If you’re looking for something to do southwest of Oshkosh… Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin (KPDC). This is a quick crew car ride away from Effigy Mounds National Monument, a collection of massive earthen sculptures made by Elizabeth Warren’s ancestors during Joe Biden’s youth. Read up on the approaches and departure procedures due to the challenging terrain surrounding the airport. Terrain? On the Wisconsin/Iowa border? This is the Driftless Area that was not scraped flat by the most recent glaciers. Note that the airport is at 660′ above sea level and towers near the airport are on ground that is as high as 1150′ above sea level (1449-299).
Here’s an explanation for the evolution of these sculptures in the Effigy Mounds visitor’s center:
You’re on the banks of the Mississippi River when at the visitor’s center and must ascend 350′ to the top of the bluffs before reaching the mounds.
Consider packing some bug spray because this is the not the artificially-bug-free paradise that Florida somehow manages to achieve for most natural areas. The mounds themselves are tough to photograph, but if you love history you’ll enjoy them. The views over the river:
Once you’re down from the walk, you can celebrate all things 2SLGBTQQIA+ and BLM in Marquette, Iowa:
Back on the Wisconsin side, you can enjoy some food from Pete’s, started in 1909. Two choices: with onions; without onions.
The flight out is beautiful, but note the bluffs rising steeply from the river banks.
I met some city-dwellers who have vacation cabins in this area so there is apparently a fair amount of exploring that could be done with an overnight stay.
If there is one state in which I would expect to always be able to add cheese to my burger, it would be Wisconsin.
Thank you to Pete (Mr Pete?) for helping me let go of my harmful stereotypes. I hope my latent prejudice has not traumatized him too much.
Well, I’m sorry but unless their patties are much larger (from the picture on their website it doesn’t appear so), Pete’s has nothing on White Manna Hamburgers in Hackensack, NJ. You can get their sliders with or without onions AND with or without cheese, plus an order of incredible crinkle-cut fries, all perfectly cooked – and the cheeseburgers are just $2.20 each even in Bidie Bucks! Their double cheeseburgers are $3.50 each. Twice the cheese! Twice the meat! Onions or no onions!
Pete’s is a seasonal restaurant and they charge $5 bux apiece! And you can’t get fries, you have to settle for a bag o’ chips? I’m not sayin’ they’re taking advantage of the tourist season…, and I don’t want a start a war…, and Hackensack doesn’t have the same natural beauty…but….
https://www.whitemanna.com/
Of course, everybody of a certain age will also remember that Hackensack, NJ was settled in 1665 and incorporated in 1693 as New Barbadoes, on land that was mostly extracted from the Lenni Lenape (Algonquin) Indians.
And in Movieland, it was also going to be the final resting place of Miss Teschmacher’s mother, when Lex Luthor almost nuked Hackensack during the original “Superman: The Movie” – which is what compelled her to rescue him from drowning with Luthor’s Kryptonite necklace.
I don’t know what that means for White Manna Hamburgers, but it’s a fun thing to talk about while you’re waiting in line there.
“Lex ??!?! My mother LIVES in Hackensack.”
[Luthor looks at wristwatch…looks at her….shakes head “no” and walks out.]
Pete’s beef patties look like real meet to me, unlike staff above. I agree that White Manna Hamburgers are not green-frozen as in McDonalds but they look like re-frozen several time, containing artificial coloring and haveing significant non-meat content. I can be wrong but it looks like to me. And Pete’s onion look very good. Plastic cheese on real meat patties? Any cheese on meat patties leads to nap at best. Pete’s – a place I could visit. And not gain weight.
@perplexed: As far as I know, the White Manna patties are never frozen, made fresh every day. I think they do use a hamburger patty press to form the patties, however. I’ll ask the next time I’m there. I would be very surprised if they’re frozen! I asked the owner how many hamburgers/cheesburgers he makes per day: “Usually about 1,000 – sometimes more, sometimes less.” They have one guy there whose entire job basically consists of taking hamburger buns out of the bags. I don’t know what their ground beef mix is, but I’ll try to spelunker that out the next time I’m in the neighborhood. Anyway, the ones we got tasted super-fresh, and I can usually tell frozen beef patties.
BTW some sample background banter in that video. One of the regulars suggests he should serve beer.
“If I had beer here, you’d never leave, man.”
“That’s true.”
What I liked about the place was its truly diverse, egalitarian esprit de corps. People from all walks of life love the place as you can see from their recommendations, but you have to be in the restaurant to really witness it. It’s elbow to elbow, a tiny place, and you just stand there, place your order, and tell jokes with everyone in line. Awesome. Very American.
@Alex, sure, waiting for follow up. I stand by looks re-frozen, look at dark-green spots in red. And white spots – clearly not meat, even though food coloring seems to be present. The best burgers I ever had where at a Tex-Mex country BBQ place who used locally slaughtered meat which is mostly grew as free roaming. That what Pete’s patties reminded me.