Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Wisconsin Dells: Ducks & Cheese & Wine! And More Wine! And Indiana Wine, too!

And now back to The USA-Canada Road Trip! 
Driving east and south from British Columbia Canada towards West Virginia and home, our first stop in Wisconsin was Foster's Cheese Haus, for we could not leave Wisconsin without one last Wisconsin Cheese & Wine Debauch! We treated ourselves to a plate of assorted Wisconsin cheeses and glasses of Wisconsin wine, and then stocked up on both so we could enjoy them back at the Elkhorn Inn! (And yes, we managed to find places for it all in the packed-like-a-drum truck and freezer! LOL)
Driving through the Wisconsin Dells we Had to do The Ducks! I'd heard about these WWII amphibious vehicles from my US Army Ret. hubs, but while he'd done it all, I had never experienced one, so taking a ride through The Dells on land and sea in a WWII Duck was a must-do on this trip! The Wisconsin Dells are a pretty fabulous kitsch theme town of attractions and motels, that includes the Coliseum and Trojan Horse, as well as flamingos(!), and we got such a kick out of it all that we hope to get back sometime and have a holiday there! 


The Wisconsin Coliseum...

An original WWII Duck, fitted out with troops...















The Original Wisconsin Ducks are WII amphibious vehicles, which far-seeing Wisconsin tourism entrepreneurs were wise enough to buy up, and then use to create sightseeing tours through the Wisconsin forests and on the rivers and lakes... They are a Lot of fun to ride in, and the guide we had made it even more fun! We got to cruise down the Wisconsin River, crawl over the Sand Bar and through Dell Creek, and then plunge into Lake Delton (wheeee!), as well as travel across miles of really pretty wilderness trails, spotting deer hanging out in the woods, and learning about the history of the area. It's a great tour and we highly recommend it!
Through the woods...

On the river...

On the lake...


On the lake...

On the lake...

Deer! Back in the woods...

On the lake...



Our Duck...

Duck with The Wisconsin Trojan Horse... LOL

Dells Distillery














After our Duck Tour we needed a bite to eat, and trusty FourSquare on our Nexus7 led us to the Dells Distillery, a fun, local restaurant downtown, where we had a tasty lunch accompanied by their house-made fruit-
infused rums and whiskies! 
Foster's Cheese Haus Wine & Cheese!









Desert was Really good coffee and house-made fudge we bought down the street at  Original Wisconsin Dells Fudge, (I loved their pumpkin fudge!), and then we got on the road again... 

We had a map of Wisconsin apple farms and wineries in our truck that I had picked up at a tourism office, and we both wanted to stop at at least one of them... and so our last stop in the state was the Apple Barn Orchard and Winery, in Elkhorn, WI, where we tasted and bought heirloom apples (including really cool ones that Thomas Jefferson enjoyed!), as well as apple wine to take home... (Note: there is Always a place in a vehicle for a few bags of apples and a couple of bottles of wine!) 
Dan, choosing wines at Apple Barn Orchard & Winery
Dan, apple picking at Apple Barn Orchard & Winery
Our last day on the road found us in Indiana, and as I was Really blue, without telling me, Dan decided to make a detour to a nearby winery to cheer me up! (Did I marry good, or what?!) We passed a really fun hour+ having a wine tasting at the Buck Creek Winery, and Dan insisted I buy a cute winery top festooned with rhinestones to accompany all the wine and apple cider we bought to take home- and yes, found places for in the truck! :-) 


Buck Creek Winery
Last Road Trip Lunch:
New Bethel Ordinary, Wanamaker, Indiana
FourSquare on our Nexus7 again led us to a great local place to eat: we had a really good house-made pizza lunch at New Bethel Ordinary in Wanamaker, Indiana, before starting the final leg of our month-long road trip home. We arrived at the Elkhorn Inn safe and sound that night, with 450 lbs. of yummy moose meat in the freezer for Chef Dan to turn into fabulous smoked moose tenderloin, moose roasts, moose kebabs, moose chili, and moose burgers! 







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