So not a big part of my growing up except for driving past the factory, but they have turned into a big deal (4th largest craft brewer says the tour guide). I have to admire the marketing guys who figured out to make it a destination. The site is gorgeous (right by the river), you can take a tour and buy merchandise.
Before our 11:30 tour we had tasting beer and pretzels. The pretzels are hand made by local ladies and are FANTASTIC (thanks to Kathy for the tip to buy them, at the end of our tour they were almost sold out).
Our tour guide showing us the ingredients. All local sourced except the hops which can't be grown in Wisconsin in commercial amounts.
I won the quiz at the end of the tour and got a keychain (5 gallons of honey go into one fermentation batch of honey weiss)!
My fridge back in California. They have gone big enough that my local grocery store and Target sell the Summer Shandy. So I am helping a local economy, right?
Olsen's Ice Cream
This cone has been here pretty much forever. We usually just bought the galleon at the grocery store, but sometimes we went to the downtown store. Either way it is delicious.
Casa Mexicana
Okay, this is new to me. Authentic Mexican food in downtown Chippewa! Apparently it is a small family owned local chain. The portions are huge and the drink specials are good.
The decor is all hand made and like nothing I have seen before.
As you can tell it was fantastic, we went two nights in a row-unheard of for us. The food is good enough that it would fit in here in Northern California.
Irvine Park
Chippewa Falls has one of the nicest parks ever (IMHO)-Irvine Park has tons of playgrounds and picnic spots. It even has a small zoo. Growing up there were even three black bears. Next to the bears was the spooky cave. Only the really brave went to the back wall.
The entrance looks fine
But then you get to the end of the concrete path and have to step on the stones
But once you make it you can look out the front
Or up to see where the water is dripping out of a spooky pipe.
Much less spooky settings for the animals
Albino peacock? The peacocks can actually fly over the fences, but they tend to hang out inside during the day.
Sleeping hyena
And you have to have bison.
Maybe best of all is Glen Loch dam. We used to come here to picnic or just hang out. Just a short hike from the road within the park.
Thanks for the memories!
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