Category Archives: THE MIDWEST

July 26, 2026 · 6:31 pm

New Diggings, WI biker bar, AE cottage cheese at Hyvee in Dubuque – RAGBRAI pick up

We lived vicariously during the RAGBRAI stories of son Noah and his friend Glenn after picking them up in Dubuque, where the latest (Des Moines) Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa concluded yesterday. It was a gorgeous day and we easily found each other, to my surprise given that there were thousands of weary bike riders awaiting a trip home by bus or car (no more bikes, although we did see one intrepid RAGBRAI cyclist riding his bike on a hilly road just across the Mississippi in Wisconsin.)

The landscape got pretty and rural in northwest Illinois and southwest Wisconsin where we drove on highways 11 (through southern Wisconsin) and highway 20 (through Illinois, around the nineteenth-century tourist town of Galena). At one point we were on Stagecoach Trail, a two-lane road between 11 and 20 just over the border in Illinois that was especially beautiful — rolling, winding atop ridges, overlooking lush valleys of tall corn.

Bras from the rafter

In New Diggings we chanced upon a very rustic biker bar whose dark wood quarters were packed with drinkers on a sunny Saturday morning. Dozens of discarded bras hung over one rafter. In the original 1844 wood building, it was billed as a general store and inn but we saw no signs of this. We didn’t linger.

In Illinois, we passed through some other small 19th-century railroad villages including Nora (the name of two of nieces) pop.100-107, which was a blink or you’ll miss it place. Lena, Illinois pop. 2,000+, had a little more, an antique store or so, as did Warren. Both have old red brick buildings on their main drag.

In Dubuque, I was delighted to find my favorite cottage cheese – AE (Anderson Erickson) at the local HyVee. I loaded three containers into my cooler (brought for this purpose, in case we got lucky). Although Dubuque is one of my favorite towns, we didn’t linger, given the ragbrai particulars (crowds, weary riders, etc).

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July 10, 2026 · 3:31 am

Lake Geneva, WI – following travel tips from a part-time resident, plus Camp Wandewega

“Did I hear you say ‘Lake Geneva?’” I asked another volunteer at a Chicago soup kitchen. Sure enough! And here’s her recommendations, just in time for our summer visit!

1. Pay the parking meters—they’re ticket happy!

2. Simple Bakery in downtown Lake Geneva. A couple of blocks from main drag, but great pastries!

Lake path

3. Lake path—start at LG public library, follow walk along lake west, away from downtown. At the end, you’ll see restrooms, the lake path begins. No restrooms on path. This path is amazing, clean, along 26 miles around the lake, passing huge summer homes, beaches, old camps. At times we were walking on a narrow path through someone’s waist-high gardens, other times under shady canopies of trees.

More Lake path

4. Green Grocer in Williams Bay for lunch, sandwich.

5. Farmers Market on Thursday in front of Horticultural Hall. 8-1 pm

6. Papa’s Blue Spruce for local vibe, incredible smash burgers. Done! The Cheese smashBurgers were as good as advertised at this spot overlooking Lake Como, smaller and quieter than Geneva. The talk of the town was the July 3-4 storm that tore up trees, knocked out power for days.There was also a horrible boating accident on Lake Geneva.

7. Pier 290 for dinner—on the water

8. Williams Bay public beach – DONE. Pleasant but we’re spoiled by the soft sand and clear water of Lake Michigan at Weko beach in Bridgman, Michigan. The sand here was closer to dirt and there were weeds in the deeper part of the swim area.

We also wandered around Camp Wandewega in nearby Elkhorn, a former summer camp from the 1920s that offers lodging via Airbnb in old cabins. The retro vibe felt like a Wes Anderson film set. The cabins look humble from the outside but apparently have high-end backwoods decor and are pricey. Lake Wandewega was refreshingly sleepy, especially compared to bustling Lake Geneva but lots of algae bloom.

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September 15, 2025 · 12:59 am

Barnacle Bud’s, the Rave/eagles club (Haim!), Leon’s Frozen Custard- – Milwaukee

Haim

Perfect night in Milwaukee. The main event was seeing the fabulous Haim sisters perfect during the latest stop of their I Quit tour. They did not disappoint. Nice Jewish girls (as they proved to be when I met two for the three in Rome in 2023) who can really rock! It was great to see them in the funky Rave/Eagle Club, an old ballroom with tons of character and 4,000 capacity, which seems intimate compared to the United Center where they played in Chicago the night before (23,000 capacity or some such.) Most of the place is standing only, although there are seats for pay (primarily) in the balcony.

The Rave/eagle Club ballroom

Dinner was at the atmospheric Barnacle Bud’s, along the docks in an industrial backwater. We ate nothing fancy crab cakes and fried fresh at an outdoor table, watching pontoon boats glide past dry dock boat storage and old industrial stuff.

This from AI: The Rave/Eagles Club in Milwaukee was built in 1927 by the Fraternal Order of Eagles…it was the grandest Eagles building in America, serving as a multi-use athletic and social club with a large ballroom. . In 1986, the Eagles Club was added to the National Register of Historic Places. 

The creepy part, which I’m glad I didn’t know until now:

  • 1940s: A young girl is said to have drowned in the venue’s pool. 
  • Present: The drained pool is a site of reported paranormal activity, including sounds of splashing and screams. 

The concert ended just in time for us to stop at the 80 year old Leon’s frozen custard (closing time, technically 11 pm although they were serving after the clock struck 11…).

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August 13, 2025 · 10:51 pm

Miner’s Beach swim & hike, Pictured Rocks sunset cruise, the duck pond/Christmas, Mi – U.P. and food empire in Sheybogan WI.

Yesterday we swam in Lake Superior, something I didn’t expectto do (or write about doing). But the water was warm enough to go beyond ankle height, which maybe is a bad sign. One local attributed the warmth to an “awful” June that was unseasonably warm.

Rothko or Pictured Rock?

The water wasn’t warm or cold, more brisk (high 60s?) Miner’s Beach is on the Painted Rocks National Lakeshore, it’s a long crescent of perfect sand with the shore’s famous dramatic sandstone cliffs rising at either end. Perfect sandy bottom in the water, unlike the rocky bottom at more isolated Twelvemile Beach to the east (which has more rocks to sort through)!

During a two-hour hike, we trekked along the shoreline trail from the beach east into the woods and up a relatively steep muddy rocky bit to a tranquil forest of white birch and other trees. We were on top of one of the cliffs and had a great view from several clearings in the woods.

As we’d been told, the best way to see the dramatic colored cliffs along the coast is by boat and miraculously, the sky cleared shortly before out “sunset” cruise. We snagged seats on the upper outdoor deck (next time, wear long pants; it got chilly) and spent about two hours admiring nature’s offerings. The huge cliffs looked like a contemporary art exhibit (Mark Rothko?) with huge abstract canvases, some with large horizontal swaths of deep red and purple, others with horizontal brush strokes of black, brown white, plus dabs of green and blue. Stunning.

On the way home, we stopped at Field to Fork, a good casual cafe with breakfast and lunch options in Sheybogan where we learned that the same chef has opened two other restaurants nearby (Trattoria Stefano, Il Retrovo Pizzeria, both Italian) and an excellent gourmet market, Stefano’s Slo Food (the multi-grain sourdough bread is dense, chewy, delicious! Good to know for future trips to Door County!

View from on high, during hike.

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May 20, 2025 · 4:32 pm

Cowles Bog – Indiana Dunes National Park

I have only been to the Indiana Dunes a few times but will soon have more time to explore it. High on my list is a visit to Cowles Bog, which a local recommended for its abundance of rarely seen wildlife. (“You’ll see thing you never saw before,” he told us.) We drove by the bog recently during a quick visit to see the “Century of Progress” homes nearby and learned that it offers a 4.7 mile hike “moderate to rugged with steep dune climbs in loose sand” and dogs are allowed. Its ponds, marsh, swamp, black oak woodland, and those dunes offer such a diversity of wildlife that it was named a National Natural Landmark in the 1960s.

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May 19, 2025 · 12:34 am

Mid-century modern gems along the lakefront – Beverly Shores/Indiana dunes national park

It took us awhile to find them but the five “century of progress homes” produced for the 1933 Chicago world’s fair were worth the hunt. We drove west along the Indiana Dunes National shoreline until there they were. We parked our car (15 minutes allowed) at about 6:30 on a Saturday afternoon and walked right up to the homes, including the stunning “Florida Tropical House” right above the silky sand beach. The silhouette of the Chicago skyline rose like a distant Oz across the shimmering water of Lake Michigan. The “flamingo pink Art Deco” Florida house – designed to resemble an ocean-liner, was the only state-commissioned house, commissioned by Florida, to lure tourists. Word has it the Florida house is a navigational landmark for Lake Michigan boaters.

The five homes were relocated here after the fair. They were considered state-of-the-art at the time, with new-fangled options like air-conditioning and dishwashers. A real estate developer (who wanted to lure buyers to his new Beverly Shores resort community) bought five of them (not clear how many there were total) and had four shipped by barge to Indiana and one transported by truck. There’s an annual tour of them in September that sells out quickly when the tix go on sale. Apparently some are lived in by people subleasing them and using private funds to restore them.

The Indiana dunes is an odd mix of natural and industrial worlds, with beaches and wildlife areas (friends from here recommend Cowles bog trail for wildlife) but also a nuclear cooling tower and steel mills.

Wiebolt-Rostone House

The Wiebot-Rostone House’s experimental materials apparently didn’t prove up to snuff, although its very cool looking. Billed as a material that would never need repairs, Rostone was made of limestone, shale, and alkali. But it proved no match for harsh lake-effect weather (snow etc.) and the air pollution of its industrial neighbors (steel mills, refineries.) By the 1950s, it was deteriorating and recovered in Perma-stone, a concrete stucco. It was later restored with a new improved synthetic Rostone. Perhaps most astonishing is that the 120-130 ton house was transported by barge (it was the heaviest house moved).

Here’s more info from the National Park Service:

1933 Chicago World’s Fair Century of Progress Homes

The annual tour is held on the last weekend of September.
The tour is sponsored by the non-profit organization Indiana Landmarks.
Tickets go on sale early in August and usually sell out within one hour.For information on the exact tour date, ticket sale date, pricing, and all other information, please visit the Indiana Landmarks’ website.

The 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago—called the Century of Progress—offered millions of people in the depths of the Great Depression a hopeful vision that highlighted futuristic changes on the horizon. Developer Robert Bartlett brought a dozen buildings from the fair including five from the Homes and Industrial Arts housing exhibit that make up the Century of Progress Historic District. The buildings were moved by barge and truck to Beverly Shores, a resort community he was developing on the Indiana shore of Lake Michigan. You can visit the cluster of five landmarks on the annual Century of Progress home, sponsored by Indiana Landmarks in partnership with the National Park Service.

The tour admits you to the first floors of the Florida Tropical, Rostone, Armco-Ferro and Cypress houses. As you can tell by their names, the houses at the fair promoted products for residential living—Florida’s beachy appeal, and artificial stone, enameled steel, and cypress wood as building materials.

Four of the five houses looked wildly modern in 1933, so ahead of their time that they remain modern looking today. The Cypress House, honoring its material, looks like a rustic log cabin, albeit with modern amenities. To save the structures, Indiana Landmarks leased them from the National Park Service, then subleased four to people who have restored them in exchange for long-term leases.

You’ll also tour the House of Tomorrow (declared a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation) in its dilapidated state. Indiana Landmarks is currently accepting proposals for the property’s restoration and long-term lease.

The tour lasts a little over two hours and is guided by park rangers and volunteers who will provide histories and architectural overviews at each property.

Because there is no parking available in the historic district, your timed entry ticket includes shuttle transportation to the district from the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center, 1215 North State Road 49, Porter, IN, 46304. The private homes are clustered together on either side of Lake Front Drive within easy walking distance of one another.

Touring the historic homes requires walking and climbing stairs. If you require accommodation, please call Indiana Landmarks’ Northern Regional Office, 574-232-4534.

Tickets cost is $35/person, ($30/member of Indiana Landmarks or Dunes National Park Association) (2018 prices, subject to change).A Century of Progress – The 1933 World’s Fair HomesOver 85 years of wind, sand, and surf have battered the five World’s Fair houses located along Lake Front Drive in Beverly Shores, but their uniqueness has weathered the elements. With the theme of a Century of Progress, the houses were built for the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair to demonstrate modern architectural design, experimental materials, and new technologies such as central air conditioning and dishwashers.Four of the houses were brought to the dunes by barge in 1935 by real estate developer Robert Bartlett. The Cypress Log Cabin was dismantled at the fair and moved by truck. Bartlett hoped that the high profile houses would entice buyers to his new resort community of Beverly Shores. Today the houses are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the houses have been leased by the non-profit organization Indiana Landmarks. Through this organization, private individuals or families have leased the homes and are rehabilitating them. Please respect these agreements by not trespassing on the properties.

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October 16, 2024 · 12:00 am

FIBs in Wisconsin – canvassing in Elkhorn and Lake Geneva (observatory, lake shore path, mail boat run)

We learned a new unflattering acronym from the Wisconsin Democrats while in the Lake Geneva area last weekend, canvassing for Kamala Harris and other Democrats. F–king Illinois B–tards is the unaffectionate name for big city slickers who drive their fancy cars up to this area, known by some as the Hamptons of Chicago or the Newport of the Midwest. Then again, those slickers spend money in Wisconsin so maybe its best to define FIBS – as one kind Wisconsite told me – as Fantastic Illinois Babes.

It feels new (and odd) to be viewed as a city slicker, since we’ve been in Chicago for just over two years. Living for 32 years in Iowa, we were never in danger of being labeled city or slick (although we did live in the city of Des Moines). Ditto for the 4 years or so lived in Kansas City and Wichita.

After knocking on doors for several hours, we did a little scouting of visitor spots, enough to make us want to come back as tourists, if not FIBs. There’s an astonishing old observatory in a historic building that we’re told offers fantastic if pricy tours. Yerkes Observatory is billed as the birthplace of modern astrophysics, frequented by Einstein and Carl Sagan (who taught at Cornell when I was there.) We drove right up to it, although it was closed for a private event. Definitely on my to-visit list. We also drove down to Fontana-on-the-Lake and Wilson where some of the old money estates appear to be. We couldn’t get very close to Black Point Estate and Gardens. Apparently visitors can only get there by taking a boat tour. (Geneva Cruise Line’s 3.5 private tour.)

The observatory

Other things to do/see on my list: the Mail Boat Run, Geneva Lake Shore Path, Simple Cafe.

Big Foot market

We did find some exclusive-looking lakeside communities – the Harvard Club and the Chicago Club – that reminded me of similar lovely but sometimes snobbish and restrictive communities in northern Michigan around Harbor Springs and Petosky. No thank you. We stopped at an upscale market, Big Foot, in the area for coffee and later, over the Illinois border at an unsupervised organic market that runs on the honor system and has a creative potato storage system.

Not Big Foot Market! (“Organik” market south of Lake Geneva in Illinois with filed potatos

Good resources for future reference: https://www.travelandleisure.com/lake-geneva-wisconsin-travel-guide-8622409

And:

6 Ways to Spend a Rainy Day in Lake Geneva

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September 18, 2024 · 2:18 pm

Indiana wedding at White oak farm, Issa vibe cafe in New Buffalo

We danced the night away at my niece’s wedding, held at White Oak Farm in the countryside near Michigan City, Indiana, only 12 minutes from New Buffalo, Michigan, but one time zone away.The weather was dry (amen) and in the 80s, with some intense sunshine during the early part of the outdoor service on a stone patio between two barns – not the old rustic barns but new fancy barns, one with chandeliers, designed not for livestock but for events including weddings. Great people, service, food, dj, dancing.

The “barn”

The morning after, my sibs and I checked out of our respective airbnbs at 10 am (a bit challenging when you’ve gone to bed at 1:30 am) and met at Issa Vibe Cafe, a cheerful easygoing spot with large breakfast paninis (request mayo/aioli on the side; consider sharing) and coffee drinks. It was a good place to hangout and a perfect way to end our family gathering.

Noah, D and I did stop for some Michigan pothole ice cream at Oinks on the way out of New Buffalo. We’re talking very chocolate ice cream with oreo cookie crumbs and mini-peanut butter cups, so not suitable for our lab Millie, who was with us. Amazingly, another customer came over to our table with a little dish of vanilla ice cream for Millie. How kind was that?

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September 1, 2024 · 3:23 pm

Ohio Turnpike, Milan (Ohio) Melon Days, West End Ale Haus (Bloomsburg, PA) – Driving from Chicago to the Hudson Valley (NY)

As a kid driving from suburban Detroit to eastern Pennsylvania with my mom, I was excited when we first crossed the Ohio border into western Pennsylvania, only to soon discover (or remember) how long Pennsylvania is. Still, as we drive on I-80 today, decades later, I’m happy to leave the flat straight Ohio turnpike behind, in favor of a mountainous stretch of I-80 lined with trees (although preferably not driven in the rain).

Great dog-Friendly find

Unlike Iowa I-80 rest stops which have many appealing amenities (trust me), the Ohio turnpike rest-stop west of Cleveland offered no picnic tables or outdoor spaces to eat our picnic fare, let alone with a dog. Grrr. So we ended up taking a brief detour to the small town of Milan, west of Cleveland, which we learned is the home of Thomas Edison. We didn’t see his house, that we know of, but we saw many stately wood Victorian and 19th century red brick homes.

The town was packed with people attending the annual Milan Melon Days (as the street banner we drove under informed us). We found a public park with many picnic tables under a shelter, old playground equipment, and a pleasant view of a grassy slope lined with willow and pine trees. Worked.

Why does it always rain on highway 80 along the scenic but scary stretch through the mountains of western Pennsylvania? At least this trip, the rain was intermittent and Dirck was driving. (I had a much scarier ride years ago while driving solo with the kids in a downpour. Lots of trucks, curving road.)

We got lucky with a terrific dog-friendly pub (thanks Bringfido.com) m, the West End Ale Haus, in the small town of Bloomsburg, where we showed up just before the kitchen closed at 9 p.m. The server couldn’t have been nicer and the cheese burgers were perfect. We were the only diners outside on a Saturday night, with the occasional souped -up car dragging Main Street. Millie enjoyed her strawberry Greek yoghurt frozen treat.

Now we are at a somewhat grim but dog- friendly red roof inn a few miles east (Bloomsburg-Mifflinville).The woman at the front desk looked miserable and when I asked how she was doing, she said she had a headache and no Tylenol so I fished some ibuprofen out of the glove compartment for her.

No breakfast so I won’t get my on-the-road Raisin Bran fix. No carpet in our spacious but spartan room, disabled accessible, which was okay until about 1:45 am when people arrived above us in what I’m guessing was also an uncarpeted room. They sounded like a bunch of elephants dragging roller bags and rearranging the furniture for hours. Who needs sleep?

Milan, Ohio

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October 24, 2022 · 6:17 pm

Chautauqua/NY, Conneaut/Ohio cheap gas & dog park – drive back to Chicago from Ithaca

To my surprise we drove right into the Chautauqua Institution, the famous educational/ cultural retreat in the western NY town of, yes, Chautauqua, on our drive back to Chicago from Ithaca. Years ago we got as far as the firmly shut outer gate, when passing through the area during in the peak 9-week summer season for tourists and visitors. Back then, we had to pay to get through the gate and enter the enclave, so we didn’t. From the confusing information on various Chautauqua websites (the town tourism website (https://www.tourchautauqua.com/trip-ideas/a-visit-to-the-chautauqua-institution was clearer than the institution’s website), a “Gate Pass/fee” ($30) is required to enter the grounds during the summer. Except Sundays when it’s free at least until 2 pm. In spring, fall and winter, all drive-in gates are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, no passes/fees required

Still almost everything was shut down …or felt shut down …on the crisp Fall day when we dropped by for about an hour. The sign on the post office said “Closed until June 2023.” Apparently some events are offered beyond during the summer season, and some residents live there year-round.

It was fun to be able to drive through and gawk at the pretty gingerbready cottages and stately buildings that host lectures, concerts and dance performances. We also found a table in the almost deserted village green that worked well for a picnic. (And yes, sadly, this is the place where author Salman Rushdie was stabbed by a madman last summer.)

Not Chautauqua….this is Lake George (Adirondacks)

Over the Pennsylvania border in Ohio, we found cheaper gas, as promised: $3.49 at the Love’s station in Conneaut, Ohio vs $3.89 in Chautauqua and $3.79 in Erie. Love’s also has a dog park.

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