I don’t know if its hot where you are reader, but it is hot as …. (four or five letter word of choice here) in South Florida. It feels like one of those old-tymey cartoons where the red mercury shoots out of the temperature gage. Yup these hot days are the proverbial other side of the coin to our frigid 60 degree winter days. We really don’t get to complain. With intentions to leave complaints aside in the blissful memory of temps in the 70’s and our midwest road trip in June and July, over the next three days we are going to share our unique places to stop while driving through Minnesota, Illinois and Tennessee.
Cranbrew Pub and Eatery, at the Three Bears Lodge
701 Yogi Circle, Warrens, Wisconsin
Not to be confused with Cranbrook, the private school of Eminem’s rap battle nemesis in 8 mile, Cranbrew Pub is located in Warrens, Wisconsin. 50 miles past the waterpark capital of Minneconsin, the Wisconsin Dells, you’ll find a clean if not glamorous hotel, indoor waterpark and tasty eats. With all that going on there is plenty to look at and I enjoyed the bear theming. A good spot for a meal and stretch on your I-94 drive.
Volcano Falls Park
7602 Rock Valley Parkway, Loves Park, Illinois
After an early stop in Champaign, we headed back onto the road for Minneapolis. Right around lunch time we encountered the one and only Volcano Falls Park. Billed as Northern Illinois largest adventure park (ooohhh), you’ll find go-carts, batting cages, mini golf and laser tag. I’m a huge proponent of one or two big stops on long drive days to get out the car jitters and sometimes a sit down restaurant ends up being more of the same. We stopped for a very entertaining round of mini golf, stretched our legs and grabbed hot dogs on the way out.
Wisconsin Ducks
Not for the littlest of bears (the tour takes an hour and a half and requires a certain attention span), but fun, fun, fun for the rest of the family. Hop on board WWII Duck boats and travel around and into the Wisconsin River. See map here: duck_trail_map
Burnstads European Village
701 E Clifton St, Tomah, Wisconsin
Is it a restaurant? A grocery store? A travel center? Who knows, but the food is good and so is the atmosphere. Located in Tomah you can eat at the tasty deli, have a “European style” sit down dinner (European means fancy) or grab a bite at the pub. The Pub and formal restaurant share a menu. Unique roadside stop.
Up Down Travel 