Everybody’s an artist at Milwaukee’s Splash Studio
On the wall is a soothing landscape with forests at the horizon, open plains in the foreground and a path that snakes toward sunset. The […]
Offbeat
Sabamba Alpaca Ranch also welcomes B&B guests
When I spend the night at Sally and Tom Schmidt’s bed and breakfast near De Pere, the other guests include three girls from Dubuque who […]
Woodlanders Gathering in artsy Mineral Point
The day before I meet Ann Gronbeck-Peterson, she spends a part of the day converting an old railroad spike into a knife. Why? Because she […]
Charlie’s Drive-in: It’s Elvis, tattoos, classic cars
Rachel Mann-Rosenfeldt takes a big step on the day before we meet. She adds a tattoo to her left leg – not a teensy rose […]
Cutting into the mustard at Middleton museum
Shortly after our host delivered a platter of shaved corned beef and rye bread, he returned with a word of advice: If you need mayo, […]
Making magic: Houdini, other tricksters
Would you go out of your way to watch a guy escape from a straitjacket? How about if he was hanging upside-down outdoors, several stories […]
College museums: majors in birds to geology
Freethinkers buck conventional thinking and make their way through the world in unusual ways. This is the way I peg James Newman Clark. The Meridean […]
Chicago food: beyond dawgs, pizza, Bayless
Jazzed-up hot dogs, deep-dish pizza and any product with chef Rick Bayless’ thumbprint are among the foods that make Chicago famous. Add wiener schnitzel from […]
Chicago travel: beyond the Magnificent Mile
For years, I’ve headed to Chicago for day trips or quick overnights – usually taking in the obvious sites and sticking to places tourists congregate. […]
Tavern League: inside Sessler’s, Red Room
My father, as far as I could tell, wasn’t much of a drinker – but he liked to swing into one or more toasty shoreline […]
Holiday Music Motel: Sturgeon Bay high note
It’s an hour or two past sunset, and a sign of neon guides me home for the night. The door cracks open, I hear one-man […]
Arena, Mazo: unusual, good rural dining
Two rural and south-central Wisconsin businesses, eight miles apart, cater to customers in unconventional ways. — A mile or two west of Arena, population 685, […]