By: MJ + PJ
Swiss-consin, as AJ prefers to call it, is a well oiled tourism machine. From the state line rest stop information building (which had county by county paper resources and a real person to answer questions and help you plan), to the clear road signage, to the friendly people and clean public areas, it was consistently easy to be a visitor.
We camped at a private campground mid-state as all the state and national campgrounds were listed as mostly full (since it was a Saturday night) and there were too many around to be driving to or calling each one. We headed for a slightly out of the way campsite for better odds and came up winners!
We camped in an open part of the tent field away from other tents because we needed some space. There were some fireworks and a confrontation, but all ended well, with MJ being able to grab a peek with the telescope at Jupiter and Mars in a suitably dark sky.
The first stop of our day in Swiss-consin was the JellyBelly Center. There is no need to explain why. There is a train tour, and then you get some free samples, and then you can test out their BeanBoozled flavors if you are brave or curious! It was awesome (see photos) and you should go and visit!
We then headed to the Mars Cheese Castle for the more savory side of food, but in reality it’s not much further down the food pyramid than candy is. Luckily the entire castle is air conditioned, for it was hot outside! We got to see our third drawbridge of the trip, but this one was mostly chains and was sans bridge and moat. We looked around at all the cheeses and meats and beers and other stuff in the castle, and then had lunch. Good fortune resulted in us having a java blonde beer almost thrust upon us at a tasting table at the entrance to the castle. This set in motion a mission to later find a grocery store at which to purchase some of this java wonder for the evening camping.
We exited towards Chicago, after a busy day, with a few hour tolled drive towards our next target. Wisconsin fulfilled it’s reputation as a desirable place to visit, and we felt we literally got a good taste of what they have on offer on the west side of the Lake Michigan. Definitely worth another and a longer visit.
