Come With Me to Menomonie!
Every
year we hop in the old Suburban with our four children and head to our lake,
or Tainter Lake as it is better known, just outside of Menomonie, WI for a
week of fun at the family lake home. Honestly, our favorite times are spent
hanging out at home – fishing, swimming, paddle boating, tubing, skiing, watching
the bald eagles soar overhead, and playing yard games or cards. However, this
year we decided to explore a bit more and check out some local attractions.
We weren’t disappointed!
My Mom and I checked out a place I’ve wanted to see for years… the Caddie
Woodlawn Historical Park – “The site of the original Woodlawn home made known
in the Carol Ryrie Brink's children's books Caddie Woodlawn and Magical Melons.
The books describe in the adventures of a young girl who grew up in Western
Wisconsin in the days of steamboats, covered wagons, log cabins, real Indians
and the frontier country surrounding the present park.” It is located just
9 miles south of Menomonie on Hwy 25. Makes me want to read the books all
over again! 
We drove by the Red Cedar River (you can float down on a tube or in a canoe
if you wish) along which runs the Red Cedar Trail – beautiful for hiking &
biking. We also drove through Downsville to take a peak at the Empire Pines
Museum, the Creamery (which is a lovely restaurant and inn, temporarily closed
for renovations) and the Dunn County Pottery store. Nobody was manning the
store – but there was a sheet of instructions indicating how to leave payment
should we have wanted to take something home with us. I just love small town
Wisconsin!
We
didn’t go this year, but in the past have gone into town for a day of splashing
at the Wakonda Water Park, or just walked through the beautiful UW-Stout college
campus (which happens to be my alma mater).
We also stopped at a relatively new business establishment in Menomonie –
Legacy Chocolates, named Best Chocolate in the Twin Cities for the third year
in a row and quickly becoming nationally known. The products are a bit pricey
– completely understandable when the ingredients and their origins are considered
– and amazingly decadent! We enjoyed iced mochas with 73% cocoa (oh my!) and
took some other treats home to share.
One of our favorite shopping stops is Fleet Farm (my son calls it the Man’s
Mall of America) where we get our out of state family fishing license, bait
and just about anything else we could possibly need! There is a Super Walmart
in town, but we much prefer to do our grocery shopping at the Cut Rite Meat
Shoppe (for skin-on wieners, brats or thick juicy steaks among other tasty
treats for carnivores) and MarketPlace Foods or Lammers.
We
usually cook at home, but always make sure to have at least one meal at Jake’s
Supper Club on Tainter Lake (take Cty Rd D to get there) – where Prime Rib
is King, there is live music on the huge deck overlooking the lake, and the
fried cheese curds are OH SO YUMMY! For those that are happier in an urban
atmosphere or can’t wait to visit the Mall of America (I’ll stick with Fleet
Farm)… the Twin Cities is just a hop, skip and a jump away and the drive is
beautiful! We live in the majestic mountains of Colorado, but are still entranced
by the beauty of rolling green (unless your timing is in autumn when it becomes
an artist’s pallet of yellow, red, orange and purple) hills of Western Wisconsin.
A great rainy day option less than 45 minutes away is a tour of the Leinenkugel’s
Brewery and Leinie’s Lodge museum and gift shop in Chippewa Falls, WI.
Check out these websites to learn about some of the sites listed in this report,
and more – and start planning a small town, Midwest, fun-filled vacation now!
www.menomoniechamber.org
www.uwstout.edu/geninfo/menomonie
www.legacychocolates.com
www.jakesontainterlake.com
www.leinie.com