We spent most of the morning at the local McDonalds in
Cambridge and it became incredibly busy – it was packed! We have noted in other small towns that
McDonalds is quite a socializing spot, particularly for seniors. Today there are also many families but a worker tells us they don’t mind if we “sit a
spell”.
We head to the National Historic Cheese Making Center which is housed in an old railroad depot,
built in 1880. Nanette, a lady with a
bit of an English accent, and her friend welcome us and seem happy to have
interested visitors. We watch the
obligatory introductory film, which actually is quite informative . Wisconsin is 1st in the nation for
the number of dairy herds and the film says 98% family owned. They are also the first state to grade
cheeses and first to license cheesemakers.
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| Holsteins |
The film explains the cheese-making process from testing of
the milk, heating, “knitting” of the curds, pressing, adding salt, shaping and
curing. We learn the difference between
the Brown Swiss cows, Guernseys, Holsteins and Jerseys and the butterfat
content of their milk. Holsteins are the
typical black and white ones and they produce the most milk but not the “best”
as far as butterfat content. Nanette shows us an old cheese-making set-up which
includes huge copper kettles, various rakes and stirring implements and
more. Of course, today most of the
factories are automated, but it is still a labor intensive job and employs
thousands of Wisconsinites.
Next we go to the Little Switzerland of Wisconsin, New
Glarus, and stop first at their brewery.
There is a motorcycle rally in the area and they are everywhere! The brewery has a self-guided “tour” but
really not much information. They do
raise their own hops and have beautiful copper tanks.
From here we head into town for a Music Festival. It consists mostly of one large tent selling food and beer. Greg tries the New Glarus Totally Naked and we try a beef sausage/jerky thing called LandJaegers. Very tasty!
We listen to Billy ‘N’ the Parkin’ Lot, a guitar player who
accompanies his self-made mixes, and then a group called the Raindogs. The Polka music will come later, we are
told. We talk with several biker folks
who sit at our table and they give us some suggestions of places to go, mostly
in Minnesota. Note the inflatables - can you tell which state we are in?
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| Billy |
New Glarus was a Swiss settlement begun in 1845. We walked around town and there are many
bars, shops and restaurants with a Swiss theme of some sort. Even the bank sported a huge Brown Swiss
Cow. Stopped at Kennedy’s Ice Cream for
a Raspberry Lemon Ice which was delicious and creamy. One of the many bike trails in Wisconsin
comes through here – Riders must purchase a bike pass to use the trails.
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| Greg notes rolled up snow fences along the roads. |
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| Artwork in New Glarus |
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| Swiss street signs, New Glarus |
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| My favorite, Lilies of the Valley, in a New Glarus garden |
We head towards Madison and detour through a town called Mt. Horeb to see their trolls. They are Swiss spirits that are supposed to protect and bring luck.
We take a side road here to Stewart County Park and Lake, thinking it might be a spot to boondock. It is a nice lake tucked into a lush valley and there are quite a few swimmers enjoying the 80 degree weather. The park closes at 10PM however, so after a quick walk we head to a Walmart in Madison.
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