LaCrosse is still one of the largest cities on the western side of the state of Wisconsin. Important in the mid 19th century, and yes, it was named primarily for a game the Indians played here. Like many “old” small cities, there are really two cities. There is the “modern” side with K-Marts, Home Depots, Barnes and Nobles, and all the formula places of the modern day malls, with Caribou Coffees, and other attributes of current society. But there is also a historical side, where once fashionable, stately homes adorned quiet streets. With the move for MFO’s mom to a “facility” which, although recently constructed, is located in the older part of town. During recent visits, MFO discovered a little motel still surviving from the mid-fifties.. So, since most of our reason for visiting WI (besides the pretty drive) was centered on “Mom”, MFO reserved us for three nights. At first, I had apprehensions, but in the end, everything was “just right”
Built in the 50’s, nothing has changed much except the owners. Instead of uniformed hirelings, you deal with the actual owners. They turned out to be very considerate and helpful (I’m back on the internet, see). In our room not many walls were parallel reflecting the 50’s, but as the sign says it was very clean, had a nice TV (with the golf channel) and had all the amenities (remember having one handle for cold and another for hot in the shower instead of that balky un-adjustable lever so prevalent these days). The price was inviting, and by golly the room was clean, serviceable, and comfortable. It was “just right” for the old town LaCrosse.
Not far from the hotel was another find from MFO’s previous visits, the Hungry Peddler
It was just up the street from the Motel. Once inside the doors you time travel back to earlier times in Wisconsin. There are hooks for your coats, and you can either turn left into the bar, or right into the dining room. What a great bar. One of those that has a shelf over the bar with a million bottles and cans, a back bar equally stocked, all dark wood. There was a prominent poster for Korbel Brandy extolling the fans of; “Old Fashioneds and Fish Fries”. The dining room is all dark paneled, with fading pictures of faded people and times, some newspaper articles, old sports teams, and other memorabilia. The ceiling was at first glance leaded glass, but at second is plastic laminate in that form. Suspended from the ceiling there were spinning devices that at first appeared to be tires, but were in fact a fan. Tables were set with (unwrapped) silver business end down in mugs with a picture of the restaurant. You are seated (in order to maintain control) by a lady that hands you the breakfast menu. Yup, it’s a single sheet with selections on the front and back. All the items you could want including their “famous eggs benedict”, corned beef or prime rib hash, omelets, pancakes, steaks. On the back is the menu for “KOS” which turns out to be Kids Over Sixty, i.e., smaller portions. Next time, that’s us.
But what was really great was the clientele. Most were eligible for the KOS menu, although it wasn’t uniformly selected. Every morning there were tables of “ladies who breakfast”, along with gentlemen in various forms of working or hunting garb (which, in this case WAS DF(B)). But, everybody knew everybody. In that wonderful Wisconsin accent: “How are ya taday, Ralph?”, “oh fine fer sure”. If I had a nickel for every “yeah” I heard we could have eaten for free. “Did ya hear we might be gettin’ snow Sunday? Oh gosh, yeah”. If you’ve ever heard Prairie Home Companion, you’ve pretty much heard it. Everyone was so friendly, and I suspect the same crowd does this pretty much every morning.
The food was not memorable, but portions were huge and on the three occasions we were there, our food hit the table an average of five minutes after ordering. Scrambled eggs were in strips, sort of like sliced up omelets, the hash served with a healthy crust, the eggs just not runny, and I was even asked how I wanted my bacon cooked! How “right” is that? The serving ladies seemed to have a third arm with a coffee pot attached at all times. Water re-filled continuously without asking. After our three visits, we were invited to “Stop by, won’cha” when we return at Christmas. Oh, the “specials” for breakfast on one of those multi colored black neon boards were “mid-western or Brat Omelet”. At another table I overheard the description for the brat omelet as “cheese, sauerkraut, and brats, ya know”. Holy cow.
La Crosse is really a nice town. Go into Qullins (a local grocery) or the A-1 Hardware (multiple trips for Grammas mods to the apartment), or any store and you find helpful, friendly help. Everybody seems, well, just “nice”. We’ve enjoyed every one of our visits over the years.
what a town
After leaving La Crosse yesterday (Wednesday) we finally were able to shun the interstates and drove across mid Wisconsin from La Crosse to Marinette on “back roads”. What a treat. The color was spectacular, the roads empty (except for that little red mustang which I will omit in interest of your reading time), with small towns here and there, but mostly national forest. We took route 64 from Merrill to Marinette and found it was “cranberry country”. We saw several bogs and also the “harvest”
Besides the cranberries (there was an Ocean Spray facility), there were also trucks and trucks of potatoes..wisconsin, not idaho!!
After hitting Marinette and Lake Michigan, we traveled north to the current location of Escanaba, Michigan, where last night we had our first “dining” experience as we were
DFD
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