"Wisconsin-Happy Festival State", by Eve Phillips. My husband and I love to travel in the state of Wisconsin where we live and get great pictures on the way. My name is Laurie Kutil and photography has become a great passion of mine since 2010. One thing I have learned in researching each town before visiting it is that, "Every town has it's story". When I do uncover those stories by connecting with local residents, our experience becomes so much richer. In turn, sharing the stories with you brings me joy :)
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.
Crooked Canvas-Deb’s Place in Shullsburg.
Riverdawgs in the Wisconsin Dells.
Cat Café Mad in Madison.
Ella’s Deli in Madison.
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!
This is the 18th year of the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train, an exciting fundraiser for area food banks along the route the train takes in the US and Canada. It was only in Wisconsin for a couple of days and the timing of it’s stops are different each year. We were lucky this year, we could go!
We chose the village of Sturtevant to see it. This community is located just west of Racine and about 1 1/2 hours from Madison. After dinner we were directed into a parking lot in a shopping mall close to the depot. The lot was filling up fast with an excited crowd waiting to see the train. Many people probably saw the train yearly. This is the view from the lot.
KTI Country radio station in Milwaukee was there to cover the event with a live broadcast.
We were well prepared for recording this event, Al recorded from the ground with our mini-video camera and I roamed the grounds with my new camera. I went up the stairs in the structure above the track to see it coming from above.
I could soon see the headlight and hear the train horn. It was right on time, 5:25 PM! The crowd cheered and whistled!
It’s here!
Join in the fun! Enjoy our video! The train was at the station for 45 minutes and we enjoyed a 1/2 hour Christmas music show. Performers were Colin James and Kelly Prescott.
This event was incredibly fun and worth the journey to get there. Thanks Canadian Pacific for bringing such joy and goodwill on the rails!
What a great opportunity! We found out that the Milwaukee Public Museum has a free day every month for ALL visitors. Kohls is the sponsor. We jumped at this chance to go. We found a historic clock just outside of the building.
After checking in at the front desk, we were on our way! You can check your coat in for $1 or use a locker for 50 cents. We also got a free ticket to the Planetarium show at 11:30, there usually an extra charge for that. I have not seen one of those shows since I was a kid. It was great getting a refresher on the night sky and constellations. Also some Hubble pictures were shown. A great 25 minute show!
We enjoyed a good lunch at the café before heading back up to the first floor. The have a coffee stand too.
The museum has four floors, we just had time to see the ground, floors 1 and 2. It is a large museum so we hope to return to see the rest. On the first floor were many great exhibits, a favorite being the “Streets of Old Milwaukee” and “European Village”. It looks like Milwaukee around 1880-1910. To enhance your experience here, you can download an app to hear residents of old Milwaukee tell us about their occupations, etc. at the turn of the last century. You can only listen to the oratories through your headphones in your phone.
You enter the Milwaukee exhibit through the streetcar and exit in the back.
Let’s take a stroll through the street, you can occasionally hear horses hooves clopping.
Inside are prominent Wisconsin businesses, many still here. Usinger’s, Schlitz and Roundy’s among them. The most charming part of this exhibit was the candy store. It was real and you could buy some “penny” candy here. The store is small so only a few people could be inside at a time.
You could also go up a staircase in one of the buildings and look down below at the street. You could see the candy store to the right. The front view showed an eye doctor business, complete with a sign with eyes that appear to be looking right at you!
See the silhouette of the lady in the window? She moved in and out of view and appeared to be getting ready for a night out.
Saw a photographer taking a portrait of a lady.
Inside a general store.
High fashion for ladies around 1900.
When you reach the end of the street it transitions into the European Village, opening up to Pabst Square.
Each house surrounding the square represents a different country in Europe. Here is the Czech house from Al’s heritage.
The Russian house, my sister-in-law’s heritage. She is a first-generation American.
We spent an extended amount of time in these exhibits, they were fascinating! Now we move on to the Jack Puelicher Butterfly Garden. This sunny room had many beautiful butterflies and warm temperatures that felt good on this winter day.
Let’s watch them them in action!
A butterfly display in a case.
And this Muskrat exhibit is from 1890, like the clock outside. Very intricate detail!
It was time to go, we plan on returning as soon as we can to see what we missed. Meanwhile, enjoy this great view across the street from the museum.
Our last adventure of the year, today was a special day. the Greater Milwaukee Foundation gave Wisconsin a free gift for the last week of the year, free admission and parking to the Milwaukee Zoo for all visitors.
We went in and saw many Christmas trees decorated by various groups.The room was filled with them!
Now we went outside to see the exhibits, first were the penguins. They were sure having fun with all the people around watching them.
Our next stop was the Primate house after walking an elevated walkway.
One of my favorite parts was the Mold-O-Rama machine to make you a gorilla souvenir for $20. They are all original machines from the 1960’s. It is an injection mold machine. Let’s see it in action!
And here is my gorilla!
It was a quiet day and it sometimes was hard to see the occupants in this building since many were napping. Tom the Gorilla was enjoying a snack by the window, probably looking at us too.
Their habitat looks very natural and the animals appeared relaxed.
Time go go back outside to see other exhibits, it was raining but it didn’t dampen the spirits of the many visitors or the animals. There was an ice carver who had already carved a bear and had just started another one.
This sea-lion was getting lunch.
A Grizzly Bear was making the rounds too. He appeared to like the rain.
A Polar Bear too, probably wishing it were snowing instead of rain.
These Caribou were enjoying their natural woodland setting. They are not often seen outside of Alaska. Stately creatures!
Next we explored the Small Mammal building which also had some primates, also bats.
We went next door to see the aquatic building with lots of fish from around the world. Enjoy this video made by another visitor to the zoo.
This seemed to be a favorite stop for the many visitors that came. There is of course a large focus on Wisconsin fishing and we learned about how the famous “Friday Fish Fries” began in the dairy state. Fish may not be the first thing to come to mind in the middle of the country, but we do have our freshwater seas, the Great Lakes providing plenty of good eating.
The zoo also emphasizes how important “catch and release” is to sustaining and growing the fish population. My brother Lee Tauchen is a fishing guide and he practices this technique, he rarely eats his catches. He also creates beautiful lures he uses and sells. He would love to take you out on a fishing trip, call him at (608) 444-2180 to set one up with him.
This display of small fish was mesmerizing to watch.
We wanted to see the Aviary but it was closed for renovations.
We had a great visit to the Milwaukee Zoo and hope to return in summer when more is happening. Thanks Greater Milwaukee Foundation for the free week!