2018 Adventures – Happy New Year 2019!

We apologize for not getting many posts written this year, we were just as busy as we were in 2017 and am still trying to get caught up. We are going to be deliberately slowing down in 2019 to do just that.

We began 2018 with a day trip to Chicago on January 30th.  We went to the Willis Tower, our previous visit was in 2003.  It was a fun day!!

This year, several places we enjoyed visiting either closed due to reduced business or unable to reopen after a fire.

1. Crooked Canvas-Deb’s Place in Shullsburg.

2. Riverdawgs in the Wisconsin Dells.

3. Cat Café Mad in Madison.

4. Ella’s Deli in Madison.

5. The Farm Kitchen in Baraboo

The cat cafe in Madison closed in 2015, we made two visits to the new Sip & Purr Cat Cafe that opened in Milwaukee in June.  As of this posting 146 (Dec 29) cats have been adopted from there. Great job!

We are happy for another new business that opened this year, The Smiley Barn Toy and Candy Store in Delafield. For 16 years, it had been the Montage and looked like this.  This photo was also published in the Milwaukee Business Journal in an article they were writing about this new venture. This was on April 6.

Photo by Laurie Kutil, 2014

On May 30, we attended the Delafield Plan Commission meeting and met owner Maria Luthur and her potential staff and other interested people. The meeting was about not whether Maria could have her business there, but whether she could have the smile back on the barn. It was larger than the zoning ordinances allowed for it to be considered a “sign” in Delafield. If it were called “public art”, it would not be considered a sign. Our group all individually put in words of support for Maria. The board voted, the majority supporting the smile being considered art!  We were ecstatic and glad we could play a part in this becoming a reality. I took a group photo of us before we dispersed.

We returned in September to take a tour of the new store.  It’s great to see Delafield smiling again!

We also went back to Hazel Green in September after 3 years to see more puppet shows. We asked Sandye and Chuck Voight, the Fever River Puppeteers if they would like me to film their shows for them. They enthusiastically agreed after they saw my edit of the first one, The Magic Calendar. See a sample of Jack and The Beanstalk from our first visit in 2015.  I don’t have much of that one until it comes around again. We will be back for ALL of the shows for 2019. We encourage you to go out to see their shows. Equally entertaining for adults, they are real pros! The address: Hazel Green Opera House,  2130 Main Street, Hazel Green, WI

Much more to come in the new year, lots of new posts coming up!

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Please follow and share our blog with all of your friends!

Hazel Green- Point of the Beginning

9-5-15 and many other visits

Hazel Green is a village of 1,256 in Grant and Lafayette counties that is important to Wisconsin’s development as a state. Formerly called Hard Scrabble, Hazel Green has a rich history described here. It is the oldest community in Wisconsin, settlement began in 1825.  The community was one of the many with residents engaged in zinc and lead mining.  It was also along the stagecoach route leading to the Mississippi River. It is close to Dubuque and the Great River Road and the many communities and attractions along it.

We learned more at the historical marker at the southern edge of town, within sight of the Illinois border.  There were also two signs describing the former mining industry here.

Hazel Green has several unique businesses, especially this cute vintage gas station at Symon’s Service Center. It wasn’t open but it appears to be a display and not functional.

The Ambrosia Inn has a “Silo Suite”, a converted silo you can stay in.

20th Main Hair Studio, Gangster’s Bar and Grill-Home of the Gangster Burger, and Wigwam Bar.

We did have lunch at Gangsters and their Gangster Burger was indeed delicious! Al and I split it was that big. We even enjoyed strawberry shortcake!  To them, good food is just as important as good service. Very friendly staff too, be sure to stop in if you are in town.

The other half of Main St.

The Wisconsin House Stagecoach Inn, serving the community since the 1800s.

Across the street is the Empire House, now an apartment building.  In the community’s early days, it served as a Town Hall, where the first town meeting was held.

Our main reason for coming here today was to go to the Hazel Green Opera House, where the Fever River Puppeteers perform puppet shows.

They put on performances generally from March-December here and in Benton, their home base.  We had a great time, even without our own children to share it with.

Our visit concluded, we headed out of town toward Potosi. We also saw some metal sculptures of dinosaurs and a flying saucer in a farmer’s field. You can’t go over the fence but you can take pictures from behind it.

Fly into Hazel Green for a good time in a friendly community, and be sure to eat a Gangster burger too!