Here’s Our Best & Worst Things From Wisconsin

Shae and I recently finished up a six week stay in Wisconsin, the sixth state on our 5 year, 50 state road trip.

During that time, we stayed in seven different cities – Milwaukee, Green Bay, La Crosse, Wausau, Eau Claire, Phillips and Madison.

Neither of us had visited Wisconsin before that, but we both had a great time there and are looking forward to returning at some point in the future.

Here’s a look back at some of our favorite – and not so favorite – things from our time in Wisconsin.

Favorite Accommodation We Stayed At

Stephen – Definitely the Home2 Suites in Green Bay. It was our first time staying at a Home2 Suites and we loved the room, amenities and general vibe of the hotel.

Shae – Absolutely, the Home2Suites in Green Bay. Followed closely for me by the Super 8 in Wausau. It had a great pool area with hot tub and the water temp in the pool was just what I love.

Favorite Meal

Stephen – We didn’t do a huge amount of eating out in Wisconsin, so there’s not that many places to choose from. Of the places we did eat at, I think my favorite was Al’s Hamburger Shop in Green Bay. The burger was good, the servers were friendly, we got chatting to a lovely couple sitting next to us and it was just a fun place to eat.

Shae – Cheese curds on cheese pizza at the Wild Tomato in Door County was my favorite meal. But I’d second Al’s for a great overall eating experience.

Most Disappointing Meal

Stephen – I guess I’d have to go for Culver’s. The meal wasn’t bad, but they gave me the wrong burger (I didn’t realize until we were back at our hotel), it took forever to get our food in the first place and the burger simply wasn’t that good for how much you pay for it.

Shae – Probably my meal at Harbor View Pub & Eatery in Phillips. The fish was extraordinary and my drink was good but the rest of the food was just “eh.” The cheese curds weren’t very flavorful to me and they were pretty greasy. I didn’t have any flavor in the potatoes and I didn’t enjoy the fried chicken at all. The view was nice and the service was good though.

Favorite Free Activity

Stephen – There were several free things I enjoyed in Wisconsin, but if I had to pick (which I do!) I think it’d be canoeing while we were in Phillips, although it’s closely followed by the National Mustard Museum in Middleton.

Our Airbnb had free canoes to use and the property was on the Flambeau River, so it was fun getting out on the water.

Shae – I loved our time canoeing but my favorite was Cave Point County Park, the site of my triumph with my mini cliff jump! I could have sat there all day too; it was really pretty along the water with the rocks everywhere.

Honorable mention goes to the 45 x 90 Geographical Marker for me too. Plus we wandered off the beaten path on our way home and found a lovely little waterfall area.

Favorite Paid Activity

Stephen – It’s a tossup here between tubing on the Chippewa River and the Lakefront Brewery tour in Milwaukee. Both involved drinking, so I’m not sure what that says…

Shae – Tubing was a really nice day. But far away the standout for me was Noah’s Ark Water Park. The rides, the weather, the atmosphere, the drive… it was all a great day. Truffles was also well cared for that day which put our minds at ease to have some fun.

Favorite Pet-Friendly Activity

Stephen – Definitely all the awesome off-leash dog parks we found throughout Wisconsin. They seemed to be in every city we visited and were often 20-50 acres, so there was plenty of space for Truffles to roam off-leash.

Shae – Bark & Brew. No question for me. I loved to have a place that we could hang out with our dog (and other dogs) for an evening. If I lived in Green Bay it would be my “local” for sure.

Least Favorite Activity

Stephen – Hiking in Hixon Forest in La Crosse. It was a pretty hike and we got to see some deer and chipmunks along the way, but we also encountered tons of mosquitoes and gnats. They seemed to swarm around us and we got bitten all over despite using bug spray, so that aspect of it wasn’t fun.

Shae – Ugh. Yes, anything that involved the bugs. But hiking in Hixon Forest was definitely the worst.

Favorite Hike

Stephen – We didn’t end up doing as much hiking as I thought we would in Wisconsin. Of the hikes we did go on, I think the nicest was at Rib Mountain State Park in Wausau. There weren’t many bugs, the trails we took were interesting and there were great views.

Shae – Same. I really enjoyed Rib Mountain.

Favorite Quirky Thing We Did

Stephen – Definitely the National Mustard Museum. It’s on the fun and interesting end of quirky rather than the slightly more weird end like the Wisconsin Concrete Park in Phillips.

Shae – It’s a toss up for me. I loved the National Mustard Museum too but I thought the Transformer statue we found was pretty cool and Truffles next to the World’s Largest Six Pack was amazing.

Favorite Memory

Stephen – I think tubing on the Chippewa River. I’d never gone tubing like that before and it was just a fun and relaxing afternoon.

Shae – Our day in Door County. It was one great stop after the next and a very beautiful setting.

Funniest Moment

Stephen – When visiting the National Mustard Museum, we’d brought our dog Truffles in with us in her backpack (she’s only 11 lbs). A couple of kids saw Truffles and so started petting her, but their mom was on the other side of Shae. She therefore had no idea Truffles was on Shae’s back and thought her kids were stroking a stranger’s hair!

Shae – When Truffles was off leash at one of the dog parks she ran ahead. Like, really far ahead. It appeared to us that she was trying to join “the pack” ahead of us. If you know Truffles, you know she is more of a people dog than a dog dog. So for her to be racing ahead to join a little family of other pups was really cute and funny. Especially when they were a husky and something else bigger than her.

Thing We Most Regretted

Stephen – Not getting bug spray containing Deet earlier than we did. La Crosse and Phillips in particular were terrible for mosquitoes, so we needed stronger bug spray than we had before.

Shae – Missing the Harley Davidson museum in Milwaukee. I wish we’d gone. I don’t even know if it was on our list, but I feel like it was something cool to see a la the Dahl Auto Museum and we didn’t make it.

Something We Missed And Want To See

Stephen – Devil’s Lake State Park near Madison. We’d had it on our list of places to visit and also had a couple of other people recommend it. Inside the state park is Parfrey’s Glen which looked like it’d be a beautiful hike based on pictures we saw on Google Images.

However, work and weather conspired to make it not possible to visit this time around. We’d love to have visited on our way out of Madison after checking out of our hotel, but dogs aren’t allowed on the trail to Parfrey’s Glen.

Shae – Besides the Harley Davidson Museum, I wish we had been in Milwaukee for their music festival and – more importantly – for one of the kite festivals. I’d really like to go back and check out both of those as well as the National Mustard Museum’s annual mustard event.

Our Biggest Surprise

Stephen – How dog-friendly yet dog-unfriendly Wisconsin is. As I mentioned earlier, there are huge off-leash dog parks all over the state which are simply fantastic. However, we visited 4-5 state parks and most had restrictions stating that dogs weren’t allowed in certain areas.

Unfortunately those areas were usually the places you’d most want to visit, like Parfrey’s Glen in Devil’s Lake State Park and the Doughboys’ Trail (where the waterfalls are found) and Loon Lake Beach in Copper Falls State Park.

Shae – Agreed. For me it was more the prices of the parks – both state parks and dog parks. It was $11 per visit for us to a state park, many of which didn’t accommodate our dog for some or most of the area.

It was also $3-5 per dog park! So things that might’ve been free – nice big parks with lots of space for a pupper to run – were costing us, on top of visiting state parks.

My Wisconsin Drinking Game Would Be…

Stephen – It’s hard to pick one as there are so many options, so I’ll pick two. Take a drink every time you see a barn or silo or take a drink every time you see a sign for cheese curds.

Shae – All the badger stuff. There were badger post cards, books, stuffed animals, not to mention all the Wisconsin Badger gear. Badger statues, badger historical marker plaques… Then real live badgers at the Henry Vilas Zoo!

Summary Of Wisconsin In 10 Words Or Less

Stephen – More beautiful and interesting than expected, plus great beer.

Shae – So much milk, cheese, ice cream, curds – also unexpected beavers!

Wisconsin Cities We Visited In Order From Favorite To Least Favorite

Stephen – Milwaukee, Madison, Eau Claire/Chippewa Falls, Green Bay, La Crosse, Phillips, Wausau

Shae – Green Bay, Milwaukee, Eau Claire (but really Chippewa Falls), Madison, Wausau, Phillips and La Crosse.