy (for me at least) but it was still well worth it. Everything tasted fresh and delicious. I would highly recommend stopping at Cool City Brewing for lunch or dinner if you are ever in Two Rivers.

5962. Go to Rogers Street Fishing Village in Two Rivers

 The other museum I really wanted to check out in Two Rivers was Rogers Street Fishing Village. I found this when the hubby had a softball tournament in Two Rivers a few years back and it looked really interesting. I just didn't want to explore by myself.

Rogers Street Fishing Village is open seasonally 10-4 Weekdays and 12-4 weekends but are closed on Tuesdays. Cost is $4/adult and $2/children to visit. There is street parking and a small parking lot. You can opt for a free audio tour that will tell you everything in the village. There is also a binder you can read to tell you the history of everything. We opted for the audio tour. 

You start out in the visitor center and learn a little history of the fishing in the area as well as the history of the Christmas Tree Ship. Both you will learn more about throughout the tour. The guide here was very informative.

Armed with our audio tour gadgets, we headed out to the first stop which was a model of the fishing vessels they used. Here we learned about the fisherman that called Two Rivers home, the boats their used, and how they got started fishing. It was quite fascinating. Growing up in Port I never thought about other fishing communities along the shores of Lake Michigan.

Our next stop was the fish shed where we learned the history of harvesting and preserving the fish along with the types of nets they used. I never really thought how they caught their fish. I just assumed it was with a pole or something. Nets make a whole lot more sense.

We then saw the engine building that allowed them to go further out into the lake and catch more fish. 

There was a building that was set up as how the fisherman would have lived back in the 1800s.

Finally we climbed to the lighthouse. It is not in service anymore but we could still go in the main floor. You couldn't go up to the light itself.

A short walk across the street to us to the final stop on the tour. A museum dedicated to the history of the Coast Guard, Native Cultures, and the Christmas Tree Ship. It was all very fascinating but by this time I was getting hangry and needed food. I didn't explore as much as I would have liked.

I did end up buying the lighthouse passport and got my first stamp. Just what I need another passport to collect stamps in. I definitely need to get back to Door County to collect many stamps from up there.  

If you never have been to the Rogers Street Fishing Village, it s definitely worth the stop. It is a perfect stop on the way to Door County along 43. There is so much history and the museum does a really good job explaining it. Opt for audio tour. It definitely helps to enjoy the museum.  I am so glad Two Rivers keeps their history alive through the Roger Street Fishing Village.  

5963. Go to Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum in Two Rivers

 I stumbled across the Printing Museum in Two Rivers that sounded really cool but I knew the hubby won't want to go. I love printing and signs so this was right up my alley. A fun type of art museum. So when Stacy and I started to plan our day trip to Two River, I had to make sure this was open.

Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum is open Wednesday-Saturday 10-4. Parking is on site. Admission is $10/person. It looks like an old warehouse or factory because it is still a working print shop. 

Since it is a working print shop and museum, depending on the day you might get to see work being done. We weren't so lucky. They were just setting up the presses when we got there.

The first part of the museum exhibit showed other items manufactured by Hamilton such as washing machines and a physician's examining table.

In the main exhibit hall, there was plenty to see with different block sets and styles. It was fun to look at all the different styles of letters.

The other main room showed examples of signs and more different types of presses. 

I just liked looking at all the different types of letters and fonts.  And reading all the signs they made.

The history part was interesting but I really liked the art part of it better.

There is a scavenger hunt for kids. Our mini me had tons of fun trying to find all the objects. We struggled for a bit on the last one until we realized we had to walk out towards the gift shop. 

The Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum is definitely worth the visit. They do offer classes and special events as well if you want to get creative. Print shops are not all that common any more and it's great seeing old school art still being made. 

5961. See where Sputnik landed in Manitowoc

 Stacy and I always talked about doing a day trip to Two Rivers to check out some of the museums that are open seasonally. We finally got around to actually making it happen. One of the things I wanted to do was see where Sputnik landed in Manitowoc. We decided to start our day in Manitowoc and then head to Two Rivers

Sputnik was launched by the Soviets in 1960 as a satellite. It failed to re-enter due to mechanical issues and for two years orbited the Earth until it fell from the sky over Wisconsin. Most of it burned up upon re-entry except one hunk of metal that crashed outside the Art Museum in Manitowoc. 

We found the Rahr-West Art Museum just fine. 

We found a Memorial Plaza dedicated to the Sputnik Crash.

We saw some cool sculptures.

We never found the actual spot where Sputnik crashed... 

Apparently we need to actually look on the street itself. Who would have thought?

I also learned that Rahr-West Art Museum has a replica of the piece of Sputnik that crashed on display. 

Guess there is another trip to Manitowoc is in the future so I can see the actual spot and maybe explore the art museum. Stay tuned for Sputnik Part 2 in the future. Because what we did see, was kind of disappointing. It was nicely down but it wasn't the crash site.  

5534. Go to the University of Wisconsin Geology Museum in Madison

 Last year we did not have much time to explore while at the state tournament. This year because of the format and other changes, the hubby didn't hang out at the softball complex all day. This meant we could explore. I checked the bucket list and made a list of a couple options that seemed feasible. One of these were the Geology Museum which was only about 0.5 mile from the hotel so we decided to check it out.

University of Wisconsin Geology Museum is located in Weeks Hall. It is open 8:30-4:30 Mon-Fri and 9-1 on Saturdays. Admission is free. You can find street parking around campus. We got lucky and parked right across the street. 

Upon entering Weeks Hall, we headed to the second floor to the museum. It is very well signed. The museum took up a good portion of the second floor. but it was not large by any means. I do have to admit the building does smell like a university/college science building. There is just an unique smell about it.

The first part of the museum was filled with various rocks and minerals mainly from the country and North America. 

The size of some of those rocks, gems and minerals were impressive.

My favorite part of the rocks and mineral section was the glow in the dark rocks. They lit up when exposed to black light.

There was a small cave to walk through.

Then you got to my favorite part of Earth Science/Geology -- Fossils. Some of these fossils were billions of years old.

There were some fascinating dinosaur fossils and replicas.

One of the surprising displays was the one about meteor impacts across Wisconsin. I didn't realize how many there were. 

Depending on the time of year and day, you might actually see students and professionals working in the lab. We were not that lucky.

The Geology Museum was a nice break from softball. It was definitely worth exploring. Even the hubby was interested. It is definitely worth checking out the next time you are in Madison. Then go get some Babcock Ice Cream from Babcock Hall.