After driving 2 hours to drop my son off at my sister's lake house for one last day of summer tubing, boating and lake fun for him, I found myself with 24 hours to burn before picking him up the next day. Seeing no reason to turn around and drive straight home, I decided to take a beautiful 45 minute drive through the cornfields with bright blue skies overhead and the smell of the country in the air. I was looking for a bit of exercise and adventure.

I was headed towards the Wisconsin border to a town known for its cheese, breweries and small town charm, Monroe. The so called "Swiss Cheese Capital of the US", this town really speaks to all things cheese with the Swiss settlers from the 1860s bringing their expertise in cheese making to this part of the country.
The Town square clock tower in the middle of town resonated with me after seeing so many town squares throughout so much of the Midwest. Monroe's town square is surrounded by bars, restaurants and mostly shops. The shops pretty much all revolve around cheese, whether its buying cheese to take with you, eating it (in some capacity) in a restaurant or buying some condiment that in some way furthers the appreciation of cheese -- many different kinds of cheese. +
You can't beat Baumgartners for a place to grab a beer at the old school bar, restaurant and cheese shop or to pick up some hand cut cheese to take with you.

I opted for the second-best chili, which was fantastic, and a basic sandwich with a thick slice of brick cheese, a slightly thinner slice of salami, and some red onions. It's a classic and just what I needed. It was enhanced by adding dabs of spicy brown and sweet German mustard to every bite, making it even more delicious.

Satisfied, I walked to the town square to scout out additional shops and venues that might make a good stop for a beer, enjoying the ambiance before finding a way to burn the calories I had and would later consume.
I made my way to the badger state trail to enjoy an afternoon bike ride. This 40 mile trail runs between Madison and the Illinois Wisconsin border. I picked it up from Twining Park in Monroe, Wisconsin and decided to head South towards the Illinois border. Over 90 plus minutes, I covered 16 miles total taking in the 8 miles of the path from Monroe to the state border before returning back to my origination point. The route was mostly flat and shaded taking me over a bridge passing through Monroe and little else. I dug into a podcast and some music and took in views of corn fields and crossed quiet country roads as the badger state trail cuts across this slice of pure rural country. With nothing but the path before me and a few country roads to slow down for, I was able to get in quite a work out on this beautiful late August summer day.

After making my way to my hotel for a quick refresh, I was a bit parched, a tad hungry and ready to explore this city of cheese and beer.
I partook in a 1 mile walk to Minhas craft brewery for a beer. Family owned since 1845 and one of the oldest US breweries, this proved to be a great spot to enjoy the cover band belting out CCR and John Cougar songs over a well earned cold beer.
From there I made my way over to the Bullquarian Brewhouse for a beer and a pizza. I really enjoyed soaking up the ambiance of this small Wisconsin border town at this venue, which was teaming with people looking to make the most of one of the last weekends of the summer of 2024. The Bullquarian Brewhouse is an incredible small venue (49 occupancy) with live music (I saw the Old Goat Skiffle Band), onsite brewed beer, sandwiches and pizza. Its a really cool spot that would be hard to replicate, is incredibly local and is as far from anything sniffing of a chain that I can imagine.

I finished my Monroe experience the next morning with an hour long bike ride on the badger state trail as I headed North towards Madison to take in a different part of the trail. Before leaving town, I made a stop at the Alp and Dell cheese store and I am incredibly glad that I decided to make this unplanned stop. With an almost overwhelming selection of cheeses, landjaeger sausages and jams, it is hard to imagine a more complete and impressive cheese shop. All the products are local and I left with over 50 dollars of cheese and cheese related goods to share with my family.
As I departed to collect my son and head back home, I felt fortunate for being able to experience another part of our amazing country and gained appreciation for a hidden gem on the border of Wisconsin and Illinois.
Comments