Shullsburg

Hal writes:

I am currently enjoying my second Saturday of the week. With fall break yesterday, it felt like I had two Saturdays in a row. While most employees of the university continued to work, the RDs enjoyed some much needed rest and took advantage of getting away from campus. Anna, RD Jen, and I went to Shullsburg just to see what was going on. There is a very fun main street that has a host of old buildings with new businesses (antique shops and other shops). The main street had a few historical markers and beautiful old houses (some which have been taken care of, others that have not). Of course, Shullsburg also is a large provider of cheese in the state of Wisconsin. The photo below is Anna outside of the cheese store.

The main street was decorated for fall and it looked like it required a lot of effort. I thought I had a photo of main street, but could not find it on the camera. Every lamp post was decorated with hay bales and fall harvest vegetables. I was surprised that the pumpkins were not all smashed, but in a community of less than 1000, I am sure that potential suspects (mostly teenagers) would be at a minimum, so they don't attempt any naughtiness. The photo below is Anna and I outside one of the stores that had some fall colors out for photo opportunities.

In one of the stores we visited, there was an advertisement that there was a restaurant in the basement. I was skeptical, but the food on the menu sounded appetizing so we decided to return when we were done walking up and down main street. To my surprise, we found a hidden jewel of a restaurant called Frank's Place. It was amazing. The place was beautifully decorated, had a great atmosphere and the prices were not bad either. Oh, and the food? Delicious! Jen and I are planning on taking the RDs here for a "mystery lunch" (where we don't tell them where they are going) in November. Pictured below are Anna and Jen giving their approval to the bruschetta and blue cheese soup appetizers. We all had different paninis for lunch that came with sweet potato fries.

Later that afternoon, RD Stef and RD Kelly joined us for a viewing of Drop Dead Gorgeous, a mockumentary about a small town beauty pageant in pretend Mt. Rose, MN. My favorite part of the movie is when the Mayor complains that the Shriners won't take down a sign about Frida, the Oldest Living Lutheran in Minnesota (who passed away, so the sign should not be up):

"Oh, Yeah, Frida, sure. She was the oldest living Lutheran. Now she's dead as a doornail. It's them damn Shriner's, won't take down the damn sign the lazy sons of bitches. Every year, every damn year I tell them, "Take down the damn Frida sign, you lazy sons of bitches!"

And, for one more adventures, Anna and I went to Dubuque to do some shopping in the evening. We got a console table for our entry way that Anna has been wanting for quite some time.