Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
per. It's open during business hours, but it recommends arriving between 9am and 1pm for
optimal cheese-viewing. An aside: Diminutive operation
Franklin Cheese
(7256 Franklin
Rd.,608/325-3725,Mon.-Sat.,toursbyappointment)isoneofthefewremainingcooperat-
ives in the United States and still offers tours if you ring 'em up first.
Tours are finally being offered at the brewery of the college student's staple beer, the
eminently rich and tasty yet undervalued Huber.
Minhas Brewing
(1208 14th Ave., 608/
325-3191,
www.minhasbrewery.com
,
tours 11am Mon., 1pm Tues.-Thurs., 1pm and 3pm
Fri. and Sun., 11am, 1pm, and 3pm Sat., museum free, $10 tour) is the oldest continually
operating brewery in Wisconsin (and second-longest in the United States). Tours are daily
in summer but complicated, so ring 'em first. The brewery is closed Sundays in winter.
Starting in Monroe, the
Cheese Country Recreational Trail
rides 47 miles of railroad-
bed. The multipurpose trail parallels the Pecatonica River and touches the edge of Cad-
iz Springs State Park and its two lakes. A historic 440-foot skeletal bridge is just west of
Browntown; the remainder of the trail, passing through Browntown, South Wayne, Gratiot,
Darlington, and Calamine, and finishing in Mineral Point, has an additional 55 or so over-
passes. Darlington has refurbished its depot into a historic museum. Gorgeous sections of
this trail pass through native grass prairie and magnificent stands of oak. In Calamine, the
trail links up with the
Pecatonica River State Trail,
which itself runs across the Bonner
Branch Valley fork of the Pecatonica and leads to an additional 200 miles of trails. A hefty
$6 trail fee is assessed.
Seerare(today)OldWorldalpineSwisscabinetryandfolkpaintingatthestudioof
Got-
tlieb Brandli
(508 17th Ave., 608/325-6681,
www.swisscabinetry.com
, 8am-6pm Mon.-
Fri., Sat. by appointment). Gottlieb, a former
Bauernmalerei,
or Swiss-German folk artist
immigrant, has lectured on the stylistics of Alpine design at the Smithsonian. Their custom
design work can be viewed at the shop, or drive up to New Glarus to see more of it.
WestofMonroe,
Argyle
isalovelylittlecommunityonthePecatonicaRiver.Checkout
the old gristmill on the river and then head for the old Partridge Hall/Star Theatre and gaze
at the lovely trim work (it's a restaurant, so perhaps have a bite to eat). Argyle was the boy-
hood home of Fightin' Bob La Follette, a legendary Badger progressive politico, and local
communities are pitching in to preserve and restore his family's home.
