We' re Cheese Heads in Monroe, Wisconsin

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

I am in Monroe, Wisconsin, standing in the Swiss Colony Store trying to decide if I should buy one of those silly cheese head hats.  You know, the ones that look like a giant chunk of Cheese. After pondering that question for a nano second, I decided to keep moving through this store that sells everything from cheese to clothing to furniture.  The next item I came across was a very nice cowboy hat. I like hats with wide brims so I tried it on.  It felt like it was made especially for my head.  It was a perfect fit and very comfortable.  But, when I saw the $326 price tag, I quickly placed it back on the shelf before something happened to it and I would be forced to buy it!

We made the nearly one hour trip from our campground in Rockford, Illinois, to Monroe, Wisconsin with our camping neighbor, Sue.  It was going to be a  hot day, and looking at cheese seemed to be a cool thing to do.  Packing two coolers into the back of our car, the three of us came prepared to buy plenty of locally made cheese to feast on back at camp.

Our next stop is the Alp & Dell Cheese Store.  Here, they not only sell dozens of various types of cheeses, they also make cheese here.  Their weekday tours start at 10:00 am, and since it was after eleven by the time we arrived here, we missed the tour.  Oh well, we'll  come some other day for the tour.

Now I am not a Cheese-whiz.  But, I can tell you it takes about 10 pounds of milk to make one pound of cheese.  This cheese factory makes about 38,000 pounds of cheese a day.  Do the math, and you will see that's a lot of milk needed to keep one factory going, and these factories are all over this area.  Thus, there are over four hundred dairy farms in this county alone.

Here's me, Kitty, and Sue standing in front of Alp & Dell Cheese Store.

After leaving the cheese store, we made another stop to pick up some fresh fruits and vegetables, then headed to the square in down town Monroe.  Since Sue has been here many times, she is our tour guide and is directing us to Baumgartner's for lunch.

Baumgartner's is like a pub.  It's an interesting place with a lot of character, and the food was very good. We were entertained just looking at all of the signs and interesting things on the walls and ceiling.  One of the signs said, "Children left unattended will be given a shot and a free puppy."  Another one said, "Good food takes time to prepare.  But, your food will be ready in less than a minute."

Baumgartner's is on the square in down town Monroe.

 This painting by the bar depicts the battle of the booze.  Above the painting are dollar bills stuck to the ceiling.

After lunch, we strolled around the square.  There are painted animals every few feet.  Here's a few that we enjoyed.

This painted cow is also showing the battle of the booze like the painting inside Baumgartners.

 This is my favorite.  Check out the sign on the back of this cow!

This one says, "Everything we have we owe to uddors."

"The Cat's Pajamas"

"Owl be on the farm"

We crossed the street to get a look at the court house.

Next to the court house was this civil war monument to commemorate the patriotism and valor of the soldiers and sailors of the civil war 1861- 1865. 

We left Monroe and headed to Beloit where I showed Sue where I worked when we lived in this area.  Since it was so hot and we were so close, we had to stop at the Dairy Haus for some homemade ice cream.  Keeping with our balanced diet, we had a cone in each hand!

On the way back to the campground we talked about all the cheese we bought today.  I made it clear no one was going to cut the cheese in my car!  Ha!  I don't mean to sound cheesy, but it was an utterly great day!